• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Extremist Militia Occupies Federal Building In Oregon

Status
Not open for further replies.
And if the government cuts them off, cuts their power, etc. they will have "proof" of Big Brother squashing righteous patriots fighting for their freedom, perhaps emboldening future extremists to go even further because obviously this wasn't enough. These people have a narrative in their head that they contort things that happen to fit. There's no 'good' outcome because literally the sheer fact of having done this was a victory unto itself for these people, no matter what happened next, so they might as well let these people make jackasses of themselves letting guys in George Washington costumes do photo ops and see if the whole thing fizzles out when the media eventually moves on from it.

Right, so we've established that either way the delusional insane people will proclaim victory no matter what. At some point the rest of the sane world will figure out that at the end of the day, the course of action is to do what is right, not to do what we think will hurt their feelings the most. This isn't only about denying their goals, but to uphold the law. The law states that nope, you can't march in on government property armed to the teeth and squat on it, you can't threaten law enforcement with an armed standoff, you can't misappropriate government resources for your own gain, you can't destroy government property, and you can't operate government equipment that you're not authorized to use.

So you uphold the law. You can't do anything to convince them they're defeated, so at the very least do what the sane world accepts as the right thing to do. The solution isn't to shrug and let it play itself out because you can't figure out an end state where they'll realize they're wrong.
 

besada

Banned
I'd rather see the federal government doing its job, which includes securing federal lands. The militia have now torn up federally paid for fencing costing thousands of dollars, using federal equipment to do so. They're frightening the people of Burns, along with the car loads of crazies that have shown up to support them. There are reports of Fish and Wildlife employees being followed to their homes, there have been frightening confrontations with the militia and their supporters. And the crazies on both sides are piling in while the federal and local governments do nothing. They are literally creating the powder keg they're afraid of. John Ritzheimer, one of the least stable people at Malheur, wouldn't be there if they'd blocked off the roads. How many other gun toting psychos do they need to let in before they figure out that doing nothing is just emboldening the militia?

When did the federal government abdicate its role to protect citizens from enemies both foreign and domestic? Fear of a political backlash isn't a reason to allow militants to terrorize a small town and take over federal lands.
 

besada

Banned
From the shits and giggles department, a list of supplies requested by the militant extremists in question:
qjlRYQi.jpg
 
I'd rather see the federal government doing its job, which includes securing federal lands. The militia have now torn up federally paid for fencing costing thousands of dollars, using federal equipment to do so. They're frightening the people of Burns, along with the car loads of crazies that have shown up to support them. There are reports of Fish and Wildlife employees being followed to their homes, there have been frightening confrontations with the militia and their supporters. And the crazies on both sides are piling in while the federal and local governments do nothing. They are literally creating the powder keg they're afraid of. John Ritzheimer, one of the least stable people at Malheur, wouldn't be there if they'd blocked off the roads. How many other gun toting psychos do they need to let in before they figure out that doing nothing is just emboldening the militia?

When did the federal government abdicate its role to protect citizens from enemies both foreign and domestic? Fear of a political backlash isn't a reason to allow militants to terrorize a small town and take over federal lands.

Hey, this is fair. My point, in the first place, was not necessarily that the federal response has been great (though I can understand why they've chosen the tactic they have, especially if there's a long-term plan of getting the people they're aware of being there in jail and making the sentence longer by letting them tie their own noose with a bunch of brazenly illegal shit), but that putting this in racial terms rather than in terms of the government fearing a PR nightmare (which, in the wake of Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter protests, they would fear no matter the race of the protesters, and they might be more actively involved if they thought local authorities would be harsh in their treatment of minority protesters) only obfuscates the real issues in this specific circumstance and plays right into conservative accusations of the modern left having racial tunnel vision. It reminds me of folk bringing Woody Allen up constantly during the Bill Cosby fiasco, despite the radically different nature of the allegation and the overarching circumstances, simply because Allen was white.
 

danm999

Member
Gaming supplies!?

Ok maybe I misjudged these guys.

