Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Where Is God?

Last year, Bono was the recipient of the NAACP's Chairman's award for work that he as done on behalf of the poor.  Here is part of his speech.

Just in case you have forgotten.

Barack Obama, Sunglasses, and NASCAR

A momentous thing is happening as I type this. 

As momentous and profound a thing as has ever taken place in our national history.  Something is happening today that is going to change our country, forever.

I'm not going to talk about it, though.

See me tomorrow for that.  Today, I am going to talk about something else.

Sunglasses.

That's what I said.  Sunglasses.

OK, at this point most of you are talking aloud to your screens saying things like:  "WTF are you talking about?"

Well, it's like this:  Yesterday, while I was working my ass off, moving everything out of our range storage area... targets, tools, blah, blah blah, preparatory to installing our new shelving units, I dropped my sunglasses while two of us were moving a particularly heavy box.  Well, my sunglasses hit the floor, remaining intact until they went crunch under the sole of my boot.

"Oh man!" I thought... wait.  No.  Thats not really what I thought.  The truth is that quite a few epithets flew from my mouth, while my colleague laughed like nobody's business.  I was irritated, because I had those shades for nearly a year.  I was fond of them.  What's more, they meant something to me since my sweetie had bought them for me while we were on vacation last summer.

Here is the thing about me and sunglasses:  I wore glasses from the time I was 8 years old, until shortly after my 41st birthday, when I took the plunge and had Lasik corrective surgery on my eyes.  In a scant 20 minutes (maybe less) my vision went from 20/200 (yes, it was that bad) to 20/15.  I was beyond ecstatic as we walked out of the surgical center with me exclaiming that I could read street signs, and license plates etc.. without corrective lenses for the first time since I was a child.

Now, being able to read without glasses was great.  Not needing to push y glasses back into their proper place was fantastic.  Believe me, I was on cloud nine, and if you have had this procedure, you know what I mean.  All of those things were great, but better than all of that, was the ability to wear regular sunglasses.  Yeah, I know, you probably think that this is strange, but believe me when I tell you how much this can mean to someone who has spent his adult life without the freedom to just put on sunglasses whenever I felt like it.

So, after the surgery I sort of went nuts with the sunglasses.  Knowing my own propensity for losing things, I  refrained from buying some expensive shades like Oakley's.  Instead, opting to by a series of Oakley knock-offs from nearly every kiosk in every mall in northern Virginia.  I bought 'em all.... Ray-Ban Wayfarer's, Wayfarer II's, those cool ergonomically shaped glasses that look like they are bound to make you run faster and jump higher (tell me someone knows that reference).

I had sunglasses in my car, Mrs GF's car, in my office, at home... pretty much everywhere I would need them.  I didn't really need that many, but I had them\... just because I could.

Eventually, this number dwindled due to loss or breakage, but I wasn't heartbroken, because none of hem had cost that much.  It wasn't long after that, while on vacation in Orlando, that I discovered that Wal-Mart sold the full line of NASCAR sunglasses.

Go ahead and laugh, I'll wait.

No, I'm not a NASCAR fan, I don't enjoy racing.  I find it to be an extreme bore, BUT, the thing is this, NASCAR sunglasses are fully polarized, they are built fairly tough, and they only cost between 12 and ten dollars!  A perfect combination. 

Anyway, since then, every summer, when we go to Orlando, my bestest pal in the world buys me a new pair of NASCAR shades.  I was hoping that the par that I broke yesterday would make it until August.

Damn.

Well, not being someone to take defeat lying down, I bought a new pair at our local Wal-Mart yesterday, and I have already bonded with them... but that doesn't mean that I don't want a new pair in August.

The Police, The Supreme Court, & The Death of Sean Bell

It’s late.

It’s very late.

It’s so late, it’s early morning… about 4 A.M.   In a nightclub, an undercover police officer hear snippets of conversation: Men, apparently drunken men, talking about “getting guns” when they leave the club.

The officer alerts his partners, and contacts a supervisory officer, the supervisor arrives, and when the men leave the club, the cops follow.

When the men got into their car, and appeared ready to drive off, an officer, with his gun drawn, identifies himself and tells the driver to stop. The driver attempts to flee, but is boxed in by an unmarked police vehicle, which is struck by the suspect vehicle. The driver of the suspect vehicle bumps or hits one of the on-scene police officers with his vehicle while the suspects attempt to flee. At least one of the officers sees either the passenger or driver make a furtive gesture towards a pocket. The officers on the scene open fire with their service weapons, striking and killing the driver, and grievously wounding the two other passengers.

