As I sit and wait for Washington DC to be pounded by another show storm, I am reminded of an incident during the last major snow storm in December. A major snowball fight broke out at the popular intersection of 14th and U St. Obviously there was little traffic on the road. Then a big Hummer comes along, and – understandably – becomes a snowball target. What happened next was unbelievable. The driver was a DC detective who jumped out, pulled his gun on the kids, and started threatening and pushing people. I was gratified by the reaction of the crowd, who refused to put up with this aggression, and yet did not become violent either. The whole incident is caught on the video below. See it for yourself. To me, it is no coincidence that this aggressive man both drives a Hummer and is eager to wave a gun in peoples’ faces. The aggressive gun culture and the culture that spawns macho Hummer drivers spring from the same source, a sickness in society that sees violence as an acceptable way of dealing with problems, and with enforcing the Hobbesian “rights” of individuals to defend their own little patch of turf. Step back a bit and it appears so juvenile. Ironically, a bunch of snowballing-throwing kids showed more maturity here.
Oh, I forgot to mention – Fox News reported this event as a cop dealing with a group of out-of-control anti-war protestors. Is this a surprise?
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