Saturday, March 06, 2010
Who You Callin' Misguided?
The sheriff appears to get many things right--but his outright dismissal of those pointing out what's wrong, and his unwillingness to consider what justification we have to believe as we do, shows a dangerous blindness. [Read]
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10 comments:
With respect to CSOC, it is misguided. These are aggressively vocal activists for individual liberty. I've volunteered with them during a major disaster and based on that experience "no greater love" is exactly how I would describe them.
Mike's challenge is appropriate in his state, maybe, but in Colorado it is like an altar call for the Pastor.
He's dismissing the breakdown of trust for LEOs as misguided and assuming it's based on OUR misconceptions? His side did nothing to merit it?
OK, fair enough, why not test that assumption? Go tell the sheriff you're carrying concealed without "permission" and then come back and tell us what a liberty-lover he turned out to be.
Maybe you can say "Hi" to Rick Stanley for us--he's another sacrifice at the altar of Colorado's LEO priesthood.
I wish the Sheriffs here were inclined more in the direction of that one. Not perfect, but certainly better by far than what I have come to expect.
That he considers the FBI,ATF, IRS, etc. etc. as working for the American people shows how out of touch he is.
Just a reminder that this is the sheriff who is refusing to cooperate with the CSU CCW ban. He won't enforce it, he won't allow anyone with a CCW license to be booked into his jail for CCW, and if anyone with a license he issued is arrested he will testify on their behalf if the prosecutor is so foolish.
I think Sheriff Alderden is one of the good guys, but just doesn't realize how bad things have gotten elsewhere. I've sent him a polite email trying to further explain.
I wrote something in praise of that. And again, I'm thinking he's a lot better than most, but my issue is if he thinks there is no problem-- or those of us who think there is are misguided-- he is ignoring/dismissing something important, and we will not stand silent while we are ignored or dismissed.
Whenever I see anyone presented as the ideal, the benchmark, the standard for having "arrived," I reserve the right to kick the tires and take the assumption out for a test spin.
Which is it David? Is he supposed to keep his oath to enforce the law? If he didn't arrest you, would you accuse him of being an oathbreaker?
Carrying a concealed weapon without a permit is a crime in most jurisdictions of this country, and has been held as constitutional since the Founding Era. You may think you have the fundamental right to carry concealed, but it is not supported by case law or constitutional history. If you desire to willfully break the law in order to try to create your case law, that is your choice -- but don't impugn the reputation of this freely elected servant and outspoken defender of individual liberty by implying that he is doing anything other than his sworn duty by arresting you.
Yeah, I'm saying anyone who would kidnap me at gunpoint for peaceably keeping and bearing arms is my enemy and no defender of individual liberty. And anyone who would endorse that is a tyranny enabler.
I guess you're one of those who doesn't believe in "shall not be infringed"? Or thinks it means something else?
You want stare decisis worship, boy, have you picked the wrong place.
David, you just don't get it!
Sherif Alderden ain't wrong. He's Law Enforcement!
Get it now?
My email to Sheriff Alderden:
Sheriff Alderden, I think I may have been among the first to laud you and tell you of my appreciation for your lawful and constitutional stance as regards the abominable situation at CSU in respect to the CCW on campus.
I think you may very well be one of the good guys, but I've got to tell you, you missed it in your response to VanderBoegh's open letter. You didn't just miss it, but you missed it big time. I am inclined, something I am not wont to do ordinarily with law enforcement personnel, to grant that you do not have a full understanding of the situation nor our concerns about it.
Because of your principled stance on the CSU situation, I believe that your response is based on the reality of your personal experiences, as you said. Unfortunately, I also believe your personal experiences must have had some insulating effect on your perceptions as pertains to the general state of law enforcement/ public relations in this nation. In other words, I don't mean this to be insulting, I fear you are somewhat naive.
I wish to put this message in proper perspective, before I continue. So, I direct your attention to all the plaudits you have received from all over the nation just for being true to your oath of office. Something you subsequently characterized as "no big deal, just doing what I was supposed to " (badly paraphrased by me, but accurate to meaning). It must have struck you at some point that all the signs of appreciation and support for "merely doing your job", seemed extraordinary.
Well, it was extraordinary! VERY EXTRAORDINARY! Why? Simple. Because we, the citizens, have become resigned to law enforcement who do not do their jobs according to the law and the constitution. That is why we thought it such a big deal. We haven't seen much of it in the last three decades.
I could write on this topic from now until you and I die of old age, but I won't. I would however, just point out three instances where law enforcement not only didn't do their jobs, but committed crimes, including cold-blooded murder. These will not be comprehensive, but they are typical.
Waco, post Katrina New Orleans, and Ruby Ridge, Id. There can be no reasonable denial that law enforcement personnel committed crimes with the sanction of their agencies. In some of these instances, they were borrowed cops from other places, in some they were federal cops. They all killed people who didn't need killed, they all abused people who hadn't done anything to deserve it. (talking here about the criminal cops, not necessarily all of them) But here's the rub. Not one sheriff, who is the most powerful law enforcement officer in any county or parish, arrested even one of these criminals.
Now, the general public knows this. We have come to expect it. We have determined to stop it. Peaceably, using the law if we can, otherwise, if the law is not available to correct the lawlessness we see in law enforcement.
I do hope you will take a longer wider look at the issues raised in the open letter. I believe if you learn a little more of the history of the reasons for the disaffection and distrust of the average person for law enforcement you could be a valuable asset to help correct the problems before the point of intolerance is passed and blood is shed.
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Will inform of his answer if he does. he did reply to my last. so I hold out hope. I really think he might be a good guy, just naive.
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