American version of IS - Idiotic State.

It goes deeper and deeper now:

https://twitter.com/memeographs/status/684059308078804992?s=09

I believe some Redditors are going to answer the call for assistance by sending them nail polish and as much glitter as they can.

It is going to be cold tonight. They should include some blankets and astroglide.

It's Y'all Quaeda waging Yeehawd.

That's rich. I've also heard Vanilla Isis.

I liked Yokel Haram.

So it took 150 hillbillies to take over what looks like the gift shop to a national park?

*reads more of the article*

"the headquarters building at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge", I wasn't that far off. This is fucking pathetic, they couldn't have picked a softer target. Hell, it'd have been a bolder statement if they shut down a post office, then at least they'd have been disrupting an essential service. Of course, if they really wanted to prove they have what it takes to take down the 'guvment they'd have tried their luck against a national guard base or something.

I figure they wanted a ready source of varmints for food. Otherwise, they'd have to eat mail carriers or something.

Also, I'm guessing they see the taking of "federal land" as part of their cause, since the "patriots" they're championing were convicted of arson for torching public lands.

Well if that property hadn't been owned by the government in the first place, those patriots wouldn't have had to burn it all down to cover up their illegal hunting.

I believe you misspelled "Firebreak" there.

I'm guessing that they didn't study French..."malheur" means "misfortune"

Aside, but true story—I was on a motorcycle trip and we passed through the Tetons. Standing outside, there was a woman with a southern accent who breathlessly pronounced the Tetons as the most magnificent thing she'd ever seen. I concurred that they were beautiful ("most magnificent" was up for discussion—I've seen a lot) and I asked her if she knew what they were named for. "Some explorer, I guess" was the reply. I told her the story (abridged) of the French trappers who named them..."The Tits" with Grand Teton being translated as "The Big Tit" She wasn't happy...though her teenaged son giggled a bit.

You've reminded me of an episode of Q.I. during their "M" series where Stephen Fry notes how many places in the UK are named after breasts. It starts at 17:55 or so, in case this link screws up the time-stamp.

I love that show!

I looked it up. It wasn't to do with them not studying French. According to the Oregon Historical County Records Guide:

Malheur County was created February 17, 1887 from the southern portion of Baker County. The county was named after the Malheur River that flowed through the area. Peter Skene Ogden, a Hudson's Bay Company trader, referred to this river in his journal as "Riviere au Malheur" which translates as "unfortunate river." It was given this name because during an expedition into the Snake River country in 1825-1826, property and furs hidden in the area were discovered and stolen.

So the county got its name from the river, and the river got its name from a description of an historical event. Not everything in America is named by dumbasses who think something just sounds good.

Then there was that unfortunate incident with Evil Knievil on the Snake River.

Matanzas Bay in Florida spawned the naming of a whole lot of businesses, developments and even a school—Matanzas XXX...it means 'massacre'. Apparently people started freaking out after the Columbine shooting.

About the "dumbasses" that wasn't my implication. I just figured that they would have invaded somewhere else if they knew what 'malheur' meant. Might have caused a twingle in their amygdala.

Eyes on put it about more like a dozen people. No gov't response yet because it's like 3 hours from anywhere.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jason_a_w/status/683507778346815492

This could be Jesse Pinkman's chance to escape from their compound, while it's unoccupied.

Wonder why all of our gun toting brethren love to talk about stuff like this and Ruby Ridge, but never ever do they talk about MOVE. Were they not just using their 2nd Amendment rights to defend themselves from the encroachments of their pussy liberal neighbors and the oppressive government that served them?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=let+the+fire+burn

That's just clips, but the movie is streaming on netflix.

Why are these folks not hero/martyrs?

Cause they're all batshit crazy?

It sounds like a forced reason to have a rural level in a SWAT shooter game.

The reason I contribute monthly to this honorable site is for discussions like this which happen to be the most level-headed opinions on the entire internet.

I just feel better knowing there's someone around smart enough to call bullshit on me.

It's 2016. We don't have, don't want, and don't need a militia, and if we did these idiots wouldn't be it. These are what we commonly call a "gang."

This is obviously a false-flag operation designed to make Obama's gun control efforts seem totally reasonable.

Responsible gun owners.

Again, if the gov't is so hard on people who own firearms, why isn't Cliven Bundy in jail?

The 2nd amendment and hoarding guns protected them, duh. Also chosen by God.

Ps God told them he wants them to bang all the chicks he can find (be them sapien or fowl)

The thing is, they certainly consider themselves to be responsible gun owners, and they're exactly the image that comes to mind when anyone else claims the same.

I really hope the feds come down hard on them. Fuck the Bundys.

