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posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 04 2016, @04:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the seeds-of-revolution dept.

NPR is reporting on this tale of direct action:

A self-styled militia in eastern Oregon grabbed national headlines Saturday when they broke into the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. There the armed group remains Sunday, occupying the federal building in protest of what it sees as government overreach on rangelands throughout the western United States.

"We stand in defense," Ammon Bundy, the group's apparent leader and spokesperson, told Oregon Public Broadcasting. "And when the time is right we will begin to defend the people of Harney County, [Ore.,] in using the land and the resources."

Ammon's brother, Ryan, has reportedly used harsher rhetoric, saying members of the militia are willing to kill or be killed.

Their last name may ring a bell. Ammon and Ryan Bundy are sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, who notably took part in an armed standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, in Nevada in 2014.

Ammon Bundy now is part of a group of 15 to 150 people — depending on which source you believe — who are protesting the arson convictions of two Oregon ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven.

Also at Oregon Live, NYT, and the Associated Press.


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 04 2016, @04:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 04 2016, @04:27PM (#284568)

    "I'm defending our rights to get the government off of our backs by fighting for our god-given rights to Federal subsidies for ranching."

    You can't make stupid like this up.

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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 04 2016, @05:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 04 2016, @05:02PM (#284583)

    You can't make stupid like this up.

    Except you just did.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @09:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @09:14AM (#285041)

      No, he plagiarized it from the Bundys! Just think of all the great Bundys American has had! Al Bundy! Shoe salesman. Ted Bundy! Mass-murderer! And now Ammon Bundy! Wait, doesn't that sound like a Muslin name?

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Monday January 04 2016, @05:12PM

    by GungnirSniper (1671) on Monday January 04 2016, @05:12PM (#284593) Journal

    In middle-American states, the land would have long ago gone to those who use and cultivate that land. In the western states the federal government acts as a permanent landlord, reducing those states to Reconstruction-era interference. Is this the America we want?

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by fadrian on Monday January 04 2016, @05:23PM

      by fadrian (3194) on Monday January 04 2016, @05:23PM (#284599) Homepage

      Actually, yes. I'd rather the land be held in trust for my descendants rather than squandered by idiots like Bundy and his ilk. As far as I'm concerned, the feds can shut off the whole grazing program and give a big FU to the ranchers. Asking them to follow rules and pay a pittance to be allowed to graze on my land sounds like a pretty fucking good deal to both parties. It's a shame idiots like you and Bundy can't see what a sweet deal they're already getting.

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      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday January 04 2016, @05:29PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 04 2016, @05:29PM (#284605)

        Asking them to follow rules and pay a pittance to be allowed to graze on my land sounds

        Its not your land.

        Secondly you missed the third required step, which is to always agree with and support big brother at all times, or else you too will get a murder-level sentence for poaching a deer and not filing certain meaningless paperwork.

        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by fadrian on Monday January 04 2016, @09:02PM

          by fadrian (3194) on Monday January 04 2016, @09:02PM (#284728) Homepage

          It is my land. And the land of all of the people in this country. It sure as hell doesn't belong to the asshats who are sitting in that center now. And we, as a people, under our government, made laws saying how this land should be used. People need to follow laws. Unless you think that anyone who thinks that they're right should bypass the courts, the government, and (quite frankly) the will of the people at both the state and country levels by means of arms. I hope the feds put some bullets in heads. It should show these little militia pissants what's what.

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          • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday January 05 2016, @01:23PM

            by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 05 2016, @01:23PM (#285101)

            made laws saying how this land should be used

            No, we didn't. That's kind of the core of the problem.

            Weirdly enough congress sets the price per grazing animal/month for the whole country, and there are no problems with the billing side. Its hard to believe congress ever did anything right, but they did, for that small part. The laws are not a problem.

            Lease terms are written on the spot by political appointment hacks and are widely seen as corrupt as hell. Nothing to do with biology or ecology and a lot more to do with party membership and saying the right things to the right people and having the right friends and making the right campaign contributions. Not all are crooked, in fact probably most are not, but enough are, and there is basically no oversight or legal remedy other than taking up arms, sounds crazy but its true.

            A pretty good SN car analogy of the situation would be driving-while-black. The muni council or governing body sets the costs for local driving tickets, parking tickets, etc. Then some fraction of the cops selectively bust black people for driving on what they declare to be white roads. The problem is not the careful regulation and oversight of the price of tickets, the problem is the complete lack of regulation and oversight of the above the law cops.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @03:54AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @03:54AM (#284944)

          It's not yours either unless you're a Native American.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @09:17AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @09:17AM (#285043)

            Are you suggesting that Native Americans are not citizens of America, and so do not own the land in question? Or are you just stupid?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 09 2016, @04:29AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 09 2016, @04:29AM (#287139)

              That is exactly what 'Reservation Sovereignity' is all about, and also the plan in the 40s-60s to buy reservations in exchange for Native Americans becoming wholly American Citizens (Like the Amish and Quakers and a few others, they have a unique status, for better and sometimes worse apart from that of normal American citizens.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @04:26AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 05 2016, @04:26AM (#284964)

          BLM land is much more for the people than privately owned land. Since it belongs to all it needs to be managed accordingly. You can camp on BLM land near indefinitely but must move camp after a few weeks, you can move freely across it. Of course I'm sure I'm sure there are some restricted areas, but I really prefer BLM managers to ranchers with guns who think we're still in the wild west. The world is getting crowded, and as much as I love the idea of absolute freedom, it is easy to see that it is not feasible and some rules are needed. Keep the park rangers, get rid of the surveillance tech.

      • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday January 04 2016, @05:34PM

        by Nerdfest (80) on Monday January 04 2016, @05:34PM (#284608)

        One of the fines against him is for letting his cattle feed on land reserved for an endangered species.

        • (Score: 2) by fadrian on Monday January 04 2016, @08:56PM

          by fadrian (3194) on Monday January 04 2016, @08:56PM (#284723) Homepage

          Oh you mean a little thing that the rest of us call "compliance with the law".

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