Last updated on April 2nd, 2010 at 11:21 am
Unlawfully Armed Republican Arrested Near Obama Speech was Bush Employee
Joshua Bowman, a Republican who worked for the executive office of Bush Administration on tech issues, was arrested last September with two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo near the Capitol during an Obama speech. Though his arrest was widely reported, his connection to the Bush administration was not reported at that time and has just come to light this morning, courtesy of Mother Jones.
A pause here, as we digest the fact that the media failed to report this salient point. Had the shoe been on the other foot, the Republican poutrage party would be patrolling cable TV for the next several years, warning of “crazy liberal radicals, threatening the President”.
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Last September, Bowman was stopped as he attempted to park near the Capitol without a permit, which lead to Capitol Police searching his car. Police found a Beretta 12 gauge automatic, a .22 caliber long rifle and over 400 rounds of ammo in the trunk. The guns were not loaded. He was eventually charged with two counts of unregistered firearms and unlawful possession of ammunition.
In what can only be described as further evidence of the over-arching sense of Republican entitlement, Braun, a friend of Bowman’s, suggested that “Bowman was only caught with the guns because he was used to having a White House security pass and expected to be able to park near the Capitol. He probably wouldn’t have been stopped and searched by Capitol Police if he had still had the pass.â€
So, it was OK to drive around with unregistered, unlawful firearms when he had a security pass, because no one would have checked his car. The old “if they don’t catch us, it’s cool!†defense. The defense of a spoiled child.
Braun continued his defense of Bowman, “They were making him sound like a terrorist,” Braun said. “Does [Bowman] look like a terrorist? He has the élan to walk around with a bowtie…. He worked for a Republican administration and he was pretty much the last person in the Democratic administration. It’s not that he thought the new administration was right or wrong.â€
Oh, so his bow-tie should exonerate him? If the bow-tie fits, we have to acquit?
Supposedly Bowman didn’t have an opinion on the Obama administration when he attempted to park near the Capitol with unlawful weapons? He didn’t think the new administration was “Right or wrongâ€, but he did sport a bumper sticker reading:
“I’ll keep my guns, freedom, and money…. you keep the change.”
Riiiight. And y’all found WMD, too. I know. I know.
Secret Service didn’t think Bowman was intending any harm to the President, mostly because they knew him from his years on the Bush White House (Yes..I know – this should be a red flag, not a pass).
Bowman had apparently been “duck hunting†the previous weekend and forgotten to unload his trunk. That happens to me all of the time, but I usually carry a few M16’s just in case an animal has the gall to outrun me. So, yeah, I totally get how this kind of victimization and political targeting keeps happening to Republicans. Forget that it’s illegal to carry unregistered guns in the District of Columbia. This guy needed to kill some ducks! What do you people not get? He has a Bush pass! C’mon!
Perhaps Bowman was one of the people responsible for Bush’s emails, which are still being “recovered†from their hiding place, and he just felt the need to arm himself from “changeâ€; i.e., being busted for the hidden emails. As Fox News would say, can he prove he wasn’t intending harm in order to save himself from the repercussions? Oh, no, I am so kidding about that. Billo, relax! If Glenn were here, we’d have this guy drawn, quartered and hung already and we wouldn’t even need to have this discussion. Guilty until proven innocent!
Just imagine if you will the following scenario:
A previous Clinton administration employee attempts to park with a trunk full of illegal weapons and ammo next to Bush’s White House, in a car with a bumper sticker reading “I’ll keep my guns and my freedom, you keep your Illegal War!â€
And then imagine imaginary Clinton employee acts all persecuted when stopped by police, insisting: “I don’t have an opinion on the Bush administration good or bad. After all, I’m wearing a bow-tie!”
Tell me that wouldn’t be on the news for the next ten years. Republicans would all be wearing bow-ties to mock the loser Dem who tried to use such a foolish excuse to get out of a federal crime, and shortly thereafter, they would be calling for impeachment just because some Dem had “palled around†with the guy.
“They’re treating him like some kind of terrorists…†Right. Aren’t y’all the same folks who arrested unarmed people who wore anti-Bush t-shirts near W, because they seemed like they might be dangerous?
Republicans: Party of the veiled threats and simmering rage, always ready to dissemble; Orwellian speech at the ready.
If the Secret Service doesn’t think this guy intended harm, then they did the right thing. I’m not second guessing their decision.
But FYI, Republicans, profiling would include NOT arresting someone who is carrying illegal weapons just because he “doesn’t look like a terrorist” (i.e., he’s wearing a bow-tie). We know how concerned y’all are for our safety, so we’ll thank you to leave this sorry sort of reasoning at home now that you’ve been elected out of office.
And profiling would justify arresting a far right radical who’s illegally armed and has a bumper sticker nattering on about his guns and freedom. At least, according to the DHS. And we all know how y’all don’t like to be PC, so we’re sure you can understand our concern here as we profile your bow-tied friend, Bowman.
Yup. Put a bow-tie on a guy and he can carry all of the illegal weapons he wants and drive them right up to the Capitol. Shhhh….don’t tell the “real” terrorists!
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