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Yes, yes yes to everything you said about corruption in Mexico. It is absolutely true.
But most of you don't visit Mexico and are ignorant to many developments in the country- ironically with problems and all it is also growing economically. My comment was in relation to this particular border crossing.
I have read-up on this guy's situation. I have also crossed that border walking, by car, etc...hundreds of times. I will say it again- his story is fishy. Who knows what he was up to. There are Americans living in Tijuana. There are also quite a few Americans hanging out there involved in illicit activities: drugs, sex, pornography, etc.. They like hanging out in the shadier parts of town.
I don't know if he was there sans malice, that is the issue here. Or, was he just insanely naive? Regardless, he had loaded weapons and had been to Mexico before. We don't know what his intentions were.
If I follow the information right so far here, we don't know that his weapons were loaded. We do know they weren't carried across the border on his person, they were in the trunk of his car. And he declared them as such. So, if he was there for nefarious purposes - selling the weapons- where was he going to do that? In the parking lot? Which is under intense surveillance 24/7? He didn't drive his weapons to a shadier part of town.
Yes, yes yes to everything you said about corruption in Mexico. It is absolutely true.
But most of you don't visit Mexico and are ignorant to many developments in the country- ironically with problems and all it is also growing economically. My comment was in relation to this particular border crossing.
I have read-up on this guy's situation. I have also crossed that border walking, by car, etc...hundreds of times. I will say it again- his story is fishy. Who knows what he was up to. There are Americans living in Tijuana. There are also quite a few Americans hanging out there involved in illicit activities: drugs, sex, pornography, etc.. They like hanging out in the shadier parts of town.
I don't know if he was there sans malice, that is the issue here. Or, was he just insanely naive? Regardless, he had loaded weapons and had been to Mexico before. We don't know what his intentions were, no matter how people try to spin it.
Rosa, there may be good reasons most of us don't spend time in Mexico just as there are oibviously good reasons that you do. There is no indication anywhere that the Marine's weapons were loaded yet you continually tout that as fact. There are many instances of Mexican police and Mexican soldiers violating our borders while carrying loaded, military style weapons. They are detained a matter of hours, questioned and released to cross over to their side. Mexico is not the least bit even-handed as evidenced by this case which, if nothing else, is good cause for its lousy and well-deserved reputation as nothing more than a banana republic. Our Marine was thrown in prison, brutalized, chained down... Obviously we're not dealing with a civilized country here.
"Insanely" naïve. Maybe. What's your experience with PTSD? There are quite a few of us here who could explain it to you from first-hand experience, some worse than others.
Greta Van Surteren of Fox News drove the route and documented precisely how easily this could happen due to lane channeling and bad or graffiti covered signage.
I drive on that freeway regularly and non of the signs are damaged or graffiti covered nor can I remember them ever being in the last 30 years. Also, no, you are wrong to claim the signs are not good because they are GIANT, in bold letters, and are posted along the side of the road at regular intervals. "Last US exit in..." 20 miles, 15 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.5, and lastly a giant (twice the size of any other billboard I have ever seen) sign saying "LAST US EXIT".
I drive on that freeway regularly and non of the signs are damaged or graffiti covered nor can I remember them ever being in the last 30 years. Also, no, you are wrong to claim the signs are not good because they are GIANT, in bold letters, and are posted along the side of the road at regular intervals. "Last US exit in..." 20 miles, 15 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.5, and lastly a giant (twice the size of any other billboard I have ever seen) sign saying "LAST US EXIT".
Did you watch the video? Besides, I think he was leaving the parking lot just before the border, about a 1/4 mile away, not approaching it from miles away.
But as you will!
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that certain factions want to blame him no matter what and hold that corrupt country harmless.
I drive on that freeway regularly and non of the signs are damaged or graffiti covered nor can I remember them ever being in the last 30 years. Also, no, you are wrong to claim the signs are not good because they are GIANT, in bold letters, and are posted along the side of the road at regular intervals. "Last US exit in..." 20 miles, 15 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.5, and lastly a giant (twice the size of any other billboard I have ever seen) sign saying "LAST US EXIT".
HE WAS NOT DRIVING DOWN I-5 FOR MILES AND MILES, BUT INSTEAD LEAVING A PARKING AREA ON THE US SIDE OF THE BORDER....
I put that in big bold letters because you seemed to have overlooked that despite it being written in this thread multiple times.