After an investigation, four of the officers are indicted for murder and lesser charges by a Grand Jury. The officers, knowing the emotional weight of the case, waived the right for a jury trial, opting instead for a verdict from the bench.

During the trial, the prosecution’s best witness, the front seat passenger at the time of the incident, contradicts his own written statements and Grand Jury testimony.

After the conclusion of arguments, the judge, stating that the prosecution had failed to present evidence that would lead to the conviction of the officers beyond a reasonable doubt, acquitted all of the officers accused of any crimes.

Simple, right? Something bad happens and justice is served.  Or is it?  I suppose your answer depends on your perspective.

We have arrived at our starting point.

The friends and family oThe friends of the deceased, Mr. Sean Bell, immediately began to protest about racism and several other things, claiming that it’s “open season” on black Americans, etc… some of my fellow bloggers have made similar statements, so I thought I should take a moment, considering what I do for a living, to talk about why those officers were acquitted.

It's very simple really, and the reasons have nothing to do with institutional racism, or police brutality, etc...

Those officers were acquitted because, according to supreme court case law, their actions were perfectly justifiable. 

That's right, their actions were perfectly justifiable.

Now, now... before you go calling me a "sellout", "tool of whitey", "self-hater", "pig" and other unpleasant things, please attempt to think about this rationally and devoid of emotion. 
Sure, it is incredibly difficult to look on this case and not get emotional about it, after all, Mr Bell was leaving his bachelor party... he was to be married the following day.  Sean Bell was someone's was a father, a son, and friend.  By many accounts, he was a great guy.  I won't even begin to dispute any of that... but this case isn't about any of that, is it?  Of course not.

What this case was about was whether or not the officers that shot Mr Bell and his friends, that terrible night, were justified in doing so.

"NO!" you scream, "Those men weren't armed!".

You're right. They weren't, but this case isn't about that either.

"But they fired 50 rounds at those men."

True... but guess what?  This case wasn't about that, either.

No, this is about justification, and the laws governing the use of force, including deadly force by police.

This case is about the Supreme Court decisions in the cases of Graham V. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner.

To summarize, the Supreme Court held, with no Justices dissenting, that any judgment on the use of force by police must pass the "reasonableness standard", which must be whether or not the officers actions were reasonable to a "reasonable officer on the scene" at the time of the incident, and not viewed with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.  In other words, were the officers actions reasonable, knowing what he or she knew at the time of the incident.

So, here we have officers who already believe that the people in the car are armed (it doesn't matter that they weren't... it matters that the cops reasonably believed that they were, based on what one of the officers heard).  A confrontation ensues, wherein an officer is struck by the vehicle driven by the suspect in an attempt to flee.  One suspect, according to testimony, reached into his shirt/coat/jacket/pants... knowing what the officer reasonably believed at the time, was it reasonable to think that the suspect was reaching for a weapon?  Apparently, the court believed that it was.

When an officer thinks that he is about to be assaulted, he may use force... it is important to note that the officer is under no requirement to be assaulted before defending himself.

So, believing that the suspect was going for a gun, the fight was on, and the shooting started.

"But... 50 rounds?"

Well, it sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Hell, it is a lot... but was the number of shots unreasonable?  I'm asking you.  Yes, YOU.  Was 50 rounds too many?  How many should they have fired?  40? 30? 2?  How many rounds in enough in a gunfight?  I'll give you a hint:  As many as it takes to neutralize whatever threat that you perceive.

There we have it.  A reasonable belief that the suspect had access to weapons and or intent to use them.  A suspect attempting to use a vehicle as a weapon, A furtive gesture by a subject that one could reasonably conclude was a reach for a gun. 

Friends, all of those things put together say that the cops were authorized to use force.  Deadly force.  The fact that those men were unarmed never entered into the decision.

Never.

Sean Bell is dead, and it is a terrible tragedy, but he wasn't murdered.

Lots Happening Today

Pope Benedict will be giving (or is it saying) Mass at Nationals Stadium in a few hours, and my comrades in the city are going nuts already (the police radio is just buzzing, believe me).  You couldn't pay me to go downtown today.

Now, you would think that since my agency's HQ is only three blocks from the stadium, my boss would have cacelled the senior staff meeting scheduled for 9:30 this morning (just 30 minutes before the Mass) wouldn't you? 

Well, you'd be wrong.

Guess who is supposed to go to this meeting... but isn't?

Anything You Can do....

Those fine folks at the Parent Blogger Network have decided to do a blog blast about things that women can do just as well as a man.  It's a cool concept when you get right down to it.  I think that there are no small number of things that women can do just as well as men.  Indeed, there are relatively few things that women can't do as well as men.  Women are smart, strong, and capable.  Unfortunately, society places certain unfair expectations on gender.

