teddy bears? please stop the insanity

Clifford Clark III appeared at a hearing today for his alleged shooting of the Broadway red light camera. Before going in to court, however, he handed out teddy bears with "Save The Cliff" on them. Weird. This guy has been hailed as a hero as well as a nut. Now I'm starting to lean towards the nut argument.

His website, cliffspeaks.com, features The Cliff's rambling manifesto, ranging from his experience with a prostitute in the police paddy wagon to the danger of his hips while dancing. He does make a few good points about red light cameras increasing accidents and UT overreaching its jurisdiction by trying to prosecute him as a student for something that didn't even happen on university property. As an added bonus, Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" plays in the background.

But Cliff reaches too far. He reminds me of the ignored kid in high school who suddenly gets the spotlight shone upon him and ends up trying too hard to stay "cool."

He compares our society to the Soviet Union and says that he, the martyr for the cause, is being defamed by allegations of mental illness. He even goes so far as to post a note from a UT Psychiatrist stating "he doesn't pose a threat to himself or others." I'm sure that's true, but there seems to be a lot of weird things going on in "The Cliff's" mind. Delusions of grandeur for one.

Cliff, to play the martyr you need humility and a willingness to sacrifice for a cause you believe in. I know you feel strongly about the immorality of red-light cameras- something I'm inclined to agree with you about. Thank you for bringing this issue to the forefront of the public discussion and getting the dialog going. But your current hijinks are discrediting any argument for removing the cameras. Stop hamming it up for the media. Stop asking for donations. And for goodness sake, stop handing out teddy bears.

[update] Apparently The Cliff has been uploading videos to YouTube: