Right now Mexico is at the center of a huge controversy over their arrest and imprisonment of U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi for taking a wrong turn that led him to a border crossing.
The trouble with border crossings is that once you’re on the path you cannot turn around.
The issue at hand is the detention in Mexico of U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, 25, who has been in prison since his arrest April 1 after he took a wrong turn and ended up over the border with his guns, which are legal in the United States but not in Mexico.
In the wake of trading 5 terrorists for 1 Army sergeant-turned-Taliban-supporter while leaving U.S. Marine Tahmooressi to rot in a Mexican prison, Obama’s inaction has many upset, and rightfully so.
“We’re proclaiming that the occupant of the White House … no longer speaks for us. The American people will speak for themselves,” John Harrington, president of gun seller Shield Tactical, told WND Friday.
While Obama plays golf a U.S. Marine is imprisoned in Mexico, abandoned by the nation he faithfully serves. It’s no surprise why John Harrington and others dislike the current President. His disdain for America’s service men and women is… distasteful… to be polite.
This border stupidity is not just a Mexico issue, however. The Canadian border is no friendlier to Americans who make a wrong turn and end up at our gates.
Retired U.S. Army sergeant major Louis DiNatale and his wife learned first-hand just how absurd Canada can be when a wrong turn lands a US citizen at a Canadian border crossing.
GPS units are neat toys but they really don’t comprehend how we travel. Ask for the shortest distance and your GPS will happily take you on a wild goose chase you could complete in half the time if you didn’t follow its directions.
Such is the tragic accident that landed Louis DiNatale on Canada’s doorstep. Their GPS directed the couple through Canada as if that was the best way to get from Kentucky to Vermont. When DiNatale finally realized he was headed for the Canadian border it was too late to turn around. There were no off-ramps.
Instead of simply letting DiNatale and his wife turn around and be on their way as the couple requested our faithful servants at the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) decided a much harsher response was necessary.
DiNatale was, you see, the worst kind of American. He is a gun owner.
CBSA agents arrested Louis DiNatale on charges of gun smuggling because he had forgotten one of his pistols was inside the vehicle. He explained what happened, showed them his reservations in Vermont and his wife corroborated every word he said.
His word clearly isn’t enough despite, as DiNatale says,
“There’s not even a traffic ticket in my background. Why would I come to Canada to bring a small weapon to smuggle in?”
Common sense has no place at national borders. These invisible are far too sensitive to take a retired Army sergeant major’s word. He is a gun owner, and therefore a liar.
Bruce Engel, DiNatale’s lawyer in this case, made perfect sense when he said
“They could have done their homework and looked at his background and seen he’s a professional. They could have accepted the word of his wife and released him on his own recognizance.”
Accepting the word of Louis DiNatale, a career military man, is just not the Canadian way. Making an example out of that military man, disgustingly, is the Canadian way.
While U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi sits in a Mexico prison cell awaiting trial DiNatale is slightly better off. He was eventually able to post bail and return home.
He vows to fight the charges and I’m very glad he is a man dedicated to common sense.
Owning firearms is legal in America.
That Canadians’ sense of nationhood insists we must be disarmed ninnies should not land our American cousins in prison simply for taking a wrong turn with a gun in their vehicle.
Like Canada, Mexico ought to do the right thing and release U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi.
Then both nations ought to drop the criminal charges against the men who simply took a wrong turn. They had no criminal intent. That is obvious to anyone with half a brain.
Unfortunately that description doesn’t appear to apply to anyone at the Crown Prosecutor’s office handling Retired U.S. Army sergeant major Louis DiNatale’s case.
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