In case you're not familiar with what's going on, the nutshell version is that a father and son who are ranchers (the Hammonds) were arrested for Arson. One of the annual fires that they started burned some grass on land owned by the federal government, and they also started a backfire that probably saved their home, among other things, from another fire. If you're not familiar with these sorts of things, neither am I. It's because we're not ranchers. This is what ranchers have to deal with. Anyway, for some asinine reason, the Hammonds were arrested for this, served time in prison, and were released. Now, prosecutors have argued that the sentencing was too lenient, and they have headed back to prison for another five years each, essentially on terrorism charges. So, a large group of folks, led by the Bundy family, have taken control of the headquarters of a Wildlife Reserve as an armed militia. They have done this to protest the injustice of what has happened to the Hammonds, and the overreaching of the government. That is what's going on. The Hammonds should not be in prison. Although I think there are better ways to protest that, but we'll get back to that in a minute.
First, let's discuss what this is not. This is not something that has anything whatsoever to do with race or religion. Why are so many people asking what would happen if the protesters were Black or Muslim? It is a pointless hypothetical question meant to incite people. My estimate is that it would pretty much go the same as it is going now. No, the cops would not shoot them all. No, they would not be and should not be labelled terrorists. Let me ask a question to the folks asking these questions. Do you know the race or religion of the folks in this militia? Are you just assuming that all ranchers are white, you racist, you? I would guess that this is NOT an all-white militia, let alone an all-white Christian militia, but I don't really know because I haven't polled them. Neither have you. And it doesn't matter either. That's not the issue here. The retort that Eric Holder was part of an armed protest in a government building is a proper response to this hypothetical question. He's African American, and look what happened to him. Not only did he not get shot or thrown in prison for life, but he became one of the most powerful people in the country (as well as one of the most inept at his job, but that's a totally different subject).
Additionally, this is not domestic terrorism. These people don't want anyone shot. There has been no violence. There has been no terror. They want the Hammonds released from prison and the government to keep their hands out of the everyday lives of ranchers to some extent. Quite honestly, it's up for debate whether or not these people are even criminals. The recent protesters in Baltimore and other cities are also not terrorists. But those protests turned into riots, looting, arson, etc. They were not always peaceful. People were harmed. There was violence. Those people were clearly criminals.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, I personally don't think that a militia takeover was the best idea in this case. I don't think that this has reached the point of a last resort yet. I mean, really, if Ted freaking Cruz is telling you that you should stand down, you've probably taken things a bit too far. Protests in Washington would make more sense, or perhaps even protesting the President wherever he goes. He's issued a lot of executive actions recently. Can't he issue one with regard to ranchers? He's issued a lot of pardons. Can't he pardon the Hammonds? That would be a good way to get out of this whole mess.
TOTALLY DIFFERENT SUBJECT: The photo I put here is Mr. Bill. Poor Mr. Bill has brought a knife to a gun fight. OHH NOOO! If you appreciate vintage SNL Mr. Bill humor, I'm starting a new blog that will mostly just have pictures of Mr. Bill with a line or two. If you're not familiar with who Mr. Bill is, google it! Here's the link to that blog: http://theadventuresofmrbill.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment