Six Years Late and a Few Billion Short

You know something is up when NBC’s Saturday Night Live knows something is wrong with the political process espoused by the Obama Administration.

What are the Folks in D.C. Thinking?

From the Washington Times:

. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

… under the terms of this week’s deal, Congress set a deadline instead of a dollar cap. That means debt can rise as much as Mr. Obama and Congress want it to, until the Feb. 7 deadline.

Get ready for your household to owe more in taxes. Thanks Congress. Thanks Mr. President.

The Welfare State: The FSA Strikes at Two Walmarts in Louisiana

The FSA [Free-Shit Army] strikes at two Wal-Marts in Louisiana courtesy of CBS news.

Wal-Marts in Springhill and Mansfield were ransacked by EBT users attempting to take advantage of the two store’s hospitality of allowing the users to use their cards even though the EBT debit system was down and there was no way to validate a balance on any specific card. Springhill police chief Will Lynd explained one such situation:

… the cards weren’t showing limits and they called corporate Walmart, whose spokesman  said to let the people use the cards anyway. From 7 to 9 p.m., people were loading up their carts, but when the cards began showing limits again around 9, one woman was detained because she rang up a bill of $700.00 and only had .49 on her card. She was held by police until corporate Walmart said they wouldn’t press charges if she left the food.

Providing for her family, or just plain looting? Tough to say either way unless you consider the mind of an average member of the FSA. They think anything and everything should come with out cost. From Healthcare to Obamaphones these people want MOAR!

Never mind the taxpayers footing the bill that’s what they want. Here is a further example of the behavior of FSA members:

Amateur video taken on shoppers’ cell phones shows dozens of shopping carts, piled high with merchandise, abandoned in the aisles of one Walmart after the announcement was made that EBT cards were once again showing accurate spending limits.

So now that our cards show a balance that doesn’t cover what we are “buying” let’s get the hell out of Dodge. Once the rules of trading have been reestablished, as usual, the FSA retreats in haste to its previous position.

There were people present who actually called this situation exactly as they saw it:

Shopper Stan Garcia was more critical of the unscrupulous shoppers, however, saying that taking advantage of the brief glitch in the benefits system amounted to “… plain theft. That’s stealing, that’s all I got to say about it.”

Agreed Stan, if you don’t have the cash you shouldn’t get the goods.

Related articles

• EBT benefit card glitch sparks Walmart shopping sprees in Louisiana – CBS News
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Ho Chi Minh Inspired by Thomas Jefferson: Really?

From Hot Air:

 

Hồ Chí Minh statue outside Saigon City Hall, Hồ Chí Minh City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

“…we discussed the fact that Ho Chi Minh was actually inspired by the
U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of
Thomas Jefferson.”

– President Obama talking to reporters alongside Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.

 

Wow…. Anyone else speechless? The President just compared a man who murdered millions of Vietnamese because they didn’t agree with him politically to Thomas Jefferson who championed freedom and liberty for everyone. The only comparison I can possibly make between the two is that both were involved in revolutionary movements in their respective countries. That is where the similarities stop.

 

Jefferson wanted liberty and freedom from tyranny while “Uncle Ho” sought to enforce his will on others. Jefferson sought to set men free from government while Uncle Ho sought to enslave them to his ideas. How does one determine that freedom is equal with tyranny unless you think like the statist from George Orwell’s 1984:

“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

If you think along those lines, along the lines of the irrational, along the lines of those who would say or do anything to exert their will over others, maybe, just maybe one can equate liberty and tyranny.

 

 

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Independence Day 2013

Food for thought:

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of independence (1776) were all of British descent. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Let’s face it folks, things are bad and not getting much better so the above from the Declaration has meaning in our day and age.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long-established should
not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms
to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their
duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their
future security

We have our lives for now, while liberty continues to decline while politicians believe that the pursuit of happiness is taking successful citizens money by the force of government taxes and giving it to those who do not wish to work and provide for themselves and their families. Governments are created by men and by their consent only. In this country of ours there is no divine right of kings only opportunity to advance oneself economically. If government becomes destructive towards its own people, when do the citizens say enough, do they give up holding their freedom and liberty in the face of burdensome government regulations and taxes? Our founding fathers found that point of no return, and took action. Will our generation or next have to attempt to fill the shoes of the founders? The founders go on to list all their reasons for separating from Great Britain, i dare you to replace He/His (the King of England) with the federal government:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records,
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that
purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing
to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to
their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders
which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.

