Discussion:

Discussion for article #244305

It appears choking off the power to the Wildlife Center isn’t an option because those power lines serve ranches out there, too. And nobody wants to go out there and cut the power, either. I think ¡Jeb! should be the one to do it. He’s the one said they should “cease and desist.” Interesting article at the Guardian:

Because… Benghazi! And, oh, thanks, Obama!

Idiots

BTW: very nice article, Lauren. You asked a good question and provided an interesting answer that helps us understand what is going on. Kudos.

Lock him up and throw away the key.

Greedy self interest combined with a sprinkle of action movie nonsense and a healthy dose of the worst kind of nationalism?

Perhaps the government should engage in an orgy of oppression; forcing them all to accept $500K SBA loans.

Dwight Hammond was never prosecuted for the 1994 incident.

There’s the problem. Once you let one of these self-styled “patriots” get away with something that would land any one of the rest of us in jail, you’re off to the races.

And kudos to you for noticing. We’re somewhat prone to bitch about typos and inaccuracies and headline-content mismatches and take it for granted when it’s done right. Though, granted, if you really need people to notice when you’ve done it right, journalism may not be your best career choice, because that’s the nature of the gig.

"He did little to deter his cattle from “trespassing along the streams and trampling young willows that refuge workers had planted to repair damage wrought by years of overgrazing.” "

Trying to dissuade a Patriot from letting his cattle ruin fragile public land? If that’s not the definition of a tyrannical government, I’ve never heard one!

Nice, informative article.

Yes. Good reporting, Lauren. For anyone with an interest in public lands west of the Rockies, if you’re not even a casual reader of High Country News, you should be. Guess I’m not surprised that they’ve been reporting on these idiots for over a decade.

Thanks for this, I needed a sum up. The Bundy group I can dismiss for being the a’holes they are.

Things I heard that made me question part of the government’s case, they had over 12,000 acres, they didn’t need to poach along the border of their land so that doesn’t really make sense. Also, if there were wildfires (and it sounds like there were) on the case they were actually prosecuted for, it does seem reasonable to protect yourself from it spreading, that’s why the judge gave them less time.

I hate mandatory minimums, for everyone, not just old white guys.

It would be helpful to understand the history of Oregon becoming one of the United States, especially as it pertains to Federal land designation. ALL of what became the state of Oregon had to have started as Federal land, did it not? And if the Federal government - all the rest of us - maintained control of what is currently designated as Federal land - then these arguments that the Feds are trying to control state land are ridiculous, untrue and put forth by people who are taking and misusing what belongs to ALL of us. Just because they live in the neighborhood doesn’t mean it belongs to them.

I read this article over the weekend and I had no idea about some special things in Oregon’s path to statehood. They even included exclusion of other races being allowed in the state in their constitution.

From the Washington Post:

But violence seemed an unlikely outcome. Occupier Michael Stettler, who lives about 100 miles away in Christmas Valley, Ore., said the occupiers are spending most of their time fielding calls from the news media and watching Fox News.

“These guys aren’t hardened militia,” he said. “Most of them couldn’t even run a mile.”

I thought this was a good story until the reporter referred to a tabloid story about Dusty Hammond, Dusty was a disturbed teen with many issues who was sent to live with Dwight Hammond. He carved the tattoo ( two initials) into his chest with a paper clip. That speaks volumes about what kind of witness the government relied on.That reporters treat his allegations, which were not proven in court, as fact is disturbing.

That picture explains so much about Ritzheimer. Some men just cannot deal with being short. Also explains why he is doing the Citizen Kane shot in the videos I have seen- making himself look tall, LOL!

Bundy: “Gawwd’ gave us dominion over every damned thing on this and every other piece of government land…and we should be able to do whatever the hell we want to do to it. Damn anybody who doesn’t agree and damn the evil government for trying to help wildlife and preserve some wilderness and has forgotten that WE the Bundys are the true stewards of this here land. Just ask Captain Moroni over there.”

So all the good Dominionists, Kolobians, Christofascists and Rightie Republicans, but I repeat myself, who have “thoughts and prayers” that haven’t expired should send em’ to the Winded Warrior Project in Oregon.

Excellent article, by the way, on all these loathsome and depraved Welfare Cowboy charmers.

If they’re grazing cattle on their land and on the wildlife refuge land adjacent to it, it makes perfect sense for them to be needing to hunt on someone else’s property. Deer can’t survive well in overgrazed areas. As for the sentence, it’s the jury that establishes the facts of the matter, and the jury decided that the claim of setting backfires was bogus. For a judge to substitute their judgement for that of the jury is problematic at best.

It does sound as if these guys are reaping the whirlwind for a long history of ignoring the law.

Who cares why they did it. Armed goons took over federal property, but let’s treat them with kid gloves, and make jokes, and exhibit patience while we resolve this case peacefully…

It must be fucking awesome to be white