Is Jon Ham a moron or what?

I keep telling myself that there's absolutely no reason to waste my time reading the John Locke Foundation's "Right Angles" blog. And yet, like a wreck on the highway, sometimes i can't help driving by at a slow speed, staring in disbelief.

Jon's latest, under the headline Crime at a polling place, is really no different from the rest of his drivel.

Durham Police shot and killed a robbery/carjacking suspect this morning at the Durham County Main Library downtown. A polling station. On election day. In an election in which one mayoral candidate made crime an issue and an incumbent who said it wasn’t really a problem. How long before some lefty commentators claim the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy engineered this?

So, after seeing the headline, and reading the lede, you're no doubt thinking, "Oh my god, right there with all those people waiting to vote! Someone tried to carjack someone. How horrible."

But reality, as it often does, has a way of intruding on right wing fantasies. From the N&O report, which is linked to above:

The shooting happened after undercover officers saw the occupants of a 2007 Jeep Commander try to rob a woman near Holloway Street and Guthrie Avenue about 12:30 a.m., police said. The officers followed the Jeep and called for backup from uniformed patrol officers.

Officers tried to stop the Jeep on Geer Street, but the driver refused to stop, police said. The officers then chased the car down Geer Street to Camden Avenue and back onto Geer Street. Officers continued the chase to Holloway Street, where one of the Jeep's tires blew out. The vehicle then turned onto Oakwood Avenue and headed the wrong way on Liberty Street.

The Jeep stopped on Liberty Street near the Durham County Library, and three of its occupants jumped out and ran. One ran to the front of the Jeep, then turned and pointed a gun at the officers, police said. Opitz then fired, striking the man in the torso.

Officers on foot chased and caught two of the Jeep's occupants: Jesse Arce and Steaphan Ascencio Vasquez, both 16, of Raleigh. Police said Vasquez had been driving the Jeep.

See, a normal person, even a lefty like myself, would first want to know how the attempted robbery victim was doing. Then, we'd praise for the law enforcement personnel for their actions, and follow with some questions as to whether or not the shooting itself was justified and, perhaps more importantly, how someone in custody manages to free themselves by "kicking out a window of a patrol car." I would also want to know if police consider the remaining suspect a danger to the community. In the longer term, we'd talk about how to reduce the odds that young men like these would end up committing crimes like this in the first place.

But not Jon Ham.

His first response to this is to write a misleading blog post about "Crime at a polling place," and try to figure out if there's a political advantage to be gained for his candidate. And second, to make up some bullshit about "lefties" who, in his fantasy world, act just like he does, but on the opposite side of the fence.

The scary thing is, he gets paid to do this. And by the same guy who used to pay Thomas Stith's salary.

But that couldn't possibly make it a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, could it, Jon?