My problem with your argument is; “who defines the Constitution?:
According to our laws, it’s the courts, not a bunch of guys with guns.
Again I ask, if it’s permissible for this group to make an armed occupation of public land, how would you answer the Black Lives Matter crowd if they made an armed takeover of the former slave markets in Southern cities, now often public parks, because their reading of the Constitution gave them the right to do so.
Crazy as hell, I know, but if the Oregon people can decide what the law is, why not Malcolm X.
What about if the took over the public park in your home town?
How can you say these Oregon people have the right to interpret the Constitution as they see fit, unless, you, I, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton have the same right?
When we give each person the right to interpret the Constitution, or any law, as they see fit, that is anarchy.
Our system is slow, unwieldy, occasionally unfair.... and way better than anything else.
And what you’re not seeing is that if they did take over the locations of former slave markets that NO ONE would be in imminent danger so there would be no reason for killing anyone.
And in this instance, way out in the countryside, there was zero reason for any confrontation at all.
Ever heard of the phrase "We the People"?
IOW, they’re not anarchists.
As I say, you may disagree with them all day long...but they were not seeking ana4rchy.
Much like the court system have been taken over by Occupy Lawyers. You may wanna close your eyes for the next part.
The courts have became a Damned Lawyers Oligarchy and group of back slapping deal cutting thugs willing to surrender any case and Constitutional point for an agreement cut either in the judges chambers or out in the hallway. Truth left the halls of justice decades ago and so has justice.
If a person wants a Contempt of Court Charge all they have to do is simply these days try to tell "The Whole Truth" on a witness stand about something. It's scripted tyranny and I say it as a person who has had it done to them before where I was a called witness. What Courts? What Judges? Even the Juries never hear the whole truth now but rather they hear pre-screened scripted B.S. approved by judges and lawyers before hand.
As for persons occupying parks? The ones you speak of are burning down peoples homes and private businesses and the government has convicted just how many in places like Ferguson? They demand we tear down statues many times donated to parks by private donors. They call it diversity AND THEY ALWAYS GET THEIR WAY UNHARASSED.
Ever hear of the Pine Tree Riot? The government of the day decreed what belong to it as well. It was the start of the Revolutionary War in a very real sense.
There is no sense in government holding the massive lands it holds. It should be state of private property except where national security is an absolute issue. Some lands were not long held ones rather many came under the Clinton Land Grabs. And as for cattle grazing? It should an even non cash beneficial service in return for beneficial services deal. The cattle are beneficial in promoting environmental growth and helping contain fire risk which is to BLM's interest.
One of the largest problems in federal government today is it has way overstepped it's Constitutional Authority and it's duties & limits specified in the Constitution. We have federal agencies coming in making laws and saying We want it so it's ours now. Sometimes compensation is made and sometimes it isn't.
Ever had a run in with a federal agency doing a land grab before. I don't mean a client I mean personally? I have against TVA. I was intimidated, threatened, and harassed. I made no bodily harm threats. I was trying to ensure my home would not get flooded off the ridge by a federal power producer who had ran roughshod over the southeast since the days of FDR. They purchases by contract a 50' by 1200' easement with a contracted 100' clause for danger trees for a high voltage transmission line. They came in with chainsaws and dozers cutting an almost 500' wide path. I had a family member hold a camcorder and I went up and told them they were trespassing and to stop cutting. They said we'll take what we want to and need to. I said you violated our contract now you leave my property and bring your supervisors to me for a meeting. The crew supervisor said we're bringing a U.S. Marshall to take the trees. I had made no threats and they said they needed a Marshall?
I took pictures of the damage. I called my congresscritter and media. I called neighbors and warned them. I raised hell. But I made no threats. A few days later I got a call from a purchasing agent wishing to meet with me and my dad to discuss what happened and he was bringing a forestry expert. The came, we talked, he counted stumps, I expressed grave concerns that they were cutting to close to my home located below and the next big rain would cause a landslide and take my home. He agreed and so did the forestry guy. They paid us for their damages then asked about the trees what to do with the cut ones. We said the trees stay on the ground.
I called the neighbors and all had to renegotiate. What happened was they purchased a R.O.W. for the planned stacked single pole power 30' plus high line. Someone in design decided to go with the wide and high tower configuration. They thought they could run roughshod.
Anyone who thinks government isn't corrupt and ran by liars, cheats, and thieves and thinks it can police itself with courts is insane.
“Our system is slow, unwieldy”
Keep in mind that we’re not talking about using the system to get justice for some every day crime.
In the context of the fed prohibitions/land grabs, by the time you try to go through the process, if you haven’t already lost your land, you’ve lost your livelihood trying to pay to protect it.
Many ranchers have gone out of business because of this. Generally, it’s mostly the largest of companies surviving.
So, generally speaking it’s ok to talk about using the process, but I’m sure you’d change your tune pretty quick if you were the one bankrupted by “the process”.
What’s going on now is the end of the rope, so to say, where some of the remaining small sized ranchers are saying they’ve had enough of the process are ready to fight.