But yeah seriously that and the "Brats" request is depressing because you know besides being in danger, the kids in the house are bored as shit.
 

besada

Banned
Hey, this is fair. My point, in the first place, was not necessarily that the federal response has been great (though I can understand why they've chosen the tactic they have, especially if there's a long-term plan of getting the people they're aware of being there in jail and making the sentence longer by letting them tie their own noose with a bunch of brazenly illegal shit), but that putting this in racial terms rather than in terms of the government fearing a PR nightmare (which, in the wake of Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter protests, they would fear no matter the race of the protesters, and they might be more actively involved if they thought local authorities would be harsh in their treatment of minority protesters) only obfuscates the real issues in this specific circumstance and plays right into accusations of the modern left having racial tunnel vision. It reminds me of folk bringing Woody Allen up constantly during the Bill Cosby fiasco, despite the radically different nature of the allegation and the overarching circumstances, simply because Allen was white.
Well, to be honest, after living in this country for forty-six years, I cannot imagine that if these men were named Yusuf and Mohammed they'd still be there. Maybe you believe that, but I don't. And since neither of us can prove a counterfactual, I suppose it's going to have to rest there.
 

neshcom

Banned
Gaming supplies!?

Ok maybe I misjudged these guys.

But yeah seriously that and the "Brats" request is depressing because you know besides being in danger, the kids in the house are bored as shit.

They probably mean "brats" as in bratwurst/sausages, not Bratz dolls. I hope.
 
Interesting spin I see going on in social media.

And of course their default defense tactic when bringing up the fact that if the occupiers weren't white they'd be dead is "but why are you trying to make it about race???"

Oh wait, we should only bring up race when it doesn't involve talking about white privilege...
 

mAcOdIn

Member
It's an alternative to a situation like Waco which is fuel a for a lot of whackos who say they need to overthrow the government. Eventually they'll wither give up or do something dumb enough to provoke a response.
I see this idea and a part of me wants to acknowledge it, but then I think about how this is this family's second offense and they have not withered away, they have become more powerful. And I think back to all the times the government has done something and the times they haven't and the one constant through all of them is that through it all, no matter what the response was some people hated government then and still hate government now. I do not believe there is a single action the government can take outside of giving in to all of their demands and making a Bundy president that would appease these people. And we're not going to fucking do that right? Right? And even then, say they give the Bundy's everything they want, what is someone who thinks differently than them to do? Take a building over themselves and protest that government?

At some point we have to acknowledge that:
a) There'll always be people against the government because you just can not have a government that pleases everyone at the same time.
and
b) We then need to decide if rule of law will should even apply.

As of now Cliven Bundy(I know it's a different guy) still hasn't paid any of his fees and his cattle still graze on Federal land. Regardless of how serious or not I find those actions I can say as a matter of fact that the response I would get for an unpaid parking ticket would be different and this is before even getting into racial discrimination and shit. This is decaying the very concept of law and we are allowing them to get away with it because we don't want prove the government's out to get them? So what, if you fear the government it doesn't apply to you but if you're a citizen who's not fearful of the government the law applies to you? That's absurd. We should just all up and become sovereign citizens and have orgies in the streets then because apparently this whole "civilization" thing is optional, I don't like pants and I could use the touch of a woman right now.
 
This has officially gone past "subdued, measured handling of the situation" straight into "officials have given up, they can do whatever they want, it's theirs and they've won".

Amazing what being white gives you. Literally government representatives visit you and shake your hand for breaking the law. They go out of their way to let you restock. They give you free electricity.

Meanwhile, if you're black and dare point out that killing an unarmed man in your neighborhood prepare to have tear gas thrown at your kids and tanks in your neighborhood's streets within the day.
I like how posters like Phoenix Dark were so vehemently arguing earlier on that we couldn't compare the cop response to black inner city protesters to the response to these armed trespassers and how the police were taking an absolutely appropriate and calm course of action that had nothing to do with race.
 

besada

Banned
more divisive subject then political affiliation.
Yup. Historically, Miracle Whip was introduced as a cheaper competitor to mayonnaise. It came out during the depression and was adopted most heavily in the poorest parts of the country, so heavily in the South. It's got less vegetable oil (not enough to call itself mayonnaise), is slightly sweeter and tangier than mayonnaise. Originally bought for the low price, it became a staple in many southern households, and wedged its way into the culture.