The thing is, I am one of the few daddybloggers (am I a daddy blogger?  What makes it so?), that is a member of the network, and I decided that I should have equal time.  No, I won't whine about how down the mommybloggers are about dads.  I won't cry about some stupid "double standard" as I keep hearing about from adherents to certain unnamed politicians.  No, I think I'll just run my own little campaign here, and say that there are a lot of things that many people presume are the province of women that I can do just as well, or better than they can.

Lets see who I can piss off.  I am feeling just a little combative today... maybe it's because my mother in law is in town... maybe it's because the father of my soccer team's best goalie called me today to tell me that his daughter won't be at our soccer game tomorrow... maybe the Chinese food we had for dinner isn't settling well. 

Maybe I'm just a little ornery.

At any rate, no matter the reason, my heart or my shoes, I stood there on Christmas eve, HATING the Whos!  Oh, thats a different story.

Ahem.

My list.

I can cook as well or better than any women I have ever met... and that is no bullshit.  As a matter of fact, the only women that I will acknowledge as being better than me are Paula Deen and Julia Child.

Women are said to bear pain better than men, because they have had to deal with childbirth.  Ha.  Childbirth lasts a few hours... even several days if it's bad... but, try living with the pain that I have with my knees shoulders and back.  Ha!  Pain and I are old comrades.

Women are said to get along with others better than men.  Well, ladies, all I can say to that is:  Remember the time you worked in an all or mostly female environment?  I get along great with the people (mostly men) that I work with, even though I detest 3/4 of them.  Why?  Because when everyone has guns (like where I work)  it is wise to make nice.

Women are said to have better fashion sense, but let me tell you... No, wait.  Hmm, OK, most women DO have better fashion sense than me... except for the woman that we saw at WalMart today... my God:  The Horror, The Horror!

Well, there you have it:  my list of what I do as well as, or better than women.

I know it isn't a long list, but what the hell, I'm a man.

When you get the chance, ladies, go visit Patty, over at AskPatty.com, there is a nice giveaway going on!

Talkin' 'Bout My Generation!

My blog-buddy, Julie Pippert recently posted about her feelings on generational issues as they relate to the current political campaigns.  You can see it here, posted at Momocrats.com. 

Julie made some great points in her blog, and I had lots of comments to make as a result, but since I didn't want to hijack the thread, I decided to post about it here.

Julie feels that her... our generation, whatever people are deciding to call it, are being ignored in this election cycle... I don't know if I agree, but I do have some thoughts in the subject.

Here we go:

The generation in question, whether you call it "Jones" (born between 1954 & 1965),  or "X" (born between 1961 & 1976) will be running the country soon... if we aren't, quietly, running it already.

Courting and stirring up the Y'ers makes good political sense, as they are younger, more easily stirred, and more apt to buy into hype.

I don't think that those of us in the generation(s) that I identified (loosely), above (I was born in 1963... I am so NOT a baby boomer), are being ignored.  I really don't.  You see, we are just a bit busy right now... being the backbone of the workforce, and the future leadership of industry and the professions.  We are busy raising children and dumping what money we have into the economy.  We aren't invisible, but reporting about us isn't as exciting... and remember, the media isn't about anything other than what is exciting.  Excitement sells.

Our generation isn't as likely to buy into a lot of bullshit, either... we aren't starry-eyed, ex-hippy dope smoking boomers, who long for Utopian solutions.  I like to think that we are a bit more grounded.  I like to think that we are a results-oriented group. 

We quietly fought when our country called in Grenada, Beirut, Lebanon, The First Gulf War, Somalia, and were the last generation to stare down the Soviets across the Iron Curtain.

Gen-X-Jones is the first post civil-rights Generation.  Our generation is the first generation of unforced integration, we are the first generation of strong capable leaders who aren't all-white or all-men.

ours is the generation that will change this country and transform it into what it hasn't been for a long time.  Our generation has the backbone.  We are smaller and leaner than the Boomers who dropped acid, dropped out, and then Sold out for BMW's.  Our generation is tougher than Generation Y, and we will decide the next election.

Our generation Rocks!

Blogging For Voter Justice

As the title of today's post suggests, I am going to talk about justice.  Justice for voters.  Justice for Americans.

For many people, when you speak of justice, they have notions of fair trials, due process, adherence to laws and the Constitution.  In this instance I am going to talk about something a little different.  Today, I am going to discuss mathematics and it's potential for political injustice.

Most Americans of my own political bent...meaning Democrats or independents who are leaning towards the Democrats in this election cycle, are beginning to tire of the fight between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama for the Presidential nomination of the Democratic party.   I count myself among them.

