Posted on 01/03/2016 9:31:09 AM PST by Lazamataz
In the last day or so, a very dangerous situation has emerged in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, near the town of Burns, Oregon. Ammon Bundy and about a dozen men, armed with firearms, have occupied a closed Federal building on that property. The local Sheriff has backed down, and there are rumors of Special Response Teams staging nearby.
This building is a smallish, very isolated building in the middle of a large National Refuge. Someone posted on a thread under a Guardian news article about this, "I'm in Oregon. These guys took over a headquarters building but it's kinda like an old brick house your grandma would live in and it's at least 50 miles from nowhere. You guys have a good time."
I do not intend to explore the minutia behind the case. That is a matter for courts. I do intend to explore the responses to this that we should take, and those we should not take.
I had a chance to hear a CNN interview with Ammon Bundy. At best, his narrative can only be described as incoherent. The CNN host, remarkably constrained in his questioning, asked what the government could do to unravel this. After a lot of "um's" and "uh's", the best Ammon could come up with was, "The government needs to start following the Constitution." The host wanted a more definitive answer, and Bundy had nothing. Simply put, this guy is the perfect foil for a police-state government move.
We all agree. The Federal government does need to start following the Constitution. This is a fight for the court system, and if there is no relief there -- AND it happens to more than a handful of us -- THEN other more drastic measures can be considered. The key is the universality of violation. The cases of Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Bundy Ranch -- while all eregious -- are spread apart by years and have happened to the tiniest percentage of people. The proper response to these actions are judicial in nature. Take these things all the way up to the Supreme Court. These venues NEED to be fully-explored, first.
If, however, this sort of government abuse begins to happen in greater and greater numbers, there comes a time when there is a tipping point. When OTrauma just starts going full-Stalin, we must react, or die on our knees.
I don't think we are there yet, notice how delicately he's treading on his gun control Executive Order tomorrow. It's basically a tiny measure -- purported to be background checks if the seller sells 25 guns a year -- and he had his people research it for months before deciding to proceed.
There comes a time he won't be so careful or delicate. That's when we know the balloon went up. Either that, or if we ever awake to find that the electric or communications grid is down. Those are proper signs that something srastic must be undertaken.
If the Feds undertake an attacking action, and lose anyone, this will be the chance for OTrauma to actually impose some Stalinist directives. Anything from a declaration of a National Emergency to martial law could be reasonably taken, and the masses of people would go right along with it. See, the masses of people need to feel the boot before they will join. There must be more support by the general population before we can move. There are also several ways to conduct ourselves. One is more direct action, but another seems to be effective as well. Look at Czechoslovakia for how a successful 'velvet revolution' can occur, or how the 'Arab Spring' caused (admittedly harmful, in this instance) change. Anything where we are the vast minority, and a Fed-supportive populace is the vast majority, is simply a death sentence for more of our liberties, and perhaps even a death sentence for we who believe in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
This particular set of actions by Ammon Bundy are just unwise. One actually wonders if he wasn't emboldened or encouraged to act recklessly by agents of the administration, embedded in his group.
I call upon Ammon Bundy to stand down, and work the court system -- all the way up to SCOTUS -- at this time. I plead for all patriotic-minded individuals to stay away from this situation.
No harm done. By the way, love your tagline.
Hey how come your ISP address comes out of Langley, VA? :-)
No, the Founders weren’t cranks. They had a political program, principles, and support.
The Bundys have none of these things and are cranks, trying to provoke a response. Even the people they were supposedly “supporting” didn’t want them to do this.
They probably also don't want to put the original deal at risk and end up with additional charges.
Thanks Laz....I dont agree with what Bundy is doing.
You wish...
He’s acting, most likely, under the direction of Federal handlers.
Yeh, I figured we had a fibbie amongs’t us. Like a skunk in the petunias. :-)
The “Founders” were considered “cranks’ by most of the population. Not only the dyed in the wool Royalists were against them, but so were the chicken liver cowards who hid until the fighting was over. The Royalists mostly left for England in the next ships or went to Canada. The rest of the “uninvolved” profited by the actions of the heroes.
I’m just effing with him because that’s just the kind of girl I am. :-)
O you scamp. :)
/8^)
The Oklahoma City Bombing took the wind out of any official investigation into Waco. Officially explained as having happened in retaliation for Waco, blamed on gunowners and militia groups, the bombing not only dampened zeal for taking the agencies responsible for Waco to task, it also was spun in the media to vilify Constitutionalists, militia members, gun owners, and people who were concerned in general with government excess as dangerous potential terrorists in the public mind. The backlash against gunowners (even thought the weapon involved was not a firearm) was significant enough that the Assault Weapons Ban repeal effort stalled in its tracks.
The media used this, even then the Ministry of Propaganda, to put a serious damper on opposition to government--something which gave the Clintons considerably more freedom to conduct bid'ness as usual.
Ruby Ridge did have some repercussions, largely due to Gerry Spence taking the case for Randy Weaver pro bono, and not only defeating charges, but winning large settlements for the survivors of the incident.
However, in neither case were government agents taken to task, either in court or in official actions within their respective agencies.
I think I still owe you a beer/"soft-drink of choice" too.
As for this issue, I know it's a Tarp. I know it's a goat rope. I know it's a "fill in the blank".
I'm getting too old to keep waiting for "The Perfect Time"TM. It needs to be done, on that we all agree. What we can't agree on is when/where/who/what to start it over...
LOL you are alright bro. I understand the frustration of the wait. But I think 2016 doesn’t end without some stuff going down.
It’s gotta be something the populace backs us on. Not this.
Perhaps. But understand, it happens in 2016. Obama insists.
Except they chose to serve time while the case was being appealed. The Hammonds did not win on appeal so they had to serve a longer sentence. They will get credit for time served.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.