You never know when these paranoid creeps will snap, but you know they will – and in the middle of a crowded tourist venue. It’s fairly certain that if you and I behaved like this we’d be in a prison or a mental hospital.
Friday: Shooting near White House prompts lockdown; one in custody
The “shooting” was, of course, committed by a White House policeman who is not the one in custody. His unlikely story, that a man walked up to him and pulled a gun for no reason, was of course accepted uncritically. Let’s compare and contrast: George Zimmerman, of whom I am not a fan, had to get beaten half to death before being justified in shooting his attacker – an action for which he was declared a murderer by the current resident of the White House.
Yesterday: Balloons to blame for security scare at White House
Yes, the highly-trained and heavily-armed myrmidons of the White House protection detail went on red alert upon seeing…some kid’s balloon. Though the article fails to mention it, missiles with high explosive warheads were involved. Fortunately, for once there was no body count.
On neither occasion was the President or his wife even there to be protected. Shooting incidents outside the White House are becoming regular staples for news reporters, to an extent that – again – would have you or me declared menaces to our neighbors. These people take “stay off my lawn” to psychotic extremes.
White House gun violence has become an unacceptable burden on the DC population, to say nothing of millions of annual visitors.
For Your Safety
“George Zimmerman, of whom I am not a fan, had to get beaten half to death before being justified in shooting his attacker – an action for which he was declared a murderer by the current resident of the White House.”
IMO, that’s an example you could have omitted. I honestly have no idea what happened in that dust-up that got the boy killed, but I’ve seen nothing to lend credence to anything that man has ever uttered. We only have Zimmerman’s story, and he is hardly a credible witness.
Not only has the White House become a gun violence hazard, the actions and directives from it’s main occupants have become a health and safety hazard to the world at large.
Here’s the problem, Ben… If only the saintly, totally pure are worthy of defending themselves, and only in such situations that are 100% clear to everyone, against only the most vile and proven evil persons.. Well, I suspect we might just as well all put our guns in the melt pile and do our best with teeth and fingernails… if that.
But what we have is the “reasonable man” criteria, looking at provable facts to determine what happened, and the preponderance of the evidence has to point to whether or not the defender had good reason to believe his or her life – or that of someone else – was in immediate danger of death or significant bodily harm.
Nobody is perfect, and nobody can read minds, or has any obligation to know the motives – or even the actual capability of the attacker. I think Mr. Zimmerman is a fairly ordinary person, no saint and yet also no predator. He can’t keep his feet out of his mouth, and he seems to have problems choosing his company, but that has nothing to do with whether or not he was worthy of defending his life. Even dummies and circus clowns have a right to life and liberty.
I wasn’t there, but the preponderance of the evidence I’ve seen indicates very strongly that doofus Zimmerman actually did shoot to save his life. That’s good enough for me.
On the other hand, I once had to shoot a man to save my life. There were NO witnesses, No video, no radio or 911 calls, and it is entirely possible that my account of the incident would not have been believed by the cops or court… especially if the fool had died.
Luckily, he wasn’t hurt badly and ran away. I sincerely hope I never have to deal with any of that again. But if I do, I’m going to shoot better… even if everyone else thinks I’m a doofus.
Here’s the whole story if you are interested: http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/?page_id=846
Ben,
Offered without comment: http://www.dlas.org/questions-zimmerman-verdict/