Many of you know that my first choice for the Democratic nomination was Representative Dennis Kucinich.  Representative Kucinich's core policy postions closely match my own concerns, and I would have gladly voted for him, given the chance, but guess what, friends?  The math went against Mr Kucinich, and he is no longer in the race.  Indeed, the math also went against Senators Biden & Dodd, a Governor Richardson, who are likewise, no longer in the race.

What does any of this have to do with math?  Simply this:  if you get more votes, you win more races, and the various candidates get winnowed down to the one that ends up with the nomination... but you knew that already, didn't you?  Of course you did, because you are rational intelligent human beings.

I wish all people were as rational as you, gentle reader.  There are those, abroad in the land, for whom mathematical facts are a bit more elusive.  One of those people is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.  You see, when the facts of math go against a candidate, they usually, in a fair amount of time, figure out the improbability of success, and have the grace to back out of a race.  Not so with the junior Senator from New York. 

Sure, you know the math... HRC cannot win the the nomination of the Democratic party, even were she to Win EVERY primary race left before the Democratic convention with at least 60 percentage of the vote.

Did you get that?  Even if HRC wins every race with a 60% vote (which she has only done three times), she still loses.   Why is she still in the race then?  Well, thats a good question... let's look at a few possible answers.  Mrs Clinton is still in the race because she can still when if a few things happen:

1.  Barack Obama gets hit by a meteor.

2.  Barack Obama is kidnapped by aliens

3.  Barack Obama gets to the convention and says "Just kidding, I really didn't want to be President after all!"

4.  The Clintons muscle enough super-delegates to give her a victory.

A few of those scenarios are unlikely, but the likliest of all has the most dangerous implications.  In the fourth scenario, we see a large group of party activists deciding to thwart the votes of the party... actually handing the nomination to a person that didn't win it.  What do you think the likely outcome of such a scenario would be?

Shall I tell you the likely outcome?  It'll look something like this:

Millions of voters, furious that their votes were ignored, will be moved to stay home on election day... or worse, vote for the oppostion candidate out of spite, and John McCain becomes President.  Millions of voters furious that their legal, legitimate votes were disregarded, will abandon the Democratic party, and fracture it forever.

Don't think it can happen?  Watch... I'll speak more on this in the summer.

Because of the math of this race, it is prudent at this time that Senator Clinton suspend her candidacy.  No one could fault her for quitting now.  She has fought a game fight, and shown a resilliency that does her great honor and credit (even if her campaign conduct does not), but the time has come to face the math, if not the music. 

To remain is an act of hubris of the worst sort.

Lies, and More Lies

In the latter part of 2002, and through the first part of March of 2003, President George W. Bush and  his claque of war-mongering neo-cons and fellow travelers, aided by craven, weak, lick-spittle members of the House of Representatives and Senate, conspired to send our soldiers to war.  I say conspired because that is accurate. 

The vile repugnant scum (which includes any Democrat that turned a blind eye for whatever reason) that sent our soldiers to war told the American people that the United States needed to invade Iraq in order to prevent the development of "weapons of mass destruction" (known as CBRN - Chemical, Biological Nuclear, Radiological - in the military parlance).  They told the American people that Iraq had been attempting to buy key components for making nuclear weapons... The President of the United States made that claim on national television... even when he knew that it wasn't true.

Even when he knew it wasn't true.

So, as if that wasn't enough, President Bush, Vice President "I'll-shoot-you-in-the-face" Cheney, and others in the administration of evil, began to discuss the Iraq-911 connection, and the Iraq- Al Qaeda connections.  Our leaders told us these things were true... but they weren't.  Oh, it wasn't bad intelligence, no.  It was a collection of lies.

Lies.

The President of the United States lied to you, to me, to your children and to posterity.

No... not a lie about getting a series of sexual favors from someone who wasn't his wife.

No... not a lie meant to cover up some sort of personal failure or even criminal activity.

These lies were going to plunge our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines into a war that would cost nearly a million lives (and counting), most of which would be civilian casualties.  These lies have wrecked our country's economy.  These lies have so deeply divided the citizens of this country, to the point where who knows if we can recover.

Oh, but the liars weren't finished yet.  They continued to lie.

Once the invasion had taken place, and the Iraqi army destroyed (oh, it wasn't destroyed, was it?  They melted away with their guns, took off their uniforms, and got ready for the "insurgency") .  We were told that Iraq had been "liberated".

Once no CBRN weapons were found, they told us that the invasion was about deposing Saddam Hussein... since he hadn't been captured right away.  Once we captured Saddam, we were told that our troops would be there "Until The Job Gets Done"... only, The President, The Secretary of Defense, and their people wouldn't tell us for many months exactly WHAT THE "JOB" WAS.

