by William Skink
White people with guns get to do things non-white people wouldn’t dare to do. Last year it was anti-government white people in a standoff against the Feds to protect Cliven Bundy’s ranch that allegedly ‘invigorated‘ anti-government groups. This year it might be the Oath Keepers in Lincoln, Montana providing armed resistance against the tyranny of the Forest Service meddling with innocent miners. Here’s the rub, from the Missoulian link:
The groups say the mining claim held by George Kornec predates 1955 regulations that granted surface rights to the Forest Service. The claim thus falls under the 1872 mining law, granting both surface and subsurface rights to Kornec, they say.
The Forest Service, the groups said in a news release, has been unlawfully demanding operating plans under the 1955 law, and not allowed the miners to operate for two years.
“Our position is to protect the rights of these miners thru a open dialogue with the USFS and reach a Legal & Constitutional conclusion,” the news release state
Instead of delving into the merits of this nuanced legal argument that should probably be left to the courts to decide, I’d like to take a look at Don Pogreba’s predictable reaction, with a post titled THE OATH KEEPERS ARE COMING! HIDE YOUR BOOK LEARNING! (CAPITALIZATION ADDED FOR EMPHASIS!)
Let’s start with the second paragraph of this insightful post:
The merits of the claim by the miners is irrelevant, because in a civilized society, those disputes are settled by courts and negotiation, not wannabe Rambos cosplaying as hereoes of the Revolution. Only in the paranoid fantasies and grandiose self-delusion of the chemtrail-fearing, Jade Helm-resisting, tinfoil-donning militia crowd does appearing at a mine dispute to “defend liberty” improve a situation or defuse what could be a tense situation, but here they are, no doubt with a Fox News team on its way to stoke the flames.
I find this rich piece of discourse, pitting the civilized norms of society against paranoid Rambo fantasies steeped in conspiracy, totally boring. More to the point, Don’s civilized society can go %$*! itself.
While these paranoid white conspiracists with guns are worthy of Don’s disdain, actual murderous right-wing neo-Nazi thugs get to go berserker in Ukraine because American foreign policy is reckless and insane. But hey, don’t worry, Congress totally made sure some of those neo-Nazi thugs won’t get our tax dollars:
The House of Representatives has unanimously approved an amendment to the U.S. military budget, proposed by Conyers and Florida Republican Ted Yoho, banning support and training for “the Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary militia ‘Azov Battalion.'” Azov was set up in May 2014 to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Fantastic!
Now let’s see Don’s parting shot against our local Oath Keeper threat:
It’s easy to mock these clowns, because their grasp of history, logic, government, and human decency is so limited, but mockery obscures the fact that they are dangerous, in their ham-fisted, clumsy way. One would hope that Montanan politicians, especially those who give these patriots credence, will condemn their actions, and that the press, charged with informing us, will give them the scrutiny they deserve.
Instead of mocking the predictability of this reaction, I’d like to offer a different take. Warning: the following may sound conspiratorial.
Allowing the militia threat to fester is a feature, not a bug.