MJ,.Re your comment from yesterday:.“[Red Tomahawk’s action] Kinda reminds one of Lt. Cally, doesn’t it? ‘Just following orders.’ Yeah . . . ".No, it doesn’t. And I think you’re quite aware that the comparison is not merely imflammatory (though it is certainly that), but invidious. Moreover, it’s not even an accurate description of what Calley did..Calley was charged with murdering over 100 unarmed civilians, mostly women, children, and the elderly. These were acts that flagrantly violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and was not in any way authorized by the orders he had been given..Red Tomahawk arrested a man who had been inciting violence, told him he would be shot first if any attempt was made to wrest him from their custody (a common, and, in the historical context, not unjustified ploy to blunt such attempts; deadly force was, and in some circumstances still is, legally justified to thwart escapes from custody), and, in tmidst of being attacked by a force that outnumbered the officers he commanded (because, with the deaths of Lt. Bullhead and 1st Sgt. Shave Head, he was left in command of the police detail), by a factor of more than five to one, kept his prisoner from escaping in the only way he could, then, for the next half-hour, led a defense against that superior force, managing to pull most of the men under his command out alive..To me, that sounds a little more like Lt. Murphy. (Audie Murphy, for those of you who don’t get the reference)..I understand that Sitting Bull is a sympathetic figure. Not altogether undeservedly. But, in this case, he was inciting violence, attempting escape when he knew the possible consequences, and urging his followers to attack the police officers who had him in custody..What Red Tomahawk did in those circumstances doesn’t match any of Calley’s actions in any respect.
MJ,.Re your comment from yesterday:.“[Red Tomahawk’s action] Kinda reminds one of Lt. Cally, doesn’t it? ‘Just following orders.’ Yeah . . . ".No, it doesn’t. And I think you’re quite aware that the comparison is not merely imflammatory (though it is certainly that), but invidious. Moreover, it’s not even an accurate description of what Calley did..Calley was charged with murdering over 100 unarmed civilians, mostly women, children, and the elderly. These were acts that flagrantly violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and was not in any way authorized by the orders he had been given..Red Tomahawk arrested a man who had been inciting violence, told him he would be shot first if any attempt was made to wrest him from their custody (a common, and, in the historical context, not unjustified ploy to blunt such attempts; deadly force was, and in some circumstances still is, legally justified to thwart escapes from custody), and, in tmidst of being attacked by a force that outnumbered the officers he commanded (because, with the deaths of Lt. Bullhead and 1st Sgt. Shave Head, he was left in command of the police detail), by a factor of more than five to one, kept his prisoner from escaping in the only way he could, then, for the next half-hour, led a defense against that superior force, managing to pull most of the men under his command out alive..To me, that sounds a little more like Lt. Murphy. (Audie Murphy, for those of you who don’t get the reference)..I understand that Sitting Bull is a sympathetic figure. Not altogether undeservedly. But, in this case, he was inciting violence, attempting escape when he knew the possible consequences, and urging his followers to attack the police officers who had him in custody..What Red Tomahawk did in those circumstances doesn’t match any of Calley’s actions in any respect.