Yep, He's a Jerk Alright

About a year ago, a lawyer and Marine reservist by the name of Paul Hackett made a big splash with the Moonbat Left when, as a candidate for an open House district in Ohio he publicly insulted President Bush, calling him a "chickenhawk".

Hackett of course played up the fact that he had been to Iraq and thus was a Genuine War Hero. The lefty blogs showered love on him, simply because he had dared to stick a finger in the eye of the Eeevil BusHitlerburton White House. At the time, I just thought he was being an arrogant prick; some of his statements were pretty over-the-top.

Well, it turns out he is quite the jerk; an pompous, calculating braggart who is prone to do idiotic things, like, say, grab a loaded AR-15 and chase down three neighborhood kids who run into his fence.

While that might sound like justice to some, in reality it's rash, stupid, and quite likely against the law. In Utah and most other states, you have a pretty clear right to draw a gun and use deadly force, but only if you or someone else is in imminent danger of death or severe bodily injury. Pointing a loaded AR-15 at a bunch of teenagers who run over your fence and then drive off would not meet that legal standard in Utah, and I doubt it would meet the standard for use of deadly force in Ohio as well.

I first read about this at Uncle's site, and the article he linked to didn't provide much detail about any consequences. But Reason had it on their blog, and the article they linked to strongly suggested that Hackett was being investigated for criminal misuse of a firearm, something I could have predicted based on my understanding of Utah law.

There's another interesting thing about Hackett that I gleaned from the articles: When he was approached by the police, he said that while in Iraq he had arrested jihadis the same way "about 200 times". Which would really be quite the feat, considering that Hackett is a major who serves as a civil affairs officer. While he was at the battle of Fallujah, he supervised the distribution of humanitarian aid. In other words, although he served with honor and distinction, he was a headquarters type, not a combat grunt. And as such, it is doubtful that he would have had the opportunity to effect an average of one arrest for every day he was in Iraq.

Hackett apparently is what I always thought he was: A loudmouthed asshole who thinks he's above the law.