The Sasquatch Argument

More on reactions to the death of Andy Lopez, a 13-year-old with a toy gun who was shot seven times by a frightened sheriff's deputy. The Press Democrat continues to print letters apparently written by Sasquatches lurking among the redwoods. The newspaper loves these letters. I quote a typical Sasquatch argument: "Yes, it was a tragedy. Nobody disputes that. But if the deputy had waited for, let's say, three seconds to confirm, and the replica AK-47 was real, we could have had two dead deputies."

That's right, if you overlook the verb tenses. And if the boy had really been Sgt. York and Sonoma County had been a battlefield in France, those deputies would have been in big trouble. I have to join the Press Democrat in admiring the tight logic. It's a version of the Stand Your Ground position, which says that if you say you are scared, you have the right to kill anyone in front of you. That makes sense. If it later turns out to be a false alarm, no harm done. You will still be safe.

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