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(Charles Sykes/Associated Press)
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The New Orleans Danziger Bridge killings and cover-up add further challenge to the absurd and offensive claim that police are the "only ones" society can trust with guns. From The New York Times:
At the bridge, Lieutenant Lohman found that six civilians had been shot by police officers, two fatally. None of them had weapons.
Almost immediately, federal authorities said Wednesday in a blistering series of accusations, he and the other officers began to plot a cover-up, planting a gun near the site to make the shootings appear justified.
The Times-Picayune further fleshes things out for us:
Michael Lohman, who retired as a lieutenant this month, admitted in federal court Wednesday that he helped cover up the department's unprovoked assault against the Madisons and four other pedestrians on the Danziger Bridge Sept. 4, 2005. Contrary to the official police account that claimed Lance Madison tried to kill seven police officers and a civilian, the man never had a gun, Lohman says. The weapon cited as evidence of Lance Madison's murderous intent, Lohman says, was planted by police officers under his supervision and essentially with his permission.
So these creeps also tried to frame an innocent man--after killing his mentally disabled brother and another young man, and blowing the hell out of four other people. And some of these thugs are still claiming their vicious criminal attack was justified by circumstances.
Circumstances morally and Constitutionally-challenged Fox News bloviator Bill O'Reilly apparently approves of...
If we can believe anything the involved cops have testified to (and why the hell should we?), it's that they thought the people on the bridge were armed. They weren't, of course, but what if they were?
We have a right to be.
If you were trying to get to safety with your loved ones and had to make your way through a no man's land populated by looting predators and worse, would you go defenseless? As long as the refugees weren't initiating force, the proper response by a government established to secure the Blessings of Liberty would be to assist them in getting to safety, not blow them away like paranoid cowards—and then lie about it afterward.
But O'Reilly claims government has a right to disarm citizens in weather and other emergencies—and that our lot as citizens is to meekly surrender our arms and hope the Supreme Court works it out some day. That's small comfort to people in the grave, or the loved ones left to mourn them. Or to those who have been maimed for life.
O'Reilly maintains a cop or soldier who would refuse a disarmament order, or an order to open fire on citizens refusing to surrender their arms, citing instead their oath to uphold the Constitution, is guilty of "a pretty extreme position."
The rebellion that resulted in a Bill of Rights—protecting O'Reilly's forum to spout any damned nonsense he likes without fear of being dragged out and hanged—began in earnest when citizens refused to surrender their arms to the government. A proper response to the Danziger Bridge attackers would have been to return their fire, defend lives and get to safety. And then let the courts sort it out.
O'Reilly's alternative is not only the extreme position, it's the un-American one.
It's the position of a fascist pinhead, not a patriot.
"New Orleans case should send chilling message to those who think ‘only cops should have guns’," by Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman
"Post-Katrina New Orleans, where the killers had the only 'permissible' guns," by St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner Kurt Hofmann
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Bye Bye
Outdoor Life's John Haughey says it to outgoing Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, and cites yours truly's assessment of the likely contenders.
Click here to read...
Comments
In the past, I have also heard this Judenrat say that owning an "assault rifle" is just "out there" and nobody should own one, except of course, the only ones. He's more East German than American, and full of himself, and other things.
I've never understood what people like about O'Reilly. Maybe it's sheer coincidence, but every time I've tuned in to the guy he was spouting some police-state anti-liberty garbage.
I was taken aback by Oreilly's lack of knowledge about the 2nd amendment. I've read the constitution a few hundred times and nowhere in it does it say "except for weather emergencies".
I have to agree, O'Rielly is a fascist. Always has been. On no other topic will you find his totalitarian tendencies so much on display as on Second Amendment issues. He's entitled to his opinion - too bad it's so wildly wrong.
O'Reilly is a idiot. I listened to him a total of one time. That was enough. Anyone with that little confidence in the 2nd Amendment needs to pack up and move somewhere he can appreciate the loss of freedom. England might be a good choice for him. As to the New Orleans Danziger Bridge killings, when the whole truth comes out, and it will, Nagin and Compass should probably both get to do a stretch in the big house. They could be roomies. Nagin should be in jail for letting all of those school buses be flooded instead of using them to evacuate people. He's a complete idiot.