I don't want this to turn into a blood bath, I just want them to cut power and water to the building and starve them out, right before sending them to jail for the next 20 or so years.

I'd like to see the complete opposite. Don't give them the satisfaction of being taken seriously. I'd like to see the local park ranger come by, unarmed, and say, "Ok, boys, just checking in on you. We need to open up the place in April, so don't break anything, and there's extra coffee in the store room. I'll be back in a couple weeks to see how you're doing. Call if you have any trouble." No reporters, no cameras.

While that would be nice, they'd probably lay claim to the land as being "rescued" from the gub'mint, trash the buildings, and still not leave. The Bundy Ranch has been pretty much ignored by the mainstream press for quite a while, yet they're still there, Cliven is still on the hook for millions he owes, he's not in jail, and the gun nuts can claim those facts as victories while basically supporting a criminal.

"As of early Monday morning, there was no police presence at the building."

Bama's takeing par guns away. Bless these guys defending the secand mendment God bless!

I do worry about the potential powder keg blowing when Obama puts out an executive order on guns next week.

These guys want to be that keg. The problem with any revolution in America is that these crazy assholes are probably the ones that would ultimately get power *in lieu of military etc

Greetings from Tel Aviv. Trying to explain US gun culture to Israelis in light of shooting a couple days ago here. You should see the expressions on their faces when I tell them people seriously own guns as protection from overreaching tyrannical government. Priceless.

Can't you just pretend to be Australian or something?

Ha. No need over here. It's pretty much assumed any native English speaker here is from the States. Besides, not as if Israel doesn't have it's own highly dysfunctional issues.

https://www.facebook.com/bundyranch/videos/938588846217924/

Petulant man-children. Just pay your damned land-use fees like responsible adults instead of throwing hissy fits with guns.

I was disappointed that there aren't any crazies out there claiming this is a false flag op to make gun owners look bad, but I did run across a 4chan (or similar) message board screed claiming over a hundred years of the Hammond family being persecuted by the federal government.

Nothing says "totally legit facts" like the ol' purple background, loads of misspellings, and no supporting sources.

Gabriel García Márquez, this guy ain't.

If you read the article, they took over the building to protest two guys who had served their jail time and were ordered back to jail because some judge figured they had not served enough time.
I do not for one instant condone the actions of these dumb asses. But it does bring into view the screwed up thing about setting two guys lose then throwing them back in jail "for not serving enough time?"

Oh, by the way, their crime? Burning back scrub and invasive species to protect their homes in case of wild fires......something the government should be doing on their land anyways to protect the civilian population but can't.

Why? Budget cuts. I guess free phones and 99 weeks of "unemployment welfare" take precedence over hard working ranchers. And I thought we had 5% unemployment.

The account I read of the arson charges (via OPB, our local PBS affiliate) was that one was to cover up an illegal deer hunt and the other was an unauthorised attempt at a backburn that didn't work, wound up trapping firefighters and making the effort against the main fire more difficult.

And the extra jail time is because the original sentencing judge ignored the five-year minimum sentence because willful arson on federal land counts as terrorism.

Isn't this what SWAT teams are for? Let them earn their pay on this one.

The problem, of course, is that the last couple times we did this (Waco and Ruby Ridge), we got the Oklahoma City bombing in return. Martyrs are just too dangerous.

Which is why we're also staying away from the Middle East.

Oh you won't see me arguing for our continued endeavors over there.

let's refer to them as the terrorists that they are

Yet ABC reported it as a 'peaceful protest.'

We should have a list of terminology differences for white folk. There aren't white terrorists, they are peaceful protesters! There aren't white rapists, they are surprise sex havers!

This is just another example of how "Domestic terrorism" in the US is a far greater and ignored threat.
And let's not beat about the (burning) bush. These yahoos are armed terrorists.
I think there are two responses.
Isolate them, cut power and do not let anyone in or out till they go all Donner Party...
and lets face it these guys probably can't "survive" if you cut of their WiFi the "rugged independent rancher" thing is bullshit.

Or Drone strike em.

This is why Cliven Bundy should have been arrested, tried, and prosecuted t the fullest extent of the law. Not doing so has only emboldened treasonous assholes, and now threatens endangered wildlife even more.

The logic behind this target makes sense, if you understand what Cliven Bundy was fighting about (he was using public land for ranching, illegally, and we apparently just let him get away with that Scott free...)

In this case, his son has taken over a federal building that deal with wildlife.... which means this is a continuation of the first stand off, cause guess WHY we either charge ranchers for grazing, or don't allow them to? That's right, wildlife, namely wolves and other animals that ranchers hate.

A "goodbye" video from one of the un-patriots. This is also the guy who organized the anti-muslim rally at a mosque in AZ. It's a tear-jerker.