So, after blundering along, the insurgency begins in earnest, and with violence mounting against our soldiers and Iraqi civilians, the Vice President told us that the insurgency was in it's "last throes" (June, 2005).  A month where 77 Americans were killed in Iraq.

Then they told us it was to stabilize Iraq.  Yeah, to stabilize Iraq.  Anybody seeing any stability there?  No?  I don't see it, either... but hey, what do I know?

Then they told us that it was all about the war on terror.... as we are really (well some people really are) stupid enough to believe that you can fight terrorists with conventional military forces.  It doesn't work that way, folks.  Besides, the people we are fighting in Iraq are Jihadis... not terrorists in the common understanding.

As a veteran of eight years of active duty service, I am appalled at the casual use waste, with which the leadership of our government has used misused our troops.

As a father, I am sickened by the fact that my youngest child will likely be in high school before this is finished.

As a taxpayer, I am beyond furious that our leadership has mired us in a war that has destroyed our economy.

No one in America is safer because of this action.

No one in any middle eastern country... including Iraq, is any safer because of it, either.

I'm sick of it, aren't you?

Please join me in opposition to this war.  If you are wondering what you might do about it, I suggest that you start by finding out how your Congressional representatives voted on George Bush's permission slip for war.  If you believe that your representative was wrong on his or her vote.  Elect someone else.  Support an opposition candidate... and for God's good sake, please don't support ANY Presidential candidate, of whatever party (yes, that's you, Hillary) who had a part in it, for shame.

Stand up and be counted.  Now.

Thirty Minutes At Panera

Since today is Tuesday, I should be posting about my weekly evening visit to my local Borders books store cafe.  Well, this week is going to be a little different, because I have to work late tonight.  Since I'll be working at Soccer Girl's appointed Brownie meeting time, I have to get my people watching from another source.

Fortunately, Panera has free Internet, and have Internet, will post... so here we are.

The Panera here on Edsall Road is new, and looks pretty much like any other Panera location you may have visited, being the lunch hour, as opposed to my usual evening Borders visits, the clientèle is different.

When I arrived, I saw two of our IT guys  having lunch, they saw me and waved, and I waved back, but declined their invitation to sit with them, because I didn't really want to converse with anyone, especially since I just had a shooting/therapy session with an agent from another agency... the poor soul... she has some shooting issues that need resolution and was sent to me by her boss because of my Yoda-like skillz.

Anyway, I ordered my sandwich and sat down... no sooner than I had fired up my computer, my buzzer alerted me to the fact that I needed to go and retrieve my Chicken Caeser Sandwich, which was really  REALLY good.

Comfortably seated, I was about to get started with my observation, but I took a moment to download Firefox as my default browser because I like it s much more than Explorer.

No sooner had I been seated when I noticed that the IT guys were talking to a woman, and looking and pointing in my direction... Not good.  Not good at all.

The woman approached me and started a conversation about Virginia politics... as it turns out, her name is Lori Alexander, and she is a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives for the 11th congressional district.  Frankly, I don't think much of her chances, but she was pleasant and earnest, and that has to count for something, doesn't it?

I live in Virginia's first Congressional district, so I can't vote for her, but here is what I am prepared to do as a good and loyal Democrat.  I'm going to give Mrs. Alexander a free plug.

Please visit Lori Alexander For Congress, and find out more about this candidate who promises to be a voice for change in Northern Virginia.  Lori, pictured here with her family,  is a working Physical Therapist, wife and mother, who cares about the environment and making the Commonwealth of Virgina a better place.

***NOTE*** I am not endorsing Mrs. Alexander, but I am willing to read the information that she gave me, and the stuff on her website.

Now, unfortunately, my conversation with the candidate took more time than I wanted it to, so as soon as she departed, I jotted a few more notes  and headed back to work, because I am busy, busy, busy today!

GF

Welcome

And so begins a new journey, join me, wont you?

I'm still the same guy, with the same life, and the same opinions, I'm just in new digs.  You can expect all of the same pithy humor, witty remarks, and high culture life stories.  I just needed a change.  The old site will stay active for a while, as I have a few things to get finished over there, and some stuff that I'll have to migrate.

If you are new to this blog... or reading the stuff that I write, I bid you welcome.  If you are one of my pals from the old place, I bid you welcome as well.  Pull up a chair... and if you brought a large jug of inexpensive red wine, or some good beer, or an expensive single malt whiskey, I am sure that we will become fast friends, immediately.

Cheers,

GF