“But some people are vindictive, aren’t they? Some people lack the maturity to take thing for what they are and truly ‘sweat the small stuff’.”
One would hope that cops are professionals and have better things to do with their time. Immaturity is not a trait cops should have.
“Please do not tell me that you do not know at least 5 people who take even the slightest of slights and make a federal case out of it or hold an unreasonable, unhealthy long term grudge because of it.”
I know some, again if cops are this immature they should be fired.
“If something happens that is a serious violation of your rights then damn straight, by all means, fight like hell.”
When exactly are the rights important?
Secondly, immature people inhabit all levels of employment in this country. Like I said, it is part of human nature. Do we fire them all? And besides, who decides what is immature? What if the person in charge of deciding is immature himself? How in the world do you expect your way of doing things to be implemented in an inherently imperfect world made up of imperfect humans.
You seem to be showing a good bit of immaturity by insisting on perfection when you should know good and damn well that such a thing is necessarily impossible.
What do you do when someone is pointing a gun at you? Stand and recite that they should not be doing that and take your best right-fighter pose, like you are here, or do you take cover and otherwise defend yourself? The question is vital to your point. Do you deal with REALITY or do you insist that reality change to meet your point of view on a case-by-case basis, in the heat of the moment? I prefer to deal with reality, and have made it clear what I would have done in don-o's shoes. You would likely still be in custody, for no good reason at all.
As to your question of when rights are important, they always are. But where were don-o's rights violated? If you cannot prove that they were violated, your entire point falls apart. I contend that his rights were not violated. Prove that they were, your argument depends on it really...JFK