THE REACH OF SOVEREIGNTY

Miguel Antonio Dejesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were shot outside of Texan Joe Horn's,61, home last week. I guess these two illegal immigrants were just doing a job that Americans won't do, huh?

The people of Texas, especially near the border, have been the targets of murder, rape, burglary, kidnapping, loss of property value, neighborhoods beset by illegal drug activity all while the local and Federal governments pay no attention to their plight. Many bloggists and talk show hosts have been wondering when the citizenry of Texas will have had enough. Well, we may have arrived to that point.

There has been those who try and equate this to a racially motivated incident, since Joe Horn happened to be white and the two thieves black. Others call Joe Horn a vigilante that overstepped his social bounds by involving himself in a crime that did not involve him, since it was his neighbors home being robbed. Texas law does state you can protect your own property from criminals and it may or may not be true that these two bad guys were actually in Joe's yard at the time of the shootings. And it may have to be decided whether it was lawful under his state law for Mr. Horn to act to protect his neighbors assets.

To me, none of that matters. Who would not want a neighbor like Joe Horn? A man who obviously cares about his home, his neighbors home and well being and who had the balls to confront evil nose to nose and shut it down. Who out there goes to work and can be at home with their possessions every minute? Their mates? Their kids? It sure would be nice to have a caring person watching over us when our backs are turned, don't you think? And it is a matter of sovereignty.

As an American citizen, do we have the right to defense of our own life? Our families? How about our property, like our home or car or wedding rings? Do we have the duty to render assistance to our neighbor? Maybe a elderly man who is being beat upon or a young neighbor woman being sexually assaulted or a child being mistreated in the most heinous of ways(baby Grace) ... can we step across that imaginary line and protect our fellow person who shares our street when deadly force may be needed? And if we do, where does it end? It is my belief that a person has a right of self defense that includes his home, neighborhood, state and nation.

With the borders unenforced and national sovereignty dissolving, and with what I think is the morally correct decision to protect ones fellow man and, dare I say the American way of life which is intertwined in the rule of law, what exactly is Mr. Horn guilty of?