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I knew there was something about him I didn’t like! :)

September 6th, 2008 by Babs

From the Somerville News:

Before Barack Obama was a United States senator and a presidential hopeful, he was a Harvard University law student living in Somerville who parked in bus stops and accumulated hundreds of dollars in parking tickets. And for nearly two decades those parking tickets went unpaid, until a representative of Obama’s settled all his outstanding debts with Cambridge’s Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department Jan. 26 (2007).

Obama attended Harvard Law School from 1988 to 1991. During his time at Harvard, Obama lived at 365 Broadway in Somerville, according to his parking tickets. Records from the Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation office show that between Oct. 5, 1988 and Jan. 12, 1990 Obama was cited for 17 traffic violations, sometimes committing two in the same day. The abuses included parking in a resident permit area, parking in a bus stop and failing to pay the meter. Twelve of Obama’s 17 tickets were given to him on Massachusetts Avenue.

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5 Responses

lavenderfrost writes:
September 6th, 20084:08 amat

…as opposed to Bush’s DUI?

Reply
- Babs writes:
  September 9th, 20083:56 pmat
  
  While I had originally made this post mostly in jest (hence the lack of commentary), since I have been “challenged”… 🙂
  
  I’m not dismissing the Bush DUI’s. Personally I wish they had thrown the book at him (and his family). Preferably the uber large dictionary that my local library keeps in its reference department.
  
  I don’t expect anyone outside the area to understand this but to me the situation shows a great deal of arrogance, as well as a failure to take responsibility on Obama’s part.
  
  I lived in Cambridge from 1977 to mid-1990. My high school was/is two blocks from Harvard University proper. I know what a bear both traffic and parking can be in that area. So do the college students. That’s why they live either within walking or biking distance from the school, or rely on public transportation.
  
  The T may be currently experiencing record ridership, but from the mid-80s to the early 90s the T, itself, was at its best. Especially in Boston (assorted schools), Cambridge (Harvard and MIT), Somerville and Medford (Tufts), where the majority of college students housed themselves. I have been in the area of 365 Broadway courtesy of the T on many occasions (including blizzards) so I know it’s not inaccessible.
  
  I can understand the occasional parking ticket being blown off by a college student, but 17? For almost 20 years? Heck, us poor folk can’t renew our registrations or licenses if we have ANY outstanding tickets or taxes. Add to that the ample public transportation available at that time, and I find it highly inexcusable.
  
  Reply
  - lavenderfrost writes:
    September 9th, 20089:22 pmat
    
    Eh – to each their own. I see outstanding traffic tickets as pretty minor offenses. His debt was paid off 2 weeks before he started his campaign, he’s he’s owned up to much worse in the past, and it’s not like he was driving drunk. You know?
    
    I really wasn’t meaning to “challenge” you in a nasty way, just trying to point out that we’ve elected guys with DUI’s before because we were willing to cut some slack. Outstanding parking tickets shouldn’t be that big a deal, since they don’t actually endanger anybody.
    
    Reply
    - Babs writes:
      September 9th, 20089:41 pmat
      
      I really wasn’t meaning to “challenge” you in a nasty way
      
      I know that! That’s why I put a smiley at the end of the sentence.
      
      Obama’s actions may not have endangered anyone, but they do give food for thought. He blatantly disrespected the law, did not show responsibility by paying the the tickets in a timely manner (in fact, it was an aide who paid them), and he refused to use practical resources available to him. Respect, responsibility, and the ability to make the best use out of what’s available are, IMHO, important characteristics.
      
      Reply
      - lavenderfrost writes:
        September 9th, 20089:43 pmat
        
        He’s owned up to a lot worse – drug use, for example. Just because he’s had blatant disregard in the past doesn’t mean he’s still exactly the same person. People change.