a conservative is just a liberal who hasnt been mugged yet.

a liberal is justa conservative whose kid hasnt gotten in trouble yet

(i just made up the 2nd quote, maybe i oughta copyright that).

sad about your freind. Criminal threats is serious business in ca. it’s a strike as afelony. Usually it’s the powerless or stressed who make them, since generally no one with any actual power threatens, they just do, or if they did threaten the victim would be actually too scared to call the police. Once they have that, it’s all downhill, as any subsequent felony is presumed prison by law. He was lucky to get it down toa misdemeanor and escape that trap, probably his military record got a nod from the prosecutor.

my wife then girlfriend was the victim of a pretty violent attempted carjacking by gun in L.A. in the early 90s. she literally resisted and fought off a young armed dude (at 90 lbs and 5 feet tall). had the guy ran and the cops chased him, i would not have wanted them to stomp him. that’s mean revenge, no better than if i could find out who he is today and go stomp him. fear and revenge and returning meanness with meanness never seem to me the answer. kindness and courage seem to me the answer.

incidentally, that happened when we had only known each other a short time, and the way she handled herself was one of the things that made it clear in my mind that this was the girl for me.