Out of respect for Mr. Know-it-all O'Reilly's beliefs, nobody should come to his aid when he is mugged, invaded, assaulted, jack booted or overrun. He's just a glorified shock jock. What nerve to call other people moonbats.
Fox News needs to understand the effect that having O'Reilly on their channel is having on the attitude of their viewers, and eventuall their ratings.
He's had plenty of points that I've been able to agree with in the past, but after this and a couple of other things he's said that make me want to move to the moon, I'm going to follow him only to see what clothing the wolves are coming at us in next...
I was going to leave a snappy comment here, but I see everyone else here has expressed my sentiments exactly.
Dave, your tweet function doesn't seem to be working today.
I will NEVER watch Oreilly EVER again. As a former regular viewer I was shocked to hear about this "bold, fresh" version of total disrespect of our Constitution. PLEASE STOP WATCHING THIS CLOSET LIBERAL.
Being raised in New Orleans, and being excommunicated because of my white skin along with 40% of New Orleans of every race and creed looking for safety, I can attest to the mean spirit of many ignorant and violent blacks there.
I lost both of my Cajun parents during Katrina, with six weeks to find them, and another to ID. One can only imagine what their last moments were like, most likely dying in the heat of 610-I10.
Two officers killed themselves during Katrina, so most likely the officers who stayed to help were under duress. Our city was under siege by the black community for a generation prior, and our economy went to a banana republic, with the destruction of society and what New Orleans held sacred, from Pontchartrain Beach, Pops fountain, to becoming the murder capital of the entire US.
When someone hits you several times, the next time he raises his arm, even to scratch his nose, you will flinch. This is what happened to those officers, and just as blacks do not...
Bill clearly said that to refuse a disarmament order per the Bill of Rights was a "pretty extreme position". Later, he posted a letter saying that he supports the 2A, but the law is the law, and it was leal for the gov't thugs to take guns.
Who's spinning in the no-spin zone now, you pinhead?
...want to be held accountable for their actions, no matter how hateful, why should it be any different for an officer in the middle of the biggest national disaster of American history. There were vandals, snipers everywhere.
Why didn't the black men in New Orleans help my 85 year old parents? Why did the rape, pillage and steal. Why did they take food from those weaker, shoot into hospitals, and terrorize in roving bands breaking and entering at will?
It was unusual circumstances, and justice seems so simple in retrospect. None of you were there... and oh, I would try not to give up my weapon, but I would never kill an officer who took it from me thinking it was for the common good. Anyone else though...
Ken LaRive- "I would try not to give up my weapon, but I would never kill an officer who took it from me thinking it was for the common good. Anyone else though... "
Why make a distinction where none exists? No one *ever* takes your weapon away from you for your own good. The "common good" is a lie. The only reason to disarm a person is to do things to them they would prevent if they were armed.
I used to think Oreilly was ok, but I never really listened to him either. After this though, that man is lower than whale turds to me.
I think your statement "It's the position of a fascist pinhead, not a patriot" pretty much sums it up. People like O'Reilly do not deserve the title of "journalist." Rather, they are people who use distortion of the facts and outright lies in an attempt to shape public opinion. My thanks to those who have worked to bring the truth out. My heartfelt sorrow to the families of the victims. I think what happened there should not reflect badly on the very many fine LEO's in this country.
Edin Sac says,"I think what happened there should not reflect badly on the very many fine LEO's in this country."
I agree, all both of them.
David said, " A proper response to the Danziger Bridge attackers would have been to return their fire, defend lives and get to safety. And then let the courts sort it out."
Those poor folks on the bridge didn't even have that option since they were unarmed. It's the most despicable and cowardly act I've seen come out of Katrina yet.
Many people who have commented call O'Reilly fascist. He's not alone. He was raised in the heart of New York City and he is the by-product of a long-term fascist-based indoctrination which all New Yorkers are subjected to by the hard core liberal/progressive politicians they serve. I know, I used to be one of them.
When I put put O'Reilly's pathetic pro-government/anti-gun sentiments into a 'New York' context it makes perfect sense to me and I am not in the least bit surprised he thinks in such depraved terms.