I understand that some of these reason may or cannot apply today but look at the complaints on the rule of law, the right of people to govern themselves, immigration, using foreign soldiers (Russian soldiers are going to be used in large public events). How many of these issues are citizens facing daily? How many new stories on non-enforcement of laws, immigration issues, gun running to subvert the second amendment have there been? How much more difficult is it going to be for citizens to be productive at work, their businesses, to pay their bills in the face of the ever-increasing cost of Obamacare?

After stating their reasons and having made known of their repeated attempts of redress, the colonies felt they had no choice:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority
of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and
Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the
British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the
State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that
as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Do we have these men among us today? Do we as a people share the same convictions as the men that signed their names to this document? I pray every day that we do and that one day when it becomes absolutely necessary to make the same stand as our founders. Have a happy Independence Day, get out and speak with friends and neighbors. Do not succumb to the notion that politics is off-limits for discussion, because politics in this country can and will fundamentally transform your life if you allow it happen.

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April is National Financial Capabilty Month: For Americans Not the FedGov

Our dear leader that resides in the glorious District of Columbia has issued a proclamation concerning the month of April:

 

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

All Americans deserve the chance to turn their hard work into a decent living for their families and a bright future for their children. Seizing that opportunity takes more than drive and initiative — it also requires smart financial planning. During National Financial Capability Month, we recommit to empowering individuals and families with the knowledge and tools they need to get ahead in today’s economy.

 

Listen to our dear leader he knows what he’s talking about look at the financial success of our glorious country basking in deficits numbering in the trillions, by spending more money than his 43 predecessors. The great one wishes to empower his subjects by encouraging each citizen to use his credit with the evil banks, charging their cards to the maximum balance and then when we can no longer afford our debts, cause the evil banks destruction allowing the  savior to take control and throw the evil bankers in jail. Don’t worry comrades the leader has more to say!

 

My Administration is dedicated to helping people make sound decisions in the marketplace. Last year, we partnered with businesses and community leaders to roll out new public and private commitments to increasing financial literacy. We released a new financial capability toolkit to help schools and employers as they launch their own initiatives. And with our College Scorecard and Financial Aid Shopping Sheet, we are working to give families clear, transparent information on college costs so they can make good choices when they invest in higher education. Together, we can prepare young people to tackle financial challenges — from learning how to budget responsibly to saving for college, starting a business, or opening a retirement account.

 

Our glorious leader has made it his policy to see that each and every one of the unwashed masses has the ability to succeed in the evil capitalist marketplace. He will raise taxes on the evil rich and give it to the hard-working workers. He has previously helped the low by giving out abacuses, and giving out large amounts money to record numbers of the proletariat who can longer find work in our excellent state-run and regulated industries. Our leader has also promised to find ways to send your children to places of higher learning where they can be properly indoctrinated to be excellent workers for the state and to not question the infallible knowledge and wisdom of our esteemed leadership in Washington. These children will be the pillars that the state shall be built on in the coming years, and with the guidance of our great leader this all can be made possible. Don’t worry comrades there’s more:

 

 

We also know that too many families are living paycheck-to-paycheck, unable to take advantage of tools that would help them plan for a middle class life. That is why we must build ladders of opportunity for everyone willing to climb them — from a fair minimum wage that lifts working Americans out of poverty to high-quality preschool and early education that gets every child on the right track early. These reforms would encourage the kind of broad-based economic growth that gives everyone a better chance to secure their financial future.

 

Our great leader also knows there are those that suffer in our glorious socialist state. No worries comrades! He will increase your pay at the local collective farm, when that farm can no longer afford that wage DO NOT WORRY! The state will take control of your farms and pay you for you work. We will also begin to teach children at a very young age that the state will take care of  them and nurture until they give their lives to the state through years of work or a glorious death in a far away battlefield. Our leader with now close with the following words:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2013 as National Financial Capability Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices.

This is the best part comrades! Our leader has used both his name and a personal pronoun! He is reaffirming his glory and power! He should all bow down and worship the infinite wisdom and laud our great leader and join him in glorious socialist activities of calling the kettles and pots black, whatever that means!

