It means "Stop." Period.

Government is Evil.

Those words have come to be America's mantra during this past decade. Not only is government evil when it oppresses other nations by an aggressive military policy, or when it oppresses citizens at home by invading their civil liberties, as liberals have always argued. Conservatives now claim that it's evil when it seeks to tax anybody at all, including the wealthy; when it implements public efforts to help the poor; when it tries merely to fund and maintain long existing and until now widely accepted governmental programs.

And now, it appears, it's evil even when it simply tries to enforce traffic laws.

Communities all over the nation have adopted modern camera technology to catch and fine drivers who speed and run red lights. The camera does what a cop would do if we had enough of them to watch over every intersection.

Many citizens are enraged.

In my home town, Josh Sutinen -- a seventeen-year-old who had only recently obtained his own driver's license -- successfully gathered enough voter signatures last spring to put the city's camera program to a referendum vote in November.

"These cameras are really just another big government attack on our rights," Sutinen said in an interview. "It's just taxation through citation."

The young man is enthusiastic and idealistic. I admire his interest in public affairs. But the question that comes to my mind is, exactly which "rights" is the government "attacking"?

The right to run a red light? The right to violate speed limits? The right of drivers to have a sporting chance of getting away with it when they don't see any cops around?

Frankly, I don't get it. In August, the local superior court ruled most of the referendum off the ballot, holding that repeal of traffic laws was not a proper use of referenda under state law. All that's left of the referendum is some sort of advisory vote on the issue. But similar binding measures remain on the ballot in at least two other Washington cities.

The town's mayor admits that he hadn't been all that enthusiastic about the use of cameras until he heard complaints from citizens about numerous speeding and red light violations.

The city began a one-year trial of the cameras this year, and Mayor Kurt Anagnostou said the program has made people more aware at intersections.

Sutinen is certainly aware. He avoids the traffic cameras at all costs, taking detours that extend his three-mile commute to five. Even before he had a driver's license, Sutinen said he hated the idea of the cameras and sought help from Eyman, who provided the initiative's wording.

Tim Eyman is a gentleman, notorious across the state, who has made the sponsoring of initiatives and referenda in Washington his profitable life's work. He has used the procedures to fight every tax and fee levied by state or local government, bringing the state to the point of budgetary crisis.

If it's illegal to run a red light, it's illegal regardless of whether a police officer catches you. If it's illegal to make a right turn on a red light without first coming to a full stop, it's illegal even if it's only a camera that observes your violation. If it's illegal, and you did it, I fail to see the difference between being caught by a police officer or being caught by a camera. In fact, the camera would generally be the more reliable witness.

The fact that it's profitable for the city to fine violators -- one of the battle cries of those opposing camera enforcement -- hardly seems relevant. We aren't talking about concealed speed traps. The location of cameras is announced by signage. The objective of the cameras and the announcement of their presence is to deter violations, not to profit from them.

If after paying the expenses of the program, the city still makes a profit from the fines -- so what? It's an ideal tax, from the taxpayer's perspective. You don't have to pay it. Just stop at red lights. And don't gun the engine when you see the light ahead of you turn yellow.

I've come close to being broadsided by an idiot who apparently thought red lights were advisory rather than mandatory, and who then failed to see my car approaching. Anything the government can do to deter and punish these idiots has my full support.

I offer my best wishes to the teenager who started the petition drive. He's clearly a great kid, no slacker, who has a lot of initiative (pun unintended) and enthusiasm. I hope he finds better projects in the future in which to pour his energy.
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Quotations taken from tdn.com