Things usually turn out badly for those who purportedly hear voices from god and then grab their guns. Apparently, that was the impulse that led to the current standoff happening right now in a remote part of southeast Oregon. We now have an armed insurrection on our hands triggered by a fringe group of heavily-armed militants, most with some mighty grotesque misinterpretations of the United States Constitution.
My advice — go in there with the National Guard and clean the out.
Sometime last week, Ammon Bundy, got a bug up his ass. It’s been stuck there for quite a while. He’s one of the Tea Party tadpoles spawned by daddy Cliven Bundy. He’s the deadbeat Nevada rancher who still owes our federal government more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. Anyway, tadpole Bundy posted a chilling YouTube video in which he stated “the lord wasn’t pleased” about what’s happening in America right now. Pretty amazing, huh? Knowing what God thinks, and all. He added, he wants “to die a free man,” whatever that means, and that can’t be good. As I said, these aren’t the typical thoughts of someone with a long life expectancy. Just ask prophet David Koresh or the militants at Ruby Ridge who used to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. Oh wait, never mind — you can’t reach them anymore. They’re all dead.
Bundy used social media to round up an armed militia and who converged in Eastern Oregon. A bunch of fellow crackpots, some nuttier than others, arrived at an unoccupied federal wildlife management facility and proceeded to storm the compound. Congressional Medals of Honor for this battle will be scarce. Since absolutely no one was present at the isolated facility, other than the Tea Party crowd, resistance was light. Dressed in camouflage fatigues and heavily armed with unknown quantities of assault weapons and countless rounds of ammunition (no doubt, purchased legally due to America’s notoriously lax gun laws), these weekend warriors and experts on the constitution have since made threats to occupy federal property “for years — if that’s what it takes.” Some have even threatened to open fire if they’re confronted with force. That amounts to a death threat.
Here and now, let’s call these armed insurgents what they truly are — domestic terrorists.
Accordingly, preserving order is both critical and mandatory. The federal government must send a loud and clear message that, even though we’re divided across many issues, nevertheless we do remain a nation of laws. Breaking such laws carries serious consequences. Moreover, threatening acts of violence while occupying federal property armed with deadly weapons negates any law enforcement options whatsoever of leniency. The threat of being shot by some lunatic wearing combat fatigues hearing voices from God should be met with deadly force — without hesitation, nor apology.
Here’s how we should put an end to the standoff with these domestic terrorists in Oregon:
- Call up the Oregon National Guard.
- Surround the occupied building with as much military force as necessary.
- Give the terrorists exactly five minutes to drop their weapons and exit the facility with their hands held up.
- If they refuse to comply, fire tear gas into the building. If necessary, any armed resistance should be met with deadly force.
- Arrest and charge all the survivors with crimes. Prosecute all militants to the fullest extent of the law.
Local, state, and federal authorities must take action, now. The application of justice in this case must be both swift and consistent. So far, it has been neither.
Moreover, the way this situation has been handled thus far raises alarming questions as to how we deal with matters of race and class here in America. There’s an interesting historical precedent here, for comparison’s sake. Thirty years ago, a Black liberation group called M.O.V.E. did a similar thing when it occupied row houses in a poor part of Philadelphia in an effort to bring up various grievances. Note that this wasn’t even a government facility. It was a strip of privately-owned low-income housing. How did our government deal with that “occupation?” The militants were firebombed to death. Eleven people died.
What would our collective reaction be to these same domestic terrorists, those who are now openly calling for other extremist militant groups to join the insurrection in Oregon if they were Black instead of White? What if a group of armed Muslims stormed and then occupied a federal property, instead of these fanatics — who are presumably Christians? The screams for blood called out from across the land would turn America into a raving lynch mob. Conservatives in America would go ape fucking shit. That’s what would happen.
Seriously, can you imagine an armed insurrection of Blacks taking over a government facility? Any government building? Anywhere? Does anyone seriously doubt there would be armored personnel carriers positioned in the streets and helicopter gunships would be swirling overhead within minutes? You know, sort of like we saw in Ferguson when peaceful protesters were confronted. SWAT teams would be hanging from the rooftops with itchy fingers ready to pull the trigger. Agitators would be portrayed as dangerous radicals, publicly vilified in the media, and subsequently either arrested or killed to the mass chorus of cheers of mainstream America. Perhaps, even rightfully so.
Indeed, civil order must be protected whenever armed militants of any color or of any religion threaten the peace and issue credible threats to kill people if they’re attacked. So, let us have precisely that same response with these gun-totting yokels in southeast Oregon. Issue a five-minute warning. Then, if they don’t surrender, shoot the tear gas. If necessary, open fire. Problem solved.
As for Ammon Bundy, he’s just damn lucky he’s not a 14-year-old black kid totting a toy water pistol. He’d have 16 slugs buried inside his body by now, and his brains would be spilled all over the sidewalk.
Gee, I guess god doesn’t talk to young black kids.
Domestic terrorist Ammon Bundy doing the lord’s work