 

 

 

 

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The Case of the Harte’s: Raided Because They Like Vegetables

From Yahoo News:

Two former CIA employees whose Kansas home was fruitlessly searched for marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted, possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables.

From now on all you gardeners please be careful when you go to the store because this is starting to be the norm across the United States. If you don’t believe me you could always check the case of Sergeant Corrigan and others. Before I get started into the article, I do want to give a quick history lesson concerning the 4th amendment, which seems to be heavy diluted or seldom followed by law enforcement. It states the following:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now with this in mind back to the article, the Harte’s former CIA employees had to stand by and watch as:

… sheriff’s deputies searched their home in the upscale Kansas City suburb of Leawood last April 20 as part of Operation Constant Gardener — a sweep conducted by agencies in Kansas and Missouri that netted marijuana plants, processed marijuana, guns, growing paraphernalia and cash from several other locations…. the couple and their two children — a 7-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son — were “shocked and frightened” when deputies armed with assault rifles and wearing bulletproof vests pounded on the door of their home around 7:30 a.m. last April 20.

This type of activity is happening way too often in this country, federal officers raiding folks who produce raw milk and selling to folks who want to buy raw milk, federal officers raiding a Gibson guitar store, D.C. metro police raiding and detaining without arresting a man for owning weapons, the list goes on and now the Harte’s at the hands of multiple state and local agencies in Kansas. Oh well the 4th amendment is apparently a suggestion, to all types of governments whether they be local, state or federal.

The reason behind the raid according to the Harte’s lawsuit that is currently pending against the City of Leawood:

… the Hartes’ attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said she suspects the couple’s 1,825-square-foot split level was targeted because they had bought hydroponic equipment to grow a small number of tomatoes and squash plants in their basement. “With little or no other evidence of any illegal activity, law enforcement officers make the assumption that shoppers at the store are potential marijuana growers, even though the stores are most commonly frequented by backyard gardeners who grow organically or start seedlings indoors,” the couple’s lawsuit says.

What does the raid find? 3 tomato plants, 2 butternut squash, and 1 melon plant. A significant waste of tax payer dollars literally fishing for evidence. There was a warrant served, but as far as the Harte’s could tell there wasn’t a shred of probable cause:

During the sweep, the court filing said, the Harte’s were told they had been under surveillance for months, but the couple “know of no basis for conducting such surveillance nor do they believe such surveillance would have produced any facts supporting the issuance of a search warrant.” Harte said he built the hydroponic garden with his son a couple of years ago. He said they didn’t use the powerful light bulbs that are sometimes used to grow marijuana and that the family’s electricity usage didn’t change dramatically. Changes in utility usage can sometimes lead authorities to such operations.

Talking about going out on a limb to get a warrant, how in the world did a judge find any probable cause other than a purchase for indoor gardening equipment? I believe they were going fishing, but it seems they really didn’t do their homework on the couple in question:

The lawsuit noted Adlynn Harte, who works for a financial planning firm, and Robert Harte, who cares for the couple’s children, each were required to pass rigorous background checks for their previous jobs working for the CIA in Washington, D.C.

Oops is the operative word here. They worked for the CIA the agency of all the agencies, especially when it comes to gathering information on individuals and governments. The police were out to make an arrest and to prove that they are worth what the taxpayers are paying for, too bad for them that:

deputies “made rude comments” and implied their son was using marijuana. A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to help, but deputies ultimately left after providing a receipt stating, “No items taken.” … no one in the Harte family uses illegal drugs and no charges were filed.

Failure, that has to make the police even more angry, well I guess they should lower their standards when they go into a situation without pertinent information as they so often do, or they could actually try reading and then following the guide of the 4th amendment. The Harte’s will not know the exact reasons behind this government intrusion until the suit is settled. In the mean time Adlynn Harte had the following to say:

If this can happen to us and we are educated and have reasonable resources, how does somebody who maybe hasn’t led a perfect life supposed to be free in this country?

Good question.

