Why would he need to look anything up when he has facts delivered directly to his inbox?

Adios, instead of having a police force, would you prefer that the Postal Service mandate that local towns provide police officers? Or go without security where they think they need it? Maybe some fourth option I'm missing?

Add to the list of groups right wingers want armed - airline pilots.

It is amusing that they constantly want people armed and then act shocked and appalled when the govt. shows up armed to collect illegally grazing cattle after the owner of such cattle threatened violence on any feds who try to remove the cattle.

I think Fox news has gotten them so used to cognitive dissonance that they can all contradict themselves on a regular basis without a second's thought.

I'm very confused as to why we should be terribly concerned that most government branches have a small force of armed individuals for enforcement of various statutes that fall under their jurisdiction. If anything this could just be more fodder for right-wingers insisting that everyone arm themselves to protect from "overreaching" or "tyrannical" government, which is exactly the kind of **** they love, no? "If you don't have a gun, the Director of the Department if the Interior could just walk in here any time he wants and a start shoving you around. Do you want that? Huh? Do you?"

At least he DID cite one example where officials MIGHT have been out of line, so I guess we should probably base all our policies on that and what we can extrapolate from it.

The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Have the cockbrothers given them any millions yet?

I'm far more outraged that NOAA is a uniformed service. Imagine having a weatherman literally pull rank on you.

How does this end? Honestly? With tanks rolling in? Feds can't back down here IMO.

Second American revolution, America's ranchers lead Long March on Washington, Obama flees to Kenya, parades imo

You can have a gun on the plane as a pilot. I heard a fox contributor complain that the recertification is a pain as you have to shoot at specific range. I am no gun not but pilots carrying guns makes sense. We have air marshalls who don't provide a ton of value other that having a gun.

Meet the Militia

So here's an article that serves as a mini-profile of some of the militia members involved in the Bundy ranch defense and sort of the mindset behind their movement. Yes it's from the highly partisan website ThinkProgress but the article makes few judgement statements and doesn't even seem to "take a side" on the issue, even if you know where the author stands.

What I would like explained is exactly what part of the Constitution is being defended here, or by militias in general (other than protecting the right to own a gun). During the rhetoric-fest of the 2012 election, I noted that the Constitution has become America's new religious document (a comparison that is also made in the article). People love to selectively cite it and hide behind it, even if they don't fully-of so much as partially-understand it. Also LOL at this quote:

"Bundy’s supporters are also adamant that they love America — they just don’t agree with (or in many cases, even recognize as legitimate) its government or the laws it passes."

Do they even realize that the Founding Fathers were establishing a country by forming a government? The comments also are quick to point out how George Washington, who was apparently representing at the revolt, was quick to send in troops to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, which was due to people refusing to pay taxes on the whiskey they produced. The reality is that the America that exists in these guy's heads never existed .

Remember the American right squared this circle like generations ago; you're doing it wrong. You don't read the Constitution and defend it, you read it and if you don't see the literal words on the document, then the government must STAND DOWN because it's not in there! Like there are precisely zero words describing the rights of black people to be President, not a single word or anything about a 'BLM' or how any federal government can confiscate a cow. NONE. No words! So, ipso facto condicio sine qua non ex officio Glenn Becko, the federal government can have NO black Presidents and cannot take a cow or even have a BLM because the Founders didn't write that down, it's just common sense. Liberals have just been tricking everyone into thinking the Constitution can do things that aren't written down because Saul Alinsky since the 1920s, and you have been tricked by community organizers into letting the federal government have a Bureau of Land Management. They're not defending the Constitution per se, they're fighting back against liberals who just made stuff up.

Falcon will be proud of you for this post.

DVaut on fire ITT.

Obama's enforcement rational is hard to figure out. Immigration he's a hard ass. Wall street gets a total pass. If you look like a terrorist I'll drone you. BP go ahead and drill again. FDA tightens up. Drug laws, eh, who cares?

Maybe his tendency is toward a largely political calculation here? Maybe a national security one? As someone else posted the number of right wing militant groups is at an all time high. I suppose these two concerns affect each other.

