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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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the fact you didn't know the first shot went through the windshield proving he was in front of the vehicle when he shot 3 times within about a second

and so your motte position was 'sure, sure, maybe the first shot was fine, but what about the 2nd and 3rd shot .33 seconds later which went 6 inches to the right through the side window'

what about the 2nd and 3rd shot .33 seconds later which went 6 inches to the right through the side window'

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K9CJY5p0xz4&t=16

He's pivoted more than 90 degrees since the first shot, and has pushed his gun forward almost to the point where it's within the vehicle through the side window -- there's some argument to be made that training/target fixation kicked in so he's not really culpable, but that argument is not "double-tap is standard procedure" nor "nobody could possibly have stopped shooting in such a short time".

the standard in self-defense scenarios is and should be what a reasonable person could believe in the situation; it's not a standard of perfection based on hindsight and 10 different camera angles

when you get to the point where you're (the general you) attempting to criticize/condemn someone because they fired 3 shots in a timeframe of about a second total claiming the shooter should have known and assessed after the first shot and within half a second that the potential threat scenario had completely changed and to not fire a half second later, while they're being hit by a car driving directly by them, we're at the point where I just don't believe they actually believe in self-defense and they're looking for any reason to condemn people when they actually use self-defense as a way to attack self-defense principles themselves and each of these are just arguments as soldiers

no one is required or should be required under the legal standard to judge each shot in a very tight sequence (again, about a second in total) of shots separately because this isn't how humans work because we have brains and muscles which just aren't this fast

the period in which lethal force would be justified is the period in which it's present and imminent and then a period of time after it factually ends to give a real human in the real world time to observe that, analyze it, and respond to it; I really struggle to believe people making these arguments have successfully thought about putting themselves in this scenario, think about just how quick 1 second is, and think to themselves, 'yeah sure I would have fired the first shot and it's justified, but I would have known to stop .33 seconds later as I was being hit by a car'

these sorts of arguments just come off to me as being only able to be made by people know they will never be in this scenario and they're using their spot on the sidelines to produce a standard which condemns most others

none of us would withstand such a standard and cowardice and inaction is our only defense, but someone actually does have to be in these situations

and as I wrote in another comment, there is yet another argument the cop would be justified to use lethal force in defense of others on the street from the fleeing felon who had just committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon which she was still recklessly driving

edit: accidentally posted early and came in too hot and significant edited the above post, apologies

the fact you didn't know the first shot went through the windshield proving he was in front of the vehicle

I did know that.

and so your motte position was 'sure, sure, maybe the first shot was fine, but what about the 2nd and 3rd shot .33 seconds later which went 6 inches to the right through the side window'

This is the straw man of my position, yes.