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Update: Ivory Tower Liberalsim: Jim Carrey Stuffs Foot in Mouth Again

From Guns Save Lives:

When it comes to hypocrisy and the American Left there are no bounds. A day after releasing a tasteless music video making fun of both Charlton Heston and pro 2nd amendment Americans, Carrey hits Twitter with the following tweet:

G’morning! Hope you’re enjoying Cold Dead Hand. FYI, my bodyguard doesn’t have a hundred rounds in his clip. I wish u all a bullet free day! ;^}

My problems with this are as follows:

1. His body-guard is armed so it’s ok for him to have a gun for protection but not the rest of us.
2. It’s a magazine you dolt not a clip, look up the difference if you don’t know what I am talking about.
3. We are not enjoying your music video because you belittle an actor that did WAY more with his career than you have ever done with yours and fight to take away a right that is not yours to withhold.

Mr. Carrey is a microcosm of the left in this country. They decide who gets what, when, how, and why. Its alright for them to have anything they want, but the normal citizen must conform to unending, ever evolving regulations to secure rights given by GOVERNMENT. Our founders believed that rights come from God:

… all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The purpose of government is to secure those rights for it’s citizens, not to legislate them out of existence so that the citizens depend of government for every facet of their lives.

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Jim Carrey: A Portrait of Ivory Tower Liberalism

From Twitchy, CNS News, and the website Funny or Die (Jim Carrey’s bit isn’t too funny to me).

A la cinémathèque de Paris, lors de la présentation du film “I love you Philip Morris” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Starting Saturday Mr. Carrey began a series of tweets politicizing the deaths of both adults and children in the wake of recent shootings in our country. Here are a few excerpts:

‘Cold Dead Hand’ is abt u heartless motherf%ckers unwilling 2 bend 4 the safety of our kids. Sorry if you’re offended by the word safety! ;^}

That is his opinion concerning the 2nd Amendment. Is it about child safety? Is it about the folks who believe that “shall not be infringed,” means what it says? Has Mr. Carrey ever been in a position where it was him to live or someone else? I don’t know the answer to the last question but it’s probably one that is fairly easy to answer. Mr. Carrey lives in the Hollywood ivory tower of liberalism, which produces stuff like the this link at Funny or Die to influence public opinion, simply because he has the pull to do so.

What Mr. Carrey doesn’t appear to understand is that his right to the 1st amendment would soon disappear if he gets what he wants. The 2nd Amendment is the key to all the others, it always has been, if it goes, they all do at some point. If those in power have no reason to fear the populace, if they chose to do so they could eliminate the rest of the bill of rights, and there wouldn’t be anything any law-abiding citizen could do about it.

Mr. Carey, I have pull too. I have the pull of principles and the belief that the need of the individual outweighs the need of the collective. If one addresses the needs of the individual the collective mindset will soon change. Here at this blog, Shorttimer and I preach that the individual is supreme and has a God-given right to defend himself, his family, his possessions, his neighbors and friends should he decide to do so. It is not now, nor has it ever been government’s place to take that right away from an individual. Throughout history though, men always come to a point where they decide that they need to make decisions for others whether those others solicit that intervention or not. Some folks call this tyranny, I do, and so do others that follow this blog. If a man chooses to wait on the police, instead of owning a firearm to defend himself, that is his call. If a man chooses to do the opposite and shoot the intruder entering his home prior to the police arriving that’s his call as well, not government’s.

Mr Carey, get out of your liberal ivory tower, read some Locke, Hayek, and Rand. Emotion a comedian may make, a political philosophy expert not so much.

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The Case of Sergeant Corrigan – He’s not David Gregory

From the Washington Times May 23, 2012

Army 1st Sergeant Matthew Corrigan was woken in the middle of the night, forced out of his home, arrested, had his home ransacked, had his guns seized and was thrown in jail — where he was lost in the prison system for two weeks — all because the District refuses to recognize the meaning of the Second Amendment.

This reservist was forced out of his home, not read his Miranda rights because of the guns not registered with the City. Maybe its because his name isn’t David Gregory. This is also not the first time the DC police has gone after a US serviceman. Here is the order of events:

It all started a few hours earlier on Feb. 2, 2010, when Sgt. Corrigan called the National Veterans Crisis Hotline for advice on sleeping because of nightmares from his year training Iraqi soldiers to look for IEDs in Fallujah. Without his permission, the operator, Beth, called 911 and reported Sgt. Corrigan “has a gun and wants to kill himself….” Beth told the cops that, “The gun’s actually on his lap.” The drill sergeant told me he said nothing of the kind, and his two pistols and rifle were hidden under clothes and in closets, to avoid theft. So around midnight, the police arrived at the row house at 2408 N. Capitol Street. Over the next two hours, several emergency response team units were called to the scene, calling in many cops from home…. None of the cops’ documents indicate a threat that warranted a “barricade” and the closure of several streets to create “an outer perimeter that prohibited both traffic and pedestrian access.” With dozens of cops on the scene, they created a “staging area” two blocks away.

