Monday, February 1, 2016

well, cry me a river



So the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon is finally over, or nearly, except for the remaining 4 patriots terrorists. They want to leave but they don't want to go to jail and they don't want the FBI looking over, checking (or confiscating) their guns. Apparently they think the only option is to die in a gunfight with the FBI which they expect to storm the place guns blazing. They were still posting their 'come join us and get some guvment blood, there are no laws left in this land' scree and demanding the release of all participants, still vowing to fight to the death several days ago, or they were until the FBI has apparently finally cut off their cell phones and their internet connection. Mostly though, they are just scared little boys who want to go home but don't want to face the consequences of their actions.

You'll have to forgive me for not having any sympathy for these knuckleheads. They'll find out pretty quick that there are still quite a lot of laws in this land. I think the FBI and other law enforcement is being pretty damn lenient letting any of these armed wannabes go without charges after occupying and damaging the Preserve by bulldozing roads, rifling through artifacts, tearing down fences, terrorizing the community, and in general, being belligerent assholes.

Somehow they failed to understand that the land they are trying to liberate for 'the people' is already owned and operated by and for 'the people'. And, in truth, they were not doing this for the people but for themselves. They wanted the land turned over to the ranchers so that they could overgraze it, log it, and mine it for their own profit. Apparently the subsidies, the agricultural exemptions, the pittance they pay for grazing on public land as compared to what they would pay for privately owned land, the cheap loans, all provided by the government that they were up in arms against, all of which they enjoy, weren't enough. To hell with having conservation that protects the land from the activities of humans, that protects the land for the survival of the other creatures that call this planet home, that allows part of this country to remain a wilderness.

Now that the leaders are arrested and one of their number is shot and killed (who got exactly what he wanted, told us all he would rather be killed than go to jail and so he resisted arrest, ran from the law nearly running a man over, and reached for his loaded gun) they're all, we didn't want violence, we are a peaceful group, after a month of being armed to the teeth, publicly declaring that they would fight to the death if law enforcement tried to remove them, almost begging the FBI to come and take it.

What they don't seem to realize is that waving their pocket constitutions around (of which they have no clear understanding, along with their ignorance of history) and flag flying while engaging in armed insurrection against the duly elected government by the people does not make them patriots. A patriot fights for the country of which the government is the legal representative.

What they are, in the end, is just a bunch of selfish entitled religious right wingers who decided to take by force what they had no right to.




19 comments:

  1. You said it perfectly. Great post, Ellen!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A lovely summation of these fools and their ideology. The line, a patriot fights for his country, not against it, is perfect. Sadly, I know more than a few men who would wave their guns and argue the opposite. Women, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those pocket protector constitutions weren't real constitutions. They were Skousen annotated psuedo-religious documents pretending to be the Constitution. http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/this-mormon-pseudo-historian-is-why-the-oregon-militants-are-so-confused-about-the-constitution/

    In the REAL Constitution, not their perverted version, the pouty child A (-hole). Bundy cited Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 as justification for their actions. Pity he didn't read all the way through to Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2 like an adult would have and saved us all a lot of time...

    ReplyDelete
  4. A couple of weeks ago I heard an interview with one of their local supporters, who was about as dumb as a box of hair. It was quite a long interview, and the longer it went the clearer it became that this person was completely incapable of putting together a intelligible explanation of the group's purpose or its connection to the constitution.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You haven't said a single thing I can disagree with. Well said.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I couldn't agree more. Well said. Shame on them. My patriot ancestors would have let them have it, I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Never been fond of cattlemen -ever! These guys are so full of bullshit!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I do so agree and all of those who live there have had huge disruption in their lives. I am hoping they will lose all freedom to own weapons because they threaten law abiding citizens and enforcers of the laws. Fighting for ones rights can be justified if they are fighting for human rights of others or themselves...not economic rights that only they will benefit from. I am very disappointed that our government didn't nip this in the bud much earlier by cutting off all communications, food, water, electricity, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great summary of the situation! It's a reminder that this land is full of strange thinking and selfish motives, most of which ends up making it hard for the rest of us.

    ReplyDelete
  10. One more time I say that you could have taken the words right out of my head! I so much agree with you. I dont't get how in the world those d.a. can claim to be peaceful protesters. Dr. King and his followers sure never carried guns. Thank you for writing my thoughts. Seems like there is lots of agreement here. At least that circus is mostly over. Now we can give our FULL attention to the one that is going on in Iowa, NH, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Agreed! I was happy to see that many people apparently feel this way. I haven't seen a lot of popular support for the protesters on Facebook, for example. (Granted this is partly due to my assortment of friends.)

    I think these anti-government types start thinking of government as the OTHER, rather than as an extension of themselves. You know? It's easy to demonize the OTHER, rather than take responsibility for it (and certainly rather than giving it credit for all the benefits they receive, as you pointed out).

    ReplyDelete
  12. very well written, thought out and said. I agree completely.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm right with you, Ellen. Every time I see or read anything about this issue, I want to scream a little.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Why do the idiot blow-hards with the guns get the press and publicity? Left alone with no audience I don't think their antics would last long. The stunt should have resulted in them being arrested, charged, tried, and serving time if convicted. The rule of law is what our country was founded on.

    ReplyDelete

I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.