To O'Reilly, his 'New York' mentality is perfectly normal, and the rest of us are extremists. That will never change.
I generally believe O'Reilly is a pretty good TV commentator/analist, but on this matter he has completly blown it. He apparantly has an "it's legal until a court says it's illegal" theory of Constitutional Law. And somehow he justified it by bringing up Lincoln's suspension of Habeus Corpus.
I wonder how he worked THAT into his theory ....
Oh wait.
Not theory.
DRIVEL.
He lost me on this one.
TO DAVID CODREA:
AS A RESIDENT NEW ORLEANIAN, WAS JUST AS DISAPPOINTED TO HEAR O'REILLY's COMMENT AS U. IN FACT I WAS OUTRAGED. O'REILLY IS WHERE THE T-PARTY IS HEADED TOO - U WATCH! ALL B.S. "POLITICS AS USUAL".
BUT THERE's SOMETHING U MISSING AS WELL, and THAT IS- THESE COPS WERENT SHOOTIN AT GOD-FEARIN' CHRISTIANS EITHER! THEY ACTED LIKE WILD ANIMALS; THEY GOT TREATED LIKE WILD ANIMALS. NO, DONT ADVOCATE SHOOTING THEM, CERTAINLY. BUT PLZ DONT DEFEND THE "LI'L DARLINGS" SO FERVENTLY EITHER. CHAOS IS CHAOS... PUT URSELF IN THE COPS SHOES. HOW WOULD "U" STOP THE CHAOS WHEN THEY LAUGHIN AT U AS THEY WHEEL PAST SHOPPING CARTS FULL OF BEER, GUNS, "JEWELRY"(!), TV SETS.. OH YEH. DEFINITELY NEEDED FOR SURVIVAL! THE PO' DARLINS!
REMEMBER: ALWAYS 2 SIDES TO EVERY STORY.
This "jackhole" has got his head firmly implanted
up his buttt! I used to watch him, but I won't now.
The arrogance from this a-hole is too much to bear.
USA has got it right!....Stop watching the idiot and
FOX News will drop him like a stone.
There are some who display a quality I think of as "aggressive supidity." O'Reilly is one of those. They are deeply ignorant, misinformed, and stupid people who are driven by their inner demons to demonstrate that to the widest possible audience. O'Reilly even designed and produced a radio/TV program that allows him to reveal himself to the entire nation. He claims, I recall, to be a graduate of Harvard. If that's the case it appears that all he retained from that is the mantra that "Harvard men don't urinate on their fingers." I can't attest to that because I've never observed him during coffee breaks.
Hunter commented: "He's entitled to his opinion - too bad it's so wildly wrong." I think entitlement; i.e., the right to hold and express a personal opinion regardless of its validity is no stronger than the right to keep and bear arms. He denies that right to lesser beings; hence I am revoking O'Reilly's permission to exhibit his intellectual and moral incompetence.
I like that, Flavet: "aggressive stupidity". I'm stealing that one, thank you.
BTW, is that French or are you a veteran from Florida?
Straight Arrow might remember when O'Reilly worked in the Denver area. He used his size to intimidate people that he interviewed as a matter of course and style. He was a bully then, and remains so in the manner that he decides what is right, and the rest of us can go take a hike.
Dave nailed this one.
David you hit this nail on the head with a 1 ton hammer!
OReilly and even Beck have been saying and doing some very weird things lately.
OReilly’s comments in my opinion have disqualified him from ever again having any relevance. Beck the new global warming czar thinks people that question government are despicable
As far as the New Orleans situation I don’t care if the victims were all carrying howitzers if they weren’t a threat to anyone where’s the crime.
The New Orleans shooting has sent Americans a message “In time of great need or disaster government is your enemy, act accordingly”
BLAADE--what do you know that the Times-Picayune does not?
