Shawn, let it go. This might get somewhere if it were a debate and the field was even, but it isn't.
You have as your user title "lifetime newbie", yet you post something like this - which is indicative of someone who is in the know...
Which is it, bruce? Do you KNOW, or are you speculating here - I'm not sure where you're going with this...
The reference to the grade of the field was between Shawn and me.
Oh, I'm sorry I interupted a private conversation - I had no idea it was private (between shawn and you)... I'll try to be more careful in the future, but if you could possibly take it to PRIVATE Message or e-mail it would greatly help me to understand your conversation was in fact intended to be private...
shawk - you really remind me of those people I have dealings with on a regular basis who seem to feel that nothing is wrong unless you're caught - and when you ARE caught - the louder you protest the more innocent you must be. You know - "he/they/she/those people/all of the others did/do it too, so why are you picking on me...", "Don't you have other burglars/robbers/rapists/murderers/etc to catch instead of arresting me for something stupid like this", "I ain't sayin' nothing so you can't prove I'm wrong", "aren't you supposed to read me Miranda when you arrest me - my lawyer will get me out of this because you didn't arrest me right", "...you're just being prejudiced", "...prove I did something wrong!" [one of my personal favorites], and so on)...
Oh, and my absolute favorite - when a neighbor comes out, has no idea what's going on, but has to stick themselves in the middle because the "know" the neighbor to be a great guy and the police are harassing him/her... That's always a winner - especially when it's two-for-one day (I get two arrests instead of one - one for the original person, and the neighbor for obstructing...).
If only those people knew how foolish they really were at the time... it's usually not until much later that they realize they may have crossed the line. And that would be when they're whipping out the billfold and tossing cash at he clerk and/or lawyer for fines/court costs/fees... :0
Then again, there are smaller minority of individuals that still bear ill-will towards the cop afterwards because they think the officer was wrong for what he did, even though a judge convicted them...
You might say I'm fairly used to this kind of strange thinking by now, shawk... I still don't understand it, but I don't get bent out of shape about any more like I did years back.