now, for a little self-criticism
I am somewhat embarrassed and a little irritated with myself over my post from Oct. 6 entitled "thank goodness for the second amendment!". In that post, I talked about the latest scandal facing the indiana pacers and, specifically, Steven Jackson. http://christianconservatives.blogspot.com/2006/10/thank-goodness-for-second-amendment.html
In that post, I made three points, and I stand by points 2 and 3. I was right on the money with those comments. It is point 1 that has me bothered. In that point, I referred to Jackson and his buddies as "victims", I applauded Jackson for using a gun to "defend himself", and I celebrated the existence of the second amendment. Not so fast on that "victim" part. As it turns out, Jackson was one of the instigators in the fight. The facts are that Jackson, Tinsley, "Snap" Hunter and Marquis Daniels had another guy with them, a friend of Tinsley's named Raymel Mattox. Mattox got into an argument at the strip club with two brothers named "Dino" and "Fingers" Williford over the attentions of one of the lovely "entertainers." Mattox hit Fingers, Dino came to his brother's defense, and the fight spilled into the parking lot. At this point, Mattox knocked Fingers down and began pummeling him. Steven Jackson joined in and began kicking Fingers. This might be the appropriate time to tell how "Fingers" Williford got his nickname. Both of his arms stop at the elbow, and he has two deformed fingers growing from each of the stubs. He is also only 5 ft. tall. In other words, Steven Jackson (6-8, 218 pounds) and Raymel Mattox were kicking the sh_ _ out of a handicapped dwarf. Nice! After getting in a couple of vicious kicks to the body, Jackson went to his car, got his gun, fired off a couple of shots into the air (35 other people were in the parking lot at the time), strapped the gun to his waist a' la Marshal Dillon, and came back to knock Fingers around a little more. Fingers' brother, Dino, ran to his car, fired it up and hit Jackson, who flew clear over the top of the car. When Jackson hit the ground he came up shooting, cracking off 3 more shots into the air. That's what we know today. The Marion County Prosecuter, Carl Brizzi, told reporters this morning that Jackson's story to police last weekend turned out to be a little less than truthful (read: total B.S.). That's why Brizzi formally indicted Jackson this morning on a felony charge of criminal recklessness and misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct. Jackson faces up to 3 years in the hole on the felony charge and 1 year apiece on each of the other two charges. He also faces up to 93 days in jail in Michigan for violating probation on the charges stemming from the Detroit brawl 2 years ago.
I am embarrassed because I accepted as fact the initial news reports about the incident. I know from years of experience that the media very seldom gets a major, breaking story right in the initial moments. They usually disseminate a whole lot of false information (intentionally and unintentionally both) in the beginning stages of the story, and then catch up to the truth sometime later. I know this, yet I believed the fiction that Jackson was a victim and a positive poster child for the NRA. Ain't I the foolish one!
If you are at all interested in this story, you can check out www.indystar.com for coverage.
In that post, I made three points, and I stand by points 2 and 3. I was right on the money with those comments. It is point 1 that has me bothered. In that point, I referred to Jackson and his buddies as "victims", I applauded Jackson for using a gun to "defend himself", and I celebrated the existence of the second amendment. Not so fast on that "victim" part. As it turns out, Jackson was one of the instigators in the fight. The facts are that Jackson, Tinsley, "Snap" Hunter and Marquis Daniels had another guy with them, a friend of Tinsley's named Raymel Mattox. Mattox got into an argument at the strip club with two brothers named "Dino" and "Fingers" Williford over the attentions of one of the lovely "entertainers." Mattox hit Fingers, Dino came to his brother's defense, and the fight spilled into the parking lot. At this point, Mattox knocked Fingers down and began pummeling him. Steven Jackson joined in and began kicking Fingers. This might be the appropriate time to tell how "Fingers" Williford got his nickname. Both of his arms stop at the elbow, and he has two deformed fingers growing from each of the stubs. He is also only 5 ft. tall. In other words, Steven Jackson (6-8, 218 pounds) and Raymel Mattox were kicking the sh_ _ out of a handicapped dwarf. Nice! After getting in a couple of vicious kicks to the body, Jackson went to his car, got his gun, fired off a couple of shots into the air (35 other people were in the parking lot at the time), strapped the gun to his waist a' la Marshal Dillon, and came back to knock Fingers around a little more. Fingers' brother, Dino, ran to his car, fired it up and hit Jackson, who flew clear over the top of the car. When Jackson hit the ground he came up shooting, cracking off 3 more shots into the air. That's what we know today. The Marion County Prosecuter, Carl Brizzi, told reporters this morning that Jackson's story to police last weekend turned out to be a little less than truthful (read: total B.S.). That's why Brizzi formally indicted Jackson this morning on a felony charge of criminal recklessness and misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct. Jackson faces up to 3 years in the hole on the felony charge and 1 year apiece on each of the other two charges. He also faces up to 93 days in jail in Michigan for violating probation on the charges stemming from the Detroit brawl 2 years ago.
I am embarrassed because I accepted as fact the initial news reports about the incident. I know from years of experience that the media very seldom gets a major, breaking story right in the initial moments. They usually disseminate a whole lot of false information (intentionally and unintentionally both) in the beginning stages of the story, and then catch up to the truth sometime later. I know this, yet I believed the fiction that Jackson was a victim and a positive poster child for the NRA. Ain't I the foolish one!
If you are at all interested in this story, you can check out www.indystar.com for coverage.
posted by hondo at 6:15 PM
2 Comments:
This is the reason why liberals like me believe in gun conrol. When you let guns be bought willy-nilly, they end up in the hands of drunks who don't act sensibly. You would not believe what a relief it is to live here and not have to worry that some drunk (and Australia has plenty, despite its high booze prices) is going to blast me. Why is it you right-wingers don't care about Bush revoking any amendment to the Constitution except the Second?
Reagan was right when he said that liberalism was the passionate belief in things that just aren't so. Gun control laws increase violence, because the criminals don't have to worry about law abiding citizens carrying weapons to defend themselves. Gun control laws kill more people each year than accidental shootings.
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