"The [police] plot may have worked if the Madisons weren't of good repute. However, Ronald Madison, whom police shot dead on the bridge, was a 40-year-old man with the mind of a first-grader who had insisted on staying through the storm to care for his beloved dachshunds Bobbi and Sushi. The storm had scared him and made him cry. That Sunday, his older brother Lance, a 25-year-employee of FedEx, was crossing the bridge with him to get to another brother's dentistry practice...Those same officers blew off part of Susan Bartholomew's arm, shot her husband Leonard Bartholomew in the head, wounded the couple's daughter Leisha Bartholomew and caused their nephew Jose Holmes such severe injuries that he had to wear a colostomy bag for years. None of the wounded was charged with attacking the police. And according to Lohman's plea, they shouldn't have been. None was carrying a weapon."
AND WHY THE SHOUTING?
O'reilly lost me when he refused to give any consideration to the Swift Boat Vets' comments during the 2004 Presidential election. He's a bully, plain and simple.
Recently, his show has become pathetic.
I saw it sitting there and you picked it up a few paraqraphs later, I'm glad. Yeah, the existence of a gun in the hands of normal people is not an excuse for slaughter. "We have a right".
The idea that the Bill of Rights holds only when it's easy and is readily ignorable in times of "emergency" strikes me as 180 degrees off from the intent. The prohibition would make no sense if it only applied when no action was being taken. it is very much for the purpose of "but wait, we have an excuse" being answered with "no, you never have an excuse." That shouldn't be very hard to figure out.
TO David:
David, ur a good man, no doubt. But when u start beleivin the Lib Trash Reporting sources; U dont think the NEWS gonna tell u the TRUTH about what was REALLY going on, do u? C'Mon Dave... I KNOW u much smarter than that! I stayed too! And WATCHED the "Li'l Darlings" wheel their buggies home -by the DOZEN- down the streets. Wanted to go grab MY OWN gun as well - just to STOP THEM!! And by the way: Timeframe wrong. This was before the idiot Chief of Police declared "nobody gonna have guns..."
At any rate: Wanna know the Truth? Ask the locals, dont read the NEWS! ANYBODY IN NEW ORLEANS WILL BACK ME!! - whose not BLACK anyhow. My Neighbor has her 65" HDTV she's enjoying - because of KATRINA. No, dont tell me (& the rest of the LAW ABIDING) what we "didnt" see! It was widespread. it wasnt reported. We ALL saw it.
THATS why the Cops shot! Outnumbered, "they" had no one to call, thought they were following the Law against Thieves, Looters... get no sympathy from me!
I think David, that Blaade is an unconscionable racist. I await the day the cops hurt him and he whines but I ain't black.
Now it stands to reason that a great proportion of the thugs in N.O. would be black, for the same reason that a great proportion of the good guys are black. Uh huh, you guessed it. N.O. is majority black, this ain't rocket surgery.
There is NO EXCUSE for the scumbags we have as cops these days. I wouldn't Pl$$ on one if I found him on fire in the middle of the street. I'm not a criminal. Never charged with anything more than a traffice ticket just so you know. Because of an errant son, I have had the opportunity to observe these tyrant bastards up close and what I learned has convinced me they ARE THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE and the Constitution! I now celebrate every time I hear one has been offed. The more the better!
I used to donate to the Police Protective Association every year. But they showed me the light.
O'Reilly is an elitist, pompous arse. His so-called "no spin zone" is BS. I pay him no more attention. His biggest problem, I think, is he was educated at Harvard. Hey, didn't Obama go to Harvard. Well, that explains a lot. The government has no legitimate authority to suspend civil rights period. The Constitution grants the Congress authority, sort of, in cases of INVASION AND REBELLION ONLY (Article I, Section 9) but only the "privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus 0 not the BoR!).. The President has no such Constitutional authority!
You can watch him if you want but I gave up several years ago, after he trashed "assault rifles". He gave me the impression that he is no different that any of the gun grabbers... gave him another chance a year later and he basically trashed 2A and I will not watch his show ever again. He is anti 2A, except under terms that he find acceptable and they, bear not even a faint resemblance to those found in the bill of rights, or the opinions expressed by the founders. (showers of unpublishable epithets follow)
O'Reilly has always supported the status-quo.
Heh. What people forget (or ignore) about "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is that we colonials weren't defending our right to keep small arms, but cannon -- artillery pieces.
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