Monday, August 08, 2005

Here Comes the Civil War

(Note: before I get to the meat of today's post, I'd like to plug the piece "Lessons Learned From "Men Of God": Circa 1950" from ourword.org. It's written by a woman who grew up in the ultra-fundamentalist world of the 1950s and what she sees returning to us today. An absolute must-read.)

Okay, well maybe not, but between this and the fact that people are now trying to flag my mother down because of her Democracy for America sticker, I’m a bit nervous about the direction of this country lately. What has it come to that we’re killing each other over this shit? Is this really the beginning of the end? I’ve dismissed a lot of the Nazi Germany comparisons, but shit like this just makes me wonder.

Man Kills Another in Dispute Over War, Press and Police Call It a First

By E&P Staff

Published: August 06, 2005 6:30 PM ET

NEW YORK It was bound to happen sooner or later, and in what newspapers in Kentucky are calling a first, one American has killed another in a dispute over the Iraq war.

It happened at Floyd County flea market on Thursday, when two friends, who were firearms vendors there, drew guns after quarreling about the war. Douglas Moore, 65, of Martin, who backs the war, shot and killed Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester, who opposed it, according to investigators.

Moore was released without being charged after he convinced police he had acted in self-defense. A grand jury may yet hear evidence in the case.

Commonwealth's Attorney Brent Turner said the episode might mark the first death in the U.S. due to a dispute over the war.

One witness, Sam Hamman of Prestonsburg, told the Lexington Herald-Leader, "Harold was talking about the 14 people that were killed in Iraq the other day and Doug said that just as many people were killed on the highways here.”

This quickly escalated into an argument, then to a scuffle, and finally both men drew pistols outside a snack shed. The dead man was apparently just a little slower in firing. Witnesses said he stood for about five seconds before toppling on the walkway.

In a telephone interview wit the Lexington paper yesterday, Moore said police had told him not to discuss his feelings about the Iraq war.

"I'm sorry this has happened," Moore, a retired railroad worker, said "but then what's done can't be undone." Moore told the Lexington reporter he thinks Smith and his family knew him well enough "to know what my thoughts are, his family does, because me and Harold was friends. That's all I'll say."

The daughter of the dead man said the two men were friends and had discussed Iraq before. She said her father "had different opinions than everybody. He felt it was wrong that all of these young people were losing their lives over what was going on. It was just a political disagreement, like a whole lot of people have."

Here’s the local piece, with some more detail:

Slaying in dispute over war might be a first

By Lee Mueller

EASTERN KENTUCKY BUREAU


PRESTONSBURG - The Iraq war has been a divisive issue in America for more than two years now, but a shooting at an Eastern Kentucky flea market this week might have marked the first time a dispute over the war has resulted in a death.

A quarrel between two firearms vendors at a Floyd County flea market on Thursday allegedly led both men -- described as "good friends" -- to draw guns. Douglas Moore, 65, of Martin, who supports the war, shot and killed Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester, who opposed it, investigators said.

Moore was questioned at the Floyd County Jail, but he was released without being charged after Kentucky State Police said it appears he acted in self-defense.

Evidence in the case will be presented to a Floyd County grand jury, said Commonwealth's Attorney Brent Turner, who said the episode might mark the first death in the United States resulting from a dispute over the war.

Both Smith and Moore maintained gun-trading tables at the Bull Creek Trade Center near Prestonsburg, and witnesses said they began arguing over the war early Thursday morning.

One witness, Sam Hamman of Prestonsburg, told The Floyd County Times that the two men always carried guns and bickered frequently about the quality of guns, knives and the war.

"Harold was talking about the 14 people that were killed in Iraq the other day and Doug said that just as many people were killed on the highways here," Hamman told the paper.

Showdown at snack stand

Another witness, Chuck Newsome, said yesterday the Sept. 11 attacks also were included in the argument, which quickly escalated into an altercation and then to a kind of showdown in front of the market's snack stand.

After a scuffle, Newsome said he saw Smith stand beside the snack shed, pull a small pistol out of his pocket, cock the hammer and say, "I'm going to blow your ... brains out."

Witnesses said Moore pulled a .38-caliber pistol from his pocket.

"Doug was just quicker," Harold Hannah of Salyersville said.

Newsome said he heard a pistol shot and assumed Smith had fired, but then saw blood spatter near Smith on the snack stand.

Coroner Roger Nelson said Smith was shot once in the upper left side of his chest. Witnesses said he stood for about five seconds before falling on the paved walkway.

'Really nice guys'

Market manager Mary Neeley Elkins said she helped administer CPR. She declined further comment yesterday, except to describe Smith as "an A-No. 1 guy."

Smith was pronounced dead at 9:29 a.m. Thursday.

Newsome described both men as "really nice guys."

"They always had words -- not fighting words -- like friends do," he said. "Doug said he didn't mean to kill him, the way he did. He just meant to hit him up in the shoulder."

In a telephone interview yesterday, Moore said police had told him not to discuss what sparked the incident or discuss his feelings about the Iraq war.

"I'm sorry this has happened," said Moore, a retired railroad worker, "but then what's done can't be undone."

Moore said he thinks Smith and his family knew him well enough "to know what my thoughts are, his family does, because me and Harold was friends. That's all I'll say."

Widow, daughter grieve

In Manchester, Smith's widow, Kathleen, a home-health nurse, and his daughter, Robin Lipps of Beckley, W.Va., were grief-stricken and stunned.

"We feel like we're in a dream right now," said Kathleen Smith, a former hospice nurse.

"It doesn't make any sense to us," said Lipps, who drove to the flea market Thursday to question witnesses about what happened.

Smith, a father of three who was being treated for diabetes and a heart condition, retired from the state highway department in 1990 after suffering a heart attack, his wife said. He underwent open-heart surgery in 1999.

Kathleen Smith said the two men had been friends for many years after meeting at a trading event.

"They had had discussions over the same thing (Iraq) before," Lipps said.

She said her father "had different opinions than everybody. He felt it was wrong that all of these young people were losing their lives over what was going on. It was just a political disagreement, like a whole lot of people have."

Posted by crimnos @ 8:30 AM