First of all I am hoping that “Beth” has lost her job. Corrgian expressed no intention to kill himself or hurt anyone, he asked for advice on dealing with his nightmares. Having served myself and subject to violent dreams once in a while I can understand him seeking help especially after missing 4 and 5 nights worth of sleep. MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) sure seemed a bit over zealous in preparing to talk to Corrigan, but wait, it gets better:

Around 1 a.m., the police knocked on the door of Tammie Sommons, the upstairs neighbor in the row house.  Ms. Sommons had lived there since 2008 with her three roommates and, in that time, had become a close friend of Sgt. Corrigan. She had a key to his apartment and often walked his dog Matrix. “I opened the door to this scene with three cops with guns pointed at Matt’s door,” she recalled in an interview this week. “One officer told me that Matt called a suicide hotline and was about to kill himself. I said that was impossible, he wasn’t that kind of guy. I told the police I see him every day and would know if he was suicidal.” Over the next hour, Ms. Sommons repeatedly told the police she was sure that Sgt. Corrigan was merely sleeping. She knew he took prescription sleeping pills because of repeated nightmares from his year in Iraq. The cops wouldn’t listen to her.

“I said to the police, ‘You guys are making a big mistake. He’s not what you think,’” recalled Ms. Sommons. She offered to go downstairs and clear up the situation, but the police would not let her. The officers asked her whether Sgt. Corrigan owned any guns. “I said, of course he has guns, he’s in the military,” she replied. Ms. Sommons had never seen the sergeant’s guns, but she is from a military family, in which gun ownership was the norm. She was truthful with the police because she was not aware the District requires registration of every gun.

Distrust of the citizenry? Surely not. All the SWAT team members had to do was listen to this woman talk about Corrigan and realize that maybe, just maybe they have some bad intel. Oh but that couldn’t possibly be the case, the police always have good information don’t they? They had tons of time to gather information on David Gregory and decided to not prosecute him even though it is an “important law.” It gets even better than this:

MPD told Ms. Sommons that someone had reported that there was the smell of gas coming from Sgt. Corrigan’s apartment. “I told them that there was no gas in his apartment —  it was all-electric,” she recalled. “I said if they smelled something, it’s just my roommate who was cooking chicken parmesan. Still, the police refused to accept the simpler explanation. “The cops said we needed to leave our house because Matt was going to shoot through the ceiling,” Ms. Sommons said. “They painted this picture like Rambo was downstairs and ready to blow up the place.”

At 3 a.m., the police called in an EOD unit — the bomb squad.  They brought in negotiators. They had the gas company turn off the gas line to the house.  A few minutes before 4 a.m., they started calling Sgt. Corrigan’s cell phone, but they got no answer because he turned it off before going to bed. They woke him up by calling his name on a bullhorn. He then turned on the phone and was told to surrender outside.

Wow, just wow. I honestly don’t know what to say about this at this point. Seems MPD SWAT was just looking for a scrap at this point. I can relate from my former military experiences. Now Corrigan is awake and his seeing what is outside his door:

“Matt Corrigan, We’re here to help you, Matt,” the voice said in the darkness. An experienced combat soldier, he assumed a bunker mentality and hid in the dark room.

We are the Government and we’re here to help. I’d hide too. I don’t think David Gregory had to hide, he went on national TV and blatantly broke DC’s gun law.

 

He turned on his cell phone and a police detective immediately phoned and said, “Matt, don’t you think this is a good time to walk your dog?” The SWAT team outside could obviously see the 11-year old pit bull, Matrix, a rescue from dog fighting, who had been with Sgt. Corrigan since graduate school in Northern California.I’ll come to the window and show myself,” he offered on the phone. Sgt. Corrigan still didn’t know why his house was surrounded, but he knew exactly what he should do in such situations. “I’ve been on the other end of that rifle trying to get someone out,” he explained.He said that the cop on the phone answered that, “‘It’s gone beyond that now.’”

