The odd thing about this incident is that it went about as well as could be expected under the circumstances, yet the McCloskeys are still likely to be railroaded due to the media uproar. If protesters were coming into my neighborhood, my ideal outcome would be one where:

• No shots are fired

• No one gets hurt

• No one dies

• No property is damaged or stolen.

And what happened?

• No shots were fired.

• No one was hurt.

• No one died.

• No property was damaged or stolen.

Maybe it would have still played out that way without the guns, but we'll never know. If the protesters actually were inclined to vandalism or violence, it would seem that the much-maligned waving of guns worked - it prevented vandalism and violence. But we won't learn the protesters' intentions because they are not the ones on trial, and the media would sugar-coat them with everything it had anyway.

For all the bellyaching from the left over state-controlled media, you have to wonder if they ever worry about a media-controlled state.