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Although I am not armed, and have no intention on intervening in the current playground posturing that the pacific northwest weekend warriors are engaged in. . . . .
I would just like to suggest and/or make a recommendation that any of the 'militia' members involved that do not like the US government turn in their EBT cards when they arrive at the scene of the stand off.
I lived in Washington for awhile when I was younger and there are a lot of militia-libertarian-'sovereign' citizen nut jobs in northern Washington, but despite their hatred of the state and federal government, there is a large population of them living below the poverty level (after all of the usual expenses involved with securing large amounts of firearms, ammunition and survival gear) in mobile homes and trailers.
And it is strange. Despite the fact that they do not like the government, the social services offices and programs in those areas are geared towards helping families that are living in poor conditions (because daddy is so busy planning his overthrow of the government that he cannot maintain a normal job) and the state gives them EBT cards, medical care through Medicaid and the children are all in public schools paid for with tax dollars.
But they are always complaining about the government and blaming their own pathetic conditions on their belief that the Bilderburg Group and the Illuminati amidst what I am sure are really busy schedules for both organizations, have time to impact and affect the lives of individuals living in single wide mobile homes below the poverty level.
Now, I just decided to bring this up because despite the time I spent in Washington, I actually grew up in New York City and there was always a very ignorant and misguided tendency to claim that only 'minorities' and black people received help from the state and government and that welfare was a realm exclusive to those people. There are about just as many people that are white on some form of statist and/or federal government program.
There are even 'ranchers' in states like Montana, Wyoming, etc that receive more welfare than the average poor person in an inner city. The Federal Farm and Homestead Act, although far too complicate for me to list the details of here, allows families on farms that owe the federal government considerable amounts of money, to not ever pay it back as long as the land is still owned by the family and subsidies for ranchers and farmers is a significant part of the redistribution of taxes in the US every year.
And it is beginning to hit mainstream media this morning.
Folksy-looking guys taking over the gift shop of a bird sanctuary, soliciting snackfoods, and parading around bedecked with the Gadsden flag was only the beginning.
Now they will undertake to "indict" and "arrest" various county and federal officials on the capital charge of "sedition"
seems like this thing is turning into a rebellion.... armed forces occupying us property... how are they not committing treason?
Were you equally concerned about the treasonous union dudes and supporting fans who occupied the Wisconsin state house? Like some of the ranchers, they had a long list of butt hurts based on violations of the "traditional way" ?
These butt hurts included: We cant force people to join our unions anymore..... .
Then factor in that a large number of the union guys were government employees who had taken a loyalty oath.
Were you equally concerned about the treasonous union dudes and supporting fans who occupied the Wisconsin state house? Like some of the ranchers, they had a long list of butt hurts based on violations of the "traditional way" ?
These butt hurts included: We cant force people to join our unions anymore..... .
Then factor in that a large number of the union guys were government employees who had taken a loyalty oath.
Were the union dudes armed?
Did the union dudes destroy state property?
Did the union dudes steal government vehicles and equipment?
Did the union dudes illegally access state documents?
Did the union dudes follow state employees home and sit outside their houses?
An alleged spokesman for the OathKeepers states that they will join with the Pacific Patriots Network, and support the Redress of Grievances document of the Malheur occupiers.
Significantly, I do not find support for this on the OathKeepers' website:
Unless or until it is verified, it belongs in the headscratcher category.
Either their website does not update every little statement by their spokesmen (and supporting the Redress of Grievances would constitute a major statement), or there is fragmentation amidst the members between those who do support the whole wacky "sovereign citizens" alternative court system, and those who don't.
All the 'American Revolution' and 'Waco' talk are just generally informative hyperbole.
It's the Bundy bunch's Redress of Grievances -- it's acceptance or repudiation by a major and generally-recognised as law-abiding militia -- that is the red meat, the crux, of what is going on now.
Will all these armed individuals of the PPN, the Oath Keepers, the III%ers -- generally recognized as generally law abiding, typically well trained and well disciplined, each having a military style code of conduct and chain of command -- will they latch onto and support a document generated by the alternative sovereign citizens' movement, or will they scrupulously follow codified law?
High stakes decisions -- and a slippery slope. If armed factions endorse one part of the sovereign citizens' "legal apparatus" (Redress of Grievances document), but not another ("arresting", ie, kidnapping, the Sheriff and other county officials), does this not leave them utterly splintered -- one faction armed and breaking countless laws, the other faction armed and nominally law abiding -- and both sides calling themselves members of these various militias?
Unless or until we see in print on the Oath Keepers' website that they are indeed endorsing and supporting the Redress of Grievances, in my opinion, I subjectively posit that we can still consider them fully within the law both in letter and in spirit.
But they do urgently need to clarify whether that guy in the video speaks for them or not.
I'm sorry, I've LIVED where the U.S. Forest service repeatedly commits/committed arson, errr, backfires that went out of control, had to help friends evacuate and sucked smoke all summer long. You??
You know what? We're in an era where protesters have it easier than ever. We have a system where you can have the President make a statement about something by just getting 100,000 signatures on a petition. You can publicize your cause easily enough through any social media channel you please. You can bring lawsuits. You can publicly protest through peaceful means.
There's no need for armed seizures of government land and then squalling like a little b***h about how you're not gonna go to jail. Some revolutionaries
And finally, if the land did go up for sale, do you really think the ranchers would get any of it, especially the smaller ones? Large business interests will snap it up in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, the American people will have lost out on lands that could have been used for recreational use by millions and some of its greatest natural spaces.
Yes, the government can own land, for Ports, Dock Yards, Military Bases, Arsenals and Magazines, see Article 1 Section 8 clause 17 of the Constitution. The government can establish National Parks, National Monuments and Wildlife Refuges at the consent of the governed, the government can purchase land to expand National Monuments and Wildlife Refuges, however, the government can not hold the title deed to the property, if the property is abandoned by the government it reverts back to the state.
You need to read the Constitution with better reading comprehension and with an understanding of historical facts:
Quote:
Article I, Section 8, paragraph 17: to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
This doesn't apply to federal lands in the West because the federal government became the owner of all the land owned by the French, Spanish or Russian governments at the time of the Louisiana Purchase (1803), Mexican Cession (1848), and Alaskan Purchase (1867). Furthermore, there were no states (and hence no state legislatures) created from Louisiana until the 1820s and from the Mexican Cession until 1850 and later. Alaska didn't become a state until 1959.
The Constitution says nothing about "title deed" or the disposable of "abandoned" government property. Federal law undoubtedly does deal with the disposal of unneeded federal facilities. However, BLM lands are NOT "abandoned".
You also seemed to have missed Article IV, Section 3, paragraph 2:
Quote:
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States
Of course, if you want to be a "strict constructionist", then all three land purchases were outside the scope of the powers of the federal government as listed in the US Constitution and so should be null and void. I guess we should give those states back to France, Mexico, and Russia.
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