kAcknor Sez:
Amen.
"yIQeqQo' neH, DoS yIqIp!" (Don't just aim, hit the target!)
Posted on 12/23/2002 10:57:45 PM PST by tarawa
I swear, I have no sympathy for Beck. But why do ATF raids always have to end in a burned-out house with all available evidence destroyed? This is something that looks really bad even if they weren't trying to cover anything up.
They were serving a search warrant, not an arrest warrant. The search warrant required his presence in the house--it's essentially a
If the ATF can't do the job as well as a lot of local police departments, what does that tell you?
In this case, because of the requirement that Mr. Beck be present, absolutely nothing. The LA County Sherriff's department was present and was assisting in the service of the warrant. Had they served the warrant all by themselves, they still would've gotten a hail of gunfire for their trouble.
Amend the above para to read the the following:
They were serving a search warrant, not an arrest warrant. The search warrant required his presence in the house--it's essentially a warrant to find items in his direct possession, something that can't be proven if he wasn't there. ("Your Honor, my client knows nothing about how those guns got into his closet after he left the house that morning.")
Love that line.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
In much the same way, the ideologues decry the enforcement of anything simple and mundane, such as parking ordinances, since a violator could get killed if he chooses to escalate his disdain for civilization to its logical conclusion; "You want to kill someone merely over a parking ticket?!" they will cry out in their hopeless albeit infinitely compassionate concern for anti-social barbarians.
-------------------------
Of course. The pictures of firemen carrying kid out of the rubble was a public relations disaster that drew attention away from Waco and the connection between Waco and OKC. But if there had been no Waco, there would have been no OKC. If the hammer had fallen on Horiuchi and company at Ruby Ride rogue agents would not have felt licensed and emboldened to commit Waco. By Waco it became evident that that there was a group of rogue lunatic government agents that considered such operations a form of sport. There still has been no justice or housecleaning. That mentality still exists to re-erupt. We'll just move on again.
kAcknor Sez:
Amen.
"yIQeqQo' neH, DoS yIqIp!" (Don't just aim, hit the target!)
From 1st hand face-to-face experience with the gentleman, I can most certainly say that your response could not be further from the truth. It is, however, typical of today's evangelical/charismatic movement. The movement is doctrinally flawed because it confuses immediate impulse and reaction to momentary impression as evidence of the leading of the Holy Spirit. It posits that the new, virtual personality produced by group-think religious euphoria and thought reform is evidence of being "born again," and so is further doctrinally flawed.
Typically, these churches require us to reject the evidence of the senses and stop thinking. Anything critical of the church in question's doctrine or leadership is presumed to be evidence of Demonic oppression. This presumption of some malevolent, ulterior motive has now been extended to any criticism of the current President by conservatives.
As I have written elsewhere, personally, I avoid Church these days because I am wearied by evangelicals and charismatics who use the Bible as a totemic object and recite from it as if they were intoning magical incantations. I object to the idea that humans uttering words can manipulate the universe of time and matter. I resent preachers committing historical and other errors of fact and inferring that I am possessed by Satan for objecting to those errors. It has been my observation that people who rely on prayer and charismatic, euphoric, religious enthusiasm as decision making tools tend to screw up their lives and the lives of those around them.
In the affairs of this world, one is not saved by faith, rather, one is saved by its absence. The Apostolic Age and the miracles associated with that Age are over. God is no conjurer, pulling financial rabbits out of hats. Financial well-being is the result of sober minded serious effort and cold, calculating analysis. Charismatic, evangelical religion burns up money almost as fast as politics and cocaine does. One should pray for moral backbone and that one reflect well on one's faith, family, and country, but the relentless attempts to find the correct combination of words, Bible verses, tithes, and love offerings to make critical life decisions is delusional thinking and those who advocate it should be kept far away from impressionable adults and children.
Mortimer, if you call your reply to me literary torture, you also believe that flipping the bird to an aggressive fellow in an SUV on the highway drives him to tears. In addition to being way off base, your prose is incoherent and could be rewritten effectively in about 3 sentences. Before engaging in further attempts to torture your enemies, invest in a writing class.
There's an old saying: "Whenever you think the entire world is crazy, and you're the only sane one around, make darn sure that the opposite is true."
So, RLK, you're angry at everyone and everyone is an idiot and a moron. Substitute "stupid" for "crazy" in the above and take a good introspective look at just how happy you are as a person.
You are the most cynical SOB I've ever met on Free Republic. You are probably a real pleasure to hang around. [sarcasm off] And your word selection ("diddled"), while colorful, betrays some other limitations in your expressiveness or education.
And, you've never learned the lesson of the wise -- that for leaders, it is better to be effective than right 100% of the time. Pick your battles and win those; go easy on the others. And, when your enemies are following you like children following the Pied Piper, then you take on the more intractable problems that were close to unsolvable earlier.
I loved Newt Gingrich but one of the reasons he was not as effective as he should have been is that he didn't wrap his words and his actions in a persona that would lead. His style was brilliant but abrasive, not persuasive. And, we conservatives have to admit that he was a failure as a man who implemented a conservative legislative agenda.
Give me a conservative President who is effective before a President who is smart and "right-thinking" on the short list of 100 conservative issues. The former will succeed and the latter will be pilloried by the press and the public.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.