The personal attacks don't bother me so much. I try to argue my position and if someone personally attacks me then to me they've shown what they are and I just don't debate with them. I try to keep my integrity. Hard to do sometimes.
And before I go I'd like to wish everybody a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Exactly. Having performed entry as the 1st or 2nd man through the door on somewhere between 20 and 30 of them I used to be a big supporter of them. After seeing how many innocent people have been killed over the last 5 years (my time at FR) I have also adopted your position.
Reflecting on one entry in particular, where an individual that was not supposed to be in the house appeared from a room that supposedly did not exist (bad snitch information - either deliberate or just an above-average moronic snitch I don't know) jumped out at me in a karate stance and was subdued after about a 30 second struggle I had a "veteran" officer ask me why I didn't shoot him. My answer was "he was unarmed and I reacted according to me martial arts traing." (front kick to the chest delelivered while at a dead run turns out to be pretty devastating)
His response - "you should have shot him."
This incident, in light of all the news stories, really brings home to me why a good conservative needs to get involved and supervise police activities. Throwing up your hands and saying "well, it would have been one less doper" is not what this country is all about - nor would a true conservative make that statement - but a Fascist would.
That guy did not deserve to be executed because he was awakened at 0300 to his door being smashed in and goes to investigate - nor does any officer have the authority to execute him because he jumps into a room in a karate stance. Had the average officer shot him they would have been justified - he didn't respond to any verbal commands and taking on a martial arts expert (and you can't know what you are dealing with at the time) is a dangerous endeavor. Such a situation would cause fear of death or serious bodily injury in any reasonable officer. My situation was a little different, being a student myself, but still I could have articulated why my fear was reasonable. However, I wasn't afraid. So I would have had to lie to justify a shooting. But more importantly, the blanket attitude of "you should have shot him" indicates a bloodthirsty desire to take a life and the opinion that I wasted an opportunity. That disgusts me.
And you can bet that some posters here would have no problem with killing the dumb sh#t - voicing much the same attitude...sad.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May the Lord Bless you and Keep you.