As usual, Andre has a great and thoughtful take on things.
But really, I don't want to defend what he did, it was stupid. The first rule of guns is never point it at something you don't intend on killing. Every 8 year-old kid getting his hunting license knows that.
What I wanted to say about this was Jimmy Carter when confronted with his own stupid mistake wrote a letter(!) admitting such: "It may ease your grief somewhat to know that the cat was buried properly with a prayer & that I’ll be glad to get you another of your choice." and "I called & came by your house several times."
I think what he actually wrote says a lot more about him than one dumb mistake. He could have done any number of things to shirk responsibility but he admitted it and even allowed it to be displayed in a museum of his letters. I hope when I'm facing a situation like that I have even half that amount of decency as he did.
That really captures how I feel about it. Carter did something dumb, and then did the honorable thing and owned up to it. He could have (literally) covered it up. This reminds me of when Carter was ridiculed for stating that he had lusted in his heart. It's again more evidence of his general honesty; admitting something he need never have. What's more, he even put it in writing, on letterhead no less, surely aware of the possibility that it would become public. He's a former president. Few people are more scrutinized. We celebrate George Washington based on the apocryphal cherry tree story in which he says he cannot tell a lie; it's meant to attest to the strength of his character, coming forward to own up after he did something lousy. No matter what you think of Carter's politics, we could certainly use more politicians with that kind of integrity.
