And There it is . . . Disparate Systems of Enforcement Belie the Idea of All Are Equal Under The Law . . .

The Gadfly has finally gotten a reprieve in his on-going work/business ventures and as such, it is time to get caught up on a few things.  So let's not waste any time . . . . .

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First up -- this is why this country cannot have nice things:

JUNE 16, 2014, 1:59 PM EDT

"Folks, I need you all to go inside," an officer can be heard telling onlookers at one point. "If that gun is live and he starts firing, everyone is at risk."

Houseman refused to comply with requests that he put the rifle down and talk to the officers. During the negotiations, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Lt. Stacey Geik, who took over as commanding officer on the scene, told a dispatcher that Houseman was "exercising his open carry rights, however, he has certainly overextended them at this point."

There was also talk of revolution, and gun rights, and even remorse. According to MLive.com, he was eventually convinced to put down the gun.

After Houseman had turned over the rifle, he and Geik continued to talk, because Houseman wanted to get his gun back.

"But you're not stable mentally, which now takes you away from that rifle," Geik said, according to MLive.com.

"I'm not stable mentally? How do you decide that?" Houseman said.

"You're damn right," the lieutenant said. "How did this happen with open carry? What are you supposed to do when you contact law enforcement? Do you say, 'I hate you mother(expletive), (expletive) you? I hate you, there's a revolution coming.' Do you say that? Is that what you're taught?"

"It was wrong of me," Houseman said.

The rifle was returned to him the next day, and police decided against seeking a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joseph-houseman-police-standoff


Ok - so let's summarize shall we?

An old white guy is strolling up and down the street of his Kalamazoo, Michigan neighborhood, waving an assault rifle around and shouting about "revolution" and "gun rights."  Keep in mind, this event is just days fresh on the heels of a couple of anti-government gun nuts in Nevada walking in to a restaurant in Las Vegas where a couple of LVPD cops were on their lunch break, and having caught them off guard - (because who goes to lunch thinking you might be executed at any moment?), unceremoniously put bullets in to the backs of their heads execution style, then drape the Tea Party flag (Don't Tread on Me) over the officer's fresh corpses all the while screaming about the start of the revolution.

Ok - so this obviously unhinged, assault rifle toting old white guy gets the attention of neighbors and passerby who all, and rightly so, concernedly contact and report it to the police.  The cops show up, wherein the old white guy starts screaming at, insulting and verbally threatening the cops.  After about an hour of negotiations, the cops finally convince the old white guy that he's in the wrong and get him to surrender and hand over his rifle.  There is video at the link if you care to watch and have your blood pressure raised.

So anyhow - the cops, even after telling the old white guy that they believed him to be "mentally unstable," subsequently release him with no charges and return his assault weapon to him the very next day.

That was mighty white of the Kalamazoo PD to accord the old white guy such accommodating deference, dontcha think dear readers?

Alright -- there is a reason that The Gadfly repeatedly employed the term "old white guy" in his summary of this story above here dear readers in addition to highlighting and underscoring it.  Many of you can probably guess where this is headed.

Replace the term "old white guy" with "young black man" or "young hispanic man" in this scenario.

Any of you dear readers care to speculate as to whether or not the Kalamazoo PD might have handled that situation a bit differently had the suspect been a African-America or Hispanic man waving an assault rifle around on a public street and ranting about revolution and such??  Hell -- it doesn't even have to be a young black or hispanic -- make it an old man if it makes you feel any better -- the question still stands.

. . . . . ♫♫♫ ...Crickets Chirping... ♫♫♫ . . . . . 

Yeah -- that's what The Gadfly thought.    

The day that The Gadfly begins seeing conservatives demanding equal law enforcement treatment, like the kind that the loony old white guy in this case received, for minorities - that is the day that The Gadfly will reconsider his unbending stance of just not giving a shit whatsoever what conservatives think and believe these days.



----TFG