The situation has gone beyond Corrigan showing himself, most likely unarmed, unaware of exactly why a a few platoons, if not a company of SWAT is outside his home with said show of government force not explaining itself? How’s that for innocent until proven guilty?

When the police wouldn’t accept Sgt. Corrigan’s word that he was fine, he was forced to leave his home and surrender. When he stepped outside, he faced assault teams with rifles pointed at his chest. He immediately dropped to his knees, with his hands over his head. Officers in full protective gear zip-tied Sgt. Corrigan’s hands behind his back and pulled him up from his knees, forcing him into a large tactical command center called the “BEAR” which was parked at the staging area.

Although police did not read Sgt. Corrigan his Miranda rights, they questioned him inside the tactical truck.  They asked the Iraq veteran basic questions about his life from various angles to get him to admit to owning guns. He remained silent about his two handguns and one rifle, which he had not registered after moving into the city. Suddenly a police commander jumped in the truck and demanded to know where Sgt. Corrigan put his house key. He refused.

No warrant? That’s some tough luck and also Corrigan is exercising the 4th Amendment that’d be the one that protects, “against unreasonable searches and seizures, ” and the, “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects….” But it would seem that the 4th Amendment isn’t enough for this particular police commander:

“I’m not giving you the key. I’m not giving consent to enter my house,” Sgt. Corrigan recalled saying in an interview with me last week at D.C. Superior Court after the city dropped all 10 charges against him. “Then the cop said to me, ‘I don’t have time to play this constitutional bullshit with you. We’re going to break your door in, and you’re going to have to pay for a new door.’” “‘Looks like I’m buying a new door,’” Sgt. Corrigan responded.

Well played Sgt. Corrigan, well-played. You can see from the officer’s statement above just how much he desires to, “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States….” It would also seem that David Gregory doesn’t even have to think about things like this because after all, “some animals are more equal than others.” Seems Sgt. Corrigan wasn’t equal enough?

Since Sgt. Corrigan refused to permit a search of his house, the police had to break down his door. The cops, however, didn’t bother to wait for a search warrant before doing so. “They were all keyed up because they had been there and ready to go all night,” surmised Sgt. Corrgian’s attorney, Richard Gardiner. The first to enter the supposedly dangerous apartment was the Emergency Response Team, which secured the dog Matrix and gave him over to animal control, according to police reports. Only then did the EOD personnel enter to search using portable x-ray equipment.

During the “explosive threat clearing efforts,” police reported finding the sergeant’s “hazardous materials,” which included two pistols and a rifle, binoculars and ammunition. The report also details how it took the combined efforts of the police, EOD and the D.C. Fire Department to seize the  “military ammunition can that contained numerous fireworks type devices.” These were fireworks left over from the Fourth of July.

Also taken into evidence was what the police described as a “military smoke grenade” and  “military whistler device.” This smoke-screen canister and trip wire were put in Sgt. Corrigan’s rucksack in 1996 by his squad leader and had long been forgotten over the years.  EOD took custody of the smoke grenade and whistle. The rest of the the materials were handed over to the crime scene search department at 7:30 a.m.

Sgt. Corrigan checked himself into a VA hospital and stayed for 3 days. Upon his discharge he was arrested and finally read his Miranda rights. He spent 2 weeks in jail which was unusual for this type of “crime” because somehow he got “lost” in the “system.” As a result of the experience Sgt. Corrgian hired a lawyer and sued:

Sgt. Corrigan, 35, and his attorney Richard Gardiner appeared before Judge Michael Ryan at D.C. Superior Court on Monday. The District’s assistant attorney general moved to dismiss all ten charges against him – three for unregistered firearms and seven for possession of ammunition in different calibers.

 

Should have never gotten to the point where Sgt. Corrigan had to resort to litigation to clear himself after the obvious idiocy of the MPD, but then again his name wasn’t David Gregory.

 

 

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• Cover Up In D.C.’s Arrest Of Iraq Vet, SWAT Team Entered His House Without Warrant
• David Gregory Gets Away with a Crime
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• NBC’s David Gregory Remains Free while Iraq Vet was Jailed for Breaking the same Gun Law (VIDEO)