You are not alone though. There are plenty of media reports that also repeat that bogus scenario.
Last edited by CarawayDJ; 08-31-2014 at 12:08 PM..
It is amazing, that there are people on this thread that have never been to TJ, and have never been on the highway to TJ, etc., who think automatically because he was American, a former Marine, he is automatically innocent and should be released.
Mexico is a foreign county, and it has very strict laws about guns. Especially now, with all the shootings by drug lords, and other criminals. Guns sell for big money in Mexico, as they can't walk into Walmart, etc., and buy guns there. They are smuggled in every day, and when one is caught taking guns into Mexico they are put in Jail period, to try to stem the flow of illegal guns into that country. There are big signs warning to not take guns into Mexico along the highway to TJ. Taking 3 guns into Mexico along with ammunition, is completely stupid.
Has anyone considered, we do not know as much as our government knows on this subject, and that maybe that Gov Brown, and President Obama are not raising a big fuss, is that they know a lot more about what is going on there than the public does. All the public knows, is what the media puts out, and the media works on bad news sells newspapers and brings in more views thus more advertising dollars for TV and Radio stations.
We the public really don't know much, and are guessing at all the rest. We don't know if he is innocent or guilty of a crime. Anyone that says otherwise, is showing they are not working on facts, but on emotions only.
Has anyone considered he took them to Mexico with the possibility of selling them at a very high price for some quick cash.
Don't say, just because he was a former Marine, and an American that was not his intent. I hope that he is innocent of any crime, and will soon be released to go home as all the facts come out. On the other hand, if he is not innocent he will be in Mexico and in jail for a long long time which would only be right.
It is amazing, that there are people on this thread that have never been to TJ, and have never been on the highway to TJ, etc., who think automatically because he was American, a former Marine, he is automatically innocent and should be released.
Mexico is a foreign county, and it has very strict laws about guns. Especially now, with all the shootings by drug lords, and other criminals. Guns sell for big money in Mexico, as they can't walk into Walmart, etc., and buy guns there. They are smuggled in every day, and when one is caught taking guns into Mexico they are put in Jail period, to try to stem the flow of illegal guns into that country. There are big signs warning to not take guns into Mexico along the highway to TJ. Taking 3 guns into Mexico along with ammunition, is completely stupid.
Has anyone considered, we do not know as much as our government knows on this subject, and that maybe that Gov Brown, and President Obama are not raising a big fuss, is that they know a lot more about what is going on there than the public does. All the public knows, is what the media puts out, and the media works on bad news sells newspapers and brings in more views thus more advertising dollars for TV and Radio stations.
We the public really don't know much, and are guessing at all the rest. We don't know if he is innocent or guilty of a crime. Anyone that says otherwise, is showing they are not working on facts, but on emotions only.
Has anyone considered he took them to Mexico with the possibility of selling them at a very high price for some quick cash.
Don't say, just because he was a former Marine, and an American that was not his intent. I hope that he is innocent of any crime, and will soon be released to go home as all the facts come out. On the other hand, if he is not innocent he will be in Mexico and in jail for a long long time which would only be right.
BTDT a couple of times. Didn't like it. Never went back. The route wasn't so confusing then.
I could be wrong but I doubt Brown cares one way or the other because he's not a Californian and as for Obama, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't know squat or care either. Both of them, seem more concerned with harvesting potential voters than protecting a citizen. And yes, that's supposition on my part after 20 years in the political arena.
Mexico certainly doesn't seem to care if their armed military or police violate our borders with loaded weapons. I think there's a real double standard at work here.
If he's found to be irrefutably guilty of malfeasance then he should face punishment. Somehow I don't see that happening although in that country I suppose anything is possible, as is the fact he's truly at fault.
As a counterpoint to your opening statement, there seen to be an equal number who appear to suppose that just because he's an American, and a soldier no less, he's automatically guilty.
It is amazing, that there are people on this thread that have never been to TJ, and have never been on the highway to TJ, etc., who think automatically because he was American, a former Marine, he is automatically innocent and should be released.
Mexico is a foreign county, and it has very strict laws about guns. Especially now, with all the shootings by drug lords, and other criminals. Guns sell for big money in Mexico, as they can't walk into Walmart, etc., and buy guns there. They are smuggled in every day, and when one is caught taking guns into Mexico they are put in Jail period, to try to stem the flow of illegal guns into that country. There are big signs warning to not take guns into Mexico along the highway to TJ. Taking 3 guns into Mexico along with ammunition, is completely stupid.
