Posted on 01/04/2016 9:47:31 AM PST by The Looking Spoon
A brief synopsis of the current Oregon standoff via Hot Air:
It appears that we've got ourselves another militia standoff out West, this time in rural, eastern Oregon, where armed activists are taking issue with the federal government over control of a wildlife refuge and the fate of two ranchers who are supposed to be on the way to jail. Complicating the issue (at least in the eyes of the media) is the fact that the protest is being organized and led by three sons of Cliven Bundy...While this case has obviously been simmering for a while, it swelled out of proportion over the last few days. At the heart of the matter are ranchers Dwight Hammond and his son Steven. They were previously accused and convicted of arson for two fires which they set more than a decade ago which burned on parts of the federal wildlife refuge near their property. The first real dispute seems to have arisen over the nature and purpose of the fires, which the Hammonds claim were controlled and for reasonable purposes...Prosecutors disagreed with their explanation. Details on this are rather fuzzy, but at least some on the government side believe that one of the blazes was set as a deliberate case of arson to destroy evidence of illegal taking of game.
Looking at the video statement from Ammon Bundy you definitely see these aren't the armed wackos that provide justification to the liberals who coined the term #YallQueda.
One thing people (especially liberals) need to remember is that ranchers such as the Bundy family and their allies have been fighting the with the federal government to basically justify their existence for several decades now. Many even on the right like John Hawkins express skepticism (in Hawkins's case he says it's "insane") over the tactics being used here. I appreciate that, my first reaction to this was that surely there was a better way to go about this...
But then I thought that this IS insane, and yet they have decided to go forward with it. These don't seem like people raring for a violent confrontation, they just want to force the issue of "control without representation" to the forefront of the nation's conscience AND they have exhausted just about all of their options, or at least they feel like they have.
That is purely a devil's advocate argument on my part, because I don't know if it's true that all options have been exhausted. One thing I do know is that this controversy will probably become yet another chance for liberals to put their rank hypocrisy on display.
The Occupy movement was their darling, and many more people all over the country invaded public spaces, essentially taking up residence, and in many cases turning them into biohazards. Yet the left LOVED these dippies because the movement was seen as a the left's response to the Tea Party, and there was a lot of pride in it being what they saw as a real movement of people even though it was a hot mess of people dressing up (fittingly I might add) like zombies, displaying irresponsible messages about "eating the rich," defecating in public, and some camps were even plagued with rapes and shootings.
All of it was for the nobel cause of fighting for someone who may or may not have a high school education to be paid $20/hour (which is way more than I was making in my first job after graduating college) to flip burgers at a fast food joint.
Of course that's not all they wanted, they wanted the government to erase their student debt too. They also wanted to throw rich people into gulags (that would probably be luxurious compared to the Occupy encampments) because they chose to work and make their own money rather than joining the bongo beaters in tent villages outside of working peoples' offices and demanding people who work for their money fork over that money so they can continue beating bongos in tents...for the greater good.
But Ammon Bundy and his band are #YallQueda...You don't have to agree with their tactics, but reasonable people can't possibly agree with that.
Of course, the comparison with OWS and BLM misbehavior will run rampant on ABCNNBCBS and in the NYT, LAT, WA(com)POST...
< /sarc >
I’ve seen an infographic that makes the very same point, but for the entire nation, it shows how much of the west the feds claim for themselves vs the rest of the country. It’s disturbing to say the least.
Always like seeing Rooster!
This fabulous article from the Conservative Treehouse is required to put the Oregon occupation into perspective.
It’s a rare thing to be able to pick the timing of a fight. And most of us here don’t go around looking for one. But when you find yourself in one, I suggest following Rooster’s advice.
Yeah, decades it seems.
Those guys always do great work.
Can we start calling BLM #brawlqaeda?
or BlackISIS?
“I’ve seen an infographic that ... shows how much of the west the feds claim for themselves vs the rest of the country.”
Interesting twist: what they don’t own is often adjacent to land they prevent you from doing much with.
I’ve occasionally looked for dirt-cheap land out west, finding the cheapest coming with stipulation a la “residential buildings not allowed”. Sure you can buy it for $175/acre, but if you’re not allowed to live there (”for your own good” an unsuitable justification) they’re arguably just playing word games with who actually owns it (and what “own” means).
“what they don’t own is often adjacent to land they prevent you from doing much with.”
Rephrased: what adjacent land they don’t own, they prevent you from doing much with.
Oregon reference bkmk.
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