“To me, it’s not an issue. To me it’s like car insurance. If you have a car, you pay insurance. If you want protection, you pay the price.”-Benny McGuire, Obion County Mayor

If you listen to Mayor McGuire’s statement it sure sounds like extortion.

For the second time this year, Tennessee firefighters stood by and watched a families home burn to the ground. The latest fire burned down a home on December 5.  When Obion County firefighters arrived they were ordered not to put out the fire, because the family had not paid a $75 firefighting fee!

Homeowner, Vicky Bell, told KFVS TV that she and most of her neighbors have not paid the fee because they were told they are ineligible for firefighting service anyway, because they don’t have home insurance!

Back on October 4, another Tennessee home burned to the ground for the same reason.  But this time the home owner offered to pay right then and there. The fire didn’t even start in the home!  The firefighters refused, and the home burned down killing three dogs and a cat!

“They coulda’ been saved if they put water on it. But they didn’t do it!”-Gene Cranick, watched pets burned alive

Some Tea Party ass holes think this is they way things should be done. Bull Shit!  I’ve been in Third World Countries and that’s the way it’s done there.  So you Tea Party ass holes want the United States to revert to Third World status?  Don’t worry, I think you’ll get your wish for freakin’ Xmas!

As previously stated, even if the home owners could afford the extortion fee of $75 , if they did not have insurance, which most home owners don’t have once they reach a certain point on making their mortgage payments (or they’ve paid off their home) because they can’t afford the insurance, they do not qualify to pay the extortion fee!!!

By the way, this is why you should not call a firefighter, EMT or cop, a hero.  Hero’s don’t require payment!!!

Oh, now I’ll get to the guy who died why public servants literally stood by and wrung their hands.

“I thought it was kind of weird that they weren’t going out to bring the guy in, you know, he was out there, his head was above water, he was looking at everybody, there was plenty of time for them to react.”-Perry Smith, witness

On May 30, a distraught man drowned after treading water for more than an hour.  It happened in daylight, on Alameda Beach in California, in front of dozens of people, including emergency personnel.  The beach goers all thought the paid emergency personnel were going to take care of it, they were wrong, and many are shocked: “It’s horrible. How can we let that happen? How can our emergency personnel allow that to happen? I don’t get it, I don’t understand it.”-Gary Barlow, witness

The Coast Guard said they didn’t have a boat that could reach him where he was, and their helicopters were busy!  Police said it’s not their job: “We’re not trained to go into the water, obviously the type of gear that we have on, we don’t have the type of equipment that you would use to go into the water.”-Joe McNiff, Alameda Police Department

What about firefighters?  “…I would have to stay within our policies and procedures because that’s what’s required by our department to do.”– Ricci Zombeck, Alameda Fire Division Chief

Those policies don’t allow firefighters to go into the water.  In fact, it was a woman, a civilian, a true hero, who went in, albeit too late (the man died), and recovered the body.  The taxpayer paid emergency personnel were not even going to recover the body!

The ‘hero’ division fire chief admitted they should have done something, and “…that we’re going to evaluate our response protocols.”

The next day it was revealed that the city had quietly stopped funding their water rescue program, back in 2009, in an attempt to save the city some money.  On top of that the city’s firefighters were ordered to stay out of the water.

To prove the point that paid emergency personnel are not heros, here’s what the interim fire chief of Alameda had to say: “I know that yesterday, those crews, it was killing them to stand on those shores and not be able to do anything. But under the circumstance and because of the policy, they really didn’t have a choice.”-Michael D’Orazi, Interim Fire Chief

Notice; “…because of the policy…”.  The ultimate concern of emergency personnel is not violating their policies (for cops it’s a different story, so many of them violate their own policies all the time, but in a bad way)!

I had a lot of bad experiences with emergency personnel, and cops, and this was decades back when the economy was good!  So pardon me if I seem upset!

For you Tea Party ass holes who’d like to see the U.S. turn into a Third World Country, there’s a saying that should be applied to you: “Git a rope.”

However, if people can’t work together and overthrow their oppressive governments and corporations, and create a better system, then let Anarchy reign!!!