Anyone remember the song Snoopy vs. The Red Baron? I draw your attention to the line ” . . . like the scream and the sound of a big war bird.” I know I should be blogging about the release of taciturn New Hampshire iconoclast Ward Bird, trumpeting his freedom as a triumph of common sense (yes, that phrase again) and gun rights goodness. But TTAG’s Armed Intelligentsia have already parsed this one pretty good; many of our number wondering why a man would threaten a lone, unarmed woman with a gun when, let’s face it, he wasn’t in any real danger. (Ducks.) Besides, that’s one catchy tune. Anyway . . .
The Bird case was far from straightforward. According to the probation officer for the woman who made the brandishing accusation against Bird (I know, right?), defamer Christine Harris “wouldn’t know the truth if it hit her with a truck.” Famously, Bird declined to take the stand in his own defense.
The pressure to release Mr. Bird has been building since he was sent to jail on a three-year ticket. New Hampshire Governor Lynch vetoed his Executive Council’s decision to pardon Bird; a move which would have broken Lynch’s unblemished record for not pardoning no one for nothin’.
Instead, Lynch OKed the Council’s commutation of Bird’s sentence to time served: 76 days. The arrangement means that Bird remains a convicted felon, barred from possessing firearms. By all accounts, the caveat clinched the deal with Lynch. citizen.com:
Lynch said, “I don’t know what the facts are. We don’t know what the facts are.” He said he did know that there was a trial and that a jury unanimously determined that Bird was guilty. A second superior court judge affirmed the conviction and the state Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the conviction, Lynch said.
He stressed that he was hesitant to substitute the council’s judgment for what he characterized as “a very comprehensive review” by the state’s legal system.
Yeah yeah. Gotcha. Sop to the system aside, as a savvy pol, Lynch knew that when it comes to placating New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Hard with a Vengeance gun rights community, b-b-b-b-bird bird bird. Bird is the word. Oh, and if a member of same should ever attend a rally for or against Mr. Lynch, let’s hope someone yells out Freed Bird!