Has anyone considered, we do not know as much as our government knows on this subject, and that maybe that Gov Brown, and President Obama are not raising a big fuss, is that they know a lot more about what is going on there than the public does. All the public knows, is what the media puts out, and the media works on bad news sells newspapers and brings in more views thus more advertising dollars for TV and Radio stations.
We the public really don't know much, and are guessing at all the rest. We don't know if he is innocent or guilty of a crime. Anyone that says otherwise, is showing they are not working on facts, but on emotions only.
Has anyone considered he took them to Mexico with the possibility of selling them at a very high price for some quick cash.
Don't say, just because he was a former Marine, and an American that was not his intent. I hope that he is innocent of any crime, and will soon be released to go home as all the facts come out. On the other hand, if he is not innocent he will be in Mexico and in jail for a long long time which would only be right.
No. He is guilty of driving into Mexico with guns in his car. That's beyond dispute. The only thing being questioned is whether or not he did so by mistake and if so, is it fair to hold him in prison for so long because of a mistake. Some here seem to question his intent. They don't believe he is an angel and think he drove across the border with guns on purpose. I don't know if he truly made a mistake or not. Take a seat and hold on because I'm going to introduce a radical concept to you. In the modern world we presume people to be innocent. Given that there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest that it was anything other than a boneheaded mistake, why should anyone presume malice? Adequate time has passed to snuff out any evidence of malice. There is none. There were no phone calls to arms dealers in Mexico, no statements to friends, no history of bad conduct, he hasn't been tied to any bad people here or in Mexico. There isn't anything to suggest it was anything other than a mistake. You are presuming guilt despite hearing ZERO evidence to support that. There is a logical reason why we prove people guilty and not innocent.
In a nutshell, I am presuming that he made a mistake sans malice. I'm am doing so not because he is an American or a Marine, but because there isn't a shred of evidence to indicate otherwise. I would feel the same way if the situation was reversed. This has strangely become a partisan issue. Rest assured that if there were any damaging evidence the HuffPo would have put it on their front page. Perhaps you think there wouldn't be any leaks in this case.
Oh, this is what Gov Brown had to say about it August 26th, several months into it: “I don’t know, I’m just getting information on that thing”
BTDT a couple of times. Didn't like it. Never went back. The route wasn't so confusing then.
I could be wrong but I doubt Brown cares one way or the other because he's not a Californian and as for Obama, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't know squat or care either. Both of them, seem more concerned with harvesting potential voters than protecting a citizen. And yes, that's supposition on my part after 20 years in the political arena.
Mexico certainly doesn't seem to care if their armed military or police violate our borders with loaded weapons. I think there's a real double standard at work here.
If he's found to be irrefutably guilty of malfeasance then he should face punishment. Somehow I don't see that happening although in that country I suppose anything is possible, as is the fact he's truly at fault.
As a counterpoint to your opening statement, there seen to be an equal number who appear to suppose that just because he's an American, and a soldier no less, he's automatically guilty.
Sad but true. You know we've become screwed up as a nation when we can't even leave partisanship out of a matter such as this. Some on the right will use every excuse to hammer Mexico and an equal amount on the left will use every excuse to give Mexico a pass and bash anyone with guns. If it were a Mexican being held in an American prison over a wrong turn each side would flip positions.
I'm presuming he made a mistake because there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise. I don't believe Mexico would sit on damning evidence while taking any heat over this. It would leak out. A lot of time has passed. If anything was out there it would be known. If they had any phone records indicating he made any calls to shady people in TJ, if any witness came forward (or caught) to offer a story of malice, I'd think different. We occupy the moral and logical high ground on this. None of us has been given any reason to presume malice. I suppose I could assume he was up to no good and require him to prove his innocence, but I couldn't do that without feeling I belong in a 3rd world country myself.
I'm a bleeding heart on these sorts of matters though.
BTDT a couple of times. Didn't like it. Never went back. The route wasn't so confusing then.
I could be wrong but I doubt Brown cares one way or the other because he's not a Californian and as for Obama, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't know squat or care either. Both of them, seem more concerned with harvesting potential voters than protecting a citizen. And yes, that's supposition on my part after 20 years in the political arena.
Mexico certainly doesn't seem to care if their armed military or police violate our borders with loaded weapons. I think there's a real double standard at work here.
There sure in hell is a double standard and it disgusts me!
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