Immediate bad consequences follow a gunfight. If people die Obama will be reflexively accused of mishandling the situation. The second guessers will open their now quiet mouths. Tea party and militia membership will grow and that actually messes with all of us. Remember, these are the people who damn near caused a suicidal financial collapse. There is a non-zero chance that the rancher's criminal cause could morph into a real and violent movement or be absorbed into the current tea party and take it in a worse direction. Ostensibly, if you don't actually read a newspaper and just watch fOX news (and that describes a great many americans) this rancher is a sympathetic fellow. The trivial details of his case, like the fact he is a thief, won't matter as people rally behind the larger issue of the government being evil, an issue for which Bundy's contrived circumstance is very emotionally emblematic.

The consequence of doing nothing is also clearly unacceptable. That will only embolden the militias and others in their belief that gun violence or the threat thereof is a viable political strategy. There is no way Obama does nothing.

What Obama wants to do is diffuse this quickly and quietly- quickly so that clarity of consequences is conveyed to this group and onlookers and quietly to minimize the political fallout. I suspect what they are doing now is taking pictures and gathering info so that they can arrest these people later one at a time. If they just keep staying at the ranch then the feds might try to cut off their supplies and force a quiet surrender. Obama is going to handle this with finesse. However if it drags on too long at a certain point Obama will just go in. Maybe he will try to use non-lethals or something but if the crazies are just determined to see what the feds are gonna do Obama will show them.

Obama's enforcement rational is hard to figure out. Immigration he's a hard ass. Wall street gets a total pass. If you look like a terrorist I'll drone you. BP go ahead and drill again. FDA tightens up. Drug laws, eh, who cares?

Maybe his tendency is toward a largely political calculation here? Maybe a national security one? As someone else posted the number of right wing militant groups is at an all time high. I suppose these two concerns affect each other.

Immediate bad consequences follow a gunfight. If people die Obama will be reflexively accused of mishandling the situation. The second guessers will open their now quiet mouths. Tea party and militia membership will grow and that actually messes with all of us. Remember, these are the people who damn near caused a suicidal financial collapse. There is a non-zero chance that the rancher's criminal cause could morph into a real and violent movement or be absorbed into the current tea party and take it in a worse direction. Ostensibly, if you don't actually read a newspaper and just watch fOX news (and that describes a great many americans) this rancher is a sympathetic fellow. The trivial details of his case, like the fact he is a thief, won't matter as people rally behind the larger issue of the government being evil, an issue for which Bundy's contrived circumstance is very emotionally emblematic.

The consequence of doing nothing is also clearly unacceptable. That will only embolden the militias and others in their belief that gun violence or the threat thereof is a viable political strategy. There is no way Obama does nothing.

What Obama wants to do is diffuse this quickly and quietly- quickly so that clarity of consequences is conveyed to this group and onlookers and quietly to minimize the political fallout. I suspect what they are doing now is taking pictures and gathering info so that they can arrest these people later one at a time. If they just keep staying at the ranch then the feds might try to cut off their supplies and force a quiet surrender. Obama is going to handle this with finesse. However if it drags on too long at a certain point Obama will just go in. Maybe he will try to use non-lethals or something but if the crazies are just determined to see what the feds are gonna do Obama will show them.

Probably wait til after the midterms if this can not be done routinely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/us...thecaucus&_r=1

That's not good.

lol was about to be ponied on Bundy's thoughts on "the Negro." Wooooow, thread delivers!

every time i see dvaut's avatar I get all giddy inside. it's like christmas

Well that raises a question. We have seen Obama deport record numbers of Latinos. We have seen him blow up Arabs because they were congregating in "signature" ways, the definition of "signature" being, of course, classified.

Can Obama do anything against a single white person? a racist criminal white person who is engaging in armed insurrection no less?

He kind of has to, but I have trouble seeing it.

I love how he thinks black people simultaneously have too many kids and abort their babies.

When white conservatives have said anything about "the Negro" it's black gold. You almost cannot get a surer bet it's going to be racist.

Quoted for truth brother quoted for truth.

Why doesn't the federal government use imminent domain to seize his ranch already. There are 1000s that would like his ranch and pay taxes. I am sure he can get a fast food job in Vegas.

The "never learned how to pick cotton" part is the worst, worse than the standard laziness spiel. If that doesn't piss of Obama nothing will.