What do you say

To an otherwise good, intelligent, kind, decent, rational sort that you thought was your friend, that is the husband of your bestest friend...the husband who has just described you and many of the folks you respect, care about, and enjoy as being no better than common criminals in a leap of amazing logical fallacy (aka, "guilt by association") of the sort you previously thought said individual far too bright/decent to engage in?

"Cooper said that Sheets told officers Hernandez turned and reached for the waistband of his pants before the shooting. Sheets took aim and fired, striking Hernandez in the back of the head."

Wait...wait..

In the evening, standing on your pat...io (at night) you THOUGHT you saw the guy reaching for his waist? You decided that this man stealing your stereo was a crime worth HIS LIFE. I will honestly say that ANYONE who chooses to own a firearm and "defend themselves" is as dangerous (OR MORE SO) as the criminals who own them to commit crimes. What an ass. Thank goodness we live in these here United States.

I thought rather better of you, sir, and hope this is a temporary and bizarre aberration from your usual principaled, logical, and ethical approach to people and life. I have never before observed you indulge in such bigoted commentary, which is likely why I am so appalled and disappointed, particularly when I am a member of the group you paint with this hateful brush. I am saddened.

I doubt I will ever mention this to you, just as I doubt you will stumble across this exercise in venting. I won't mention it, simply because your husband IS my best friend and biting my tongue is a relatively cheap price to pay for not hurting him.

Because, other than this apparent temporary bout of poisonous madness, I have come to regard you as a friend and a neat person in your own right...

Any time any of us start indulging in statements like "all are because committed " we leave the land of rationality and logic for the realms of bigotry, ad hominiem, and distortion.

My comments as a gun owner, Second Amendment Advocate, and (god willing, retired) civil rights advocate from elsewhere will be in my next post. This post merely is venting of a rather odd sort for me - disappointment and sadness, rather than the anger such vitriol usually brings for me.

Perhaps I'm getting old.