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The crime they were convicted of carries a five-year minimum, but the judge initially only sentenced them to one. That's why they were put back in.

Also, their crime wasn't innocently clearing shrubbery, it was covering up evidence of their poaching.

Why the fuck are these yahoos "legitimate gun owners" if they are convicted felons?
I mean I'm not your blighted country but that seems rat-fuck stupid so damn well better get their "legitimately owned firearms" confiscated and them up on firearm related charges (whether or not they agree to turn themselves in.)
Seriously despite what your constitution says - it's not a fucking RIGHT to own a gun. it's a privilege. And that particular bit or writing is about defending the government and country in a time when the country was on shaky ground and worried about being re-taken by the British.

The convicted felons aren't the people occupying the building. A summary I typed up elsewhere:

--A couple of people get arrested for arson on federal land (the main ones mentioned are once to cover up poaching and once as an unauthorised attempt at a firebreak that got out of control and threatened the people fighting the lightning fires, apparently there were other incidents but I haven't found details other than "other incidents"), get sentenced to a year in prison.
--Later it's pointed out that the minimum sentence is five years because arson on federal land counts as terrorism. The people agree to go back for the rest of the term. There's a debate to be had here, it should be noted that the anti-fed folks are not having that debate.
--Anti-fed whackjobs see a chance to be anti-fed, come in mostly from out-of-state to protest.
--A few hundred people at the protest, afterwords Lead Whackjob says "let's go take over that building" and most of the folks, including all the locals, say "WTF you high?"
--About a dozen people go into the building, sit down and say they're prepared for the long haul and to resist being removed "by any means necessary,"
--These people then make requests on Twitter for people to send them food and toilet paper, which runs rather counter to their "prepared for the long haul" claim.
--And finally, the Internet slags off rednecks, ranchers and the residents of Burns because it's the internet and why use a fine brush when the big one holds tar better?

I read something that clarified the sentencing. Apparently the trial judge ruled that the five years was constitutionally excessive and sentenced accordingly ( presumably by using the law prior to the unconstitutional one). The prosecution appealed and the ninth circuit reversed and ordered her to re-sentence in accordance with the current law. There is nothing irregular about this at all, it just doesn't happen that often. The defendants seem to have been given full constitutional protection from a sympathetic trial court judge and full procedural due process in the appeal. The redneck ire should be directed to the appeals court and legislature, not the trial court judge.

Thanks for the info.
I also heard they were requesting they got mail delivered.

I woudl definitely say that part of the fault lies with the original sentencing and the facts that the government did not do some serious due diligence in regard to the grazing fees. Our neighbour used to actually pay my Dad to let the cattle graze and to take hay and other crops off his (unworked) fam land. He then could write it off as "farm use" and get a big tax cut. - more in fact than he was paying my Dad.

If the Residents of Burns are providing comfort and aid in any way they ARE guilty of something though.

"Hard working ranchers" like Cliven Bundy? He grazed on public lands for fees far less than he'd pay for using private land and then refuses to pay. These yahoos want to be given land for free, and yet you spout off about welfare? Pot calling Kettle Black, come in Kettle Black.

As for money, talk to the people waging wars that started on BS about WMDs and will wind up costing us 6+ trillion dollars. Then there's the corporations that pay next to no tax, the uber-rich that basically have their own private tax code that saves them billions, and the investment banking slimes that should've been tossed in jail for profiting off of the housing crisis they helped create.

But yeah, it's all welfare spending that's to blame. Got it. Good math, there.

steele, there's a +1 Informative mod, but no -1 Misinformative mod!

-1 Bad! :P

Really - Free phones? Welfare Queens? Wouldn't you be happier posting on one of the vast assortment of fine youtube comments threads that are currently going on for this?

Is that you, Bosco?

To be fair there are two different incidents of Arson for which they were convicted, the first was theoretically to create a firewall by clearing away brush - except that they couldn't contain it once started and it threatened firefighters that were actively engaged with lighting-hit fires in the same area. The second appears to have been specifically done to cover up the illegal poaching of animals by the son on Government land (used to be you'd Hang for poaching on the King's land) - I have not seen the evidence in either case, but the latter seems to have been based on statements from other family members who were witness.

Regardless, the Federal statue for Arson on public lands is 5 years to be a deterrent, and the Judge who made the initial sentence was not correct when he reduced these to a year (or less in the case of the Father). They did get credit for time served, and the two men have agreed to surrender - these jackanapes what with their guns just think that "public lands" means "I can do whatever I want as long as I'm a citizen, I'm already paying for it through my excessive (but not really) taxes". I chuckled at the part where they "threw pennies" at the local courhouse to "buy back their public land", mostly because Canada discontinued the Penny a few years back.