Interestingly, the British had the same problem (the cost of vegetable oil during the depression and war), and came up with a very similar solution -- salad cream. Miracle Whip is thicker than salad cream, but both were created to reduce the amount of oil needed for a mayonnaise-like substance.

I was raised on Miracle Whip. My momma mixes it with her Ranch Style beans, which is an abomination. In college, a yankee roommate preferred mayonnaise, so I switched. I'm fine with both. If I'm making southern food, like deviled eggs, I tend to use Miracle Whip, or it just doesn't taste right, but I put mayo on a sandwich.
 
Yup. Historically, Miracle Whip was introduced as a cheaper competitor to mayonnaise. It came out during the depression and was adopted most heavily in the poorest parts of the country, so heavily in the South. It's got less vegetable oil (not enough to call itself mayonnaise), is slightly sweeter and tangier than mayonnaise. Originally bought for the low price, it became a staple in many southern households, and wedged its way into the culture.

Interestingly, the British had the same problem (the cost of vegetable oil during the depression and war), and came up with a very similar solution -- salad cream. Miracle Whip is thicker than salad cream, but both were created to reduce the amount of oil needed for a mayonnaise-like substance.

This (interesting!) history lesson makes my "both are disgusting" post seem a lot less fun now.

I'm going to bed. YOU RUINED IT!
 

JaggedSac

Member
I don't deny the reality of white privilege. I deny that it's a particularly operant part of this news story, however, because A) cutting off their electricity and/or food in the middle of winter would essentially be besieging them, which I believe is illegal under international humanitarian law, B) denying the media access would only feed into these peoples' anti-government narrative, C) doing anything that would create any kind of violent conflict is pretty strictly against the government's policy for dealing with people like this specifically because nobody wants to see a bunch of people die, and D) letting this shit wither into obscurity and then arresting the perpetrators when they inevitably do give up due to public apathy to their cause is pretty clearly the best option.

Now, it's perfectly fair to argue that the media narrative would likely be drastically different, but counterfactually leaning on race as heavily as the left is in this case is just myopia, plain and simple, and will only play into the right-wing narrative of the left being outright anti-white, rather than pro-minority.

Is A) legit?
 

Slayven

Member
Yup. Historically, Miracle Whip was introduced as a cheaper competitor to mayonnaise. It came out during the depression and was adopted most heavily in the poorest parts of the country, so heavily in the South. It's got less vegetable oil (not enough to call itself mayonnaise), is slightly sweeter and tangier than mayonnaise. Originally bought for the low price, it became a staple in many southern households, and wedged its way into the culture.

Interestingly, the British had the same problem (the cost of vegetable oil during the depression and war), and came up with a very similar solution -- salad cream. Miracle Whip is thicker than salad cream, but both were created to reduce the amount of oil needed for a mayonnaise-like substance.

I was raised on Miracle Whip. My momma mixes it with her Ranch Style beans, which is an abomination. In college, a yankee roommate preferred mayonnaise, so I switched. I'm fine with both. If I'm making southern food, like deviled eggs, I tend to use Miracle Whip, or it just doesn't taste right, but I put mayo on a sandwich.
What no Dukes?
 
Really I think the government should just send in a bunch of government guys to help these patriots build a self sufficient community that doesn't suck on the teat of the government, they can pay for building this community with government funds. And they can call the new community...Tulsa.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Yup. Historically, Miracle Whip was introduced as a cheaper competitor to mayonnaise. It came out during the depression and was adopted most heavily in the poorest parts of the country, so heavily in the South. It's got less vegetable oil (not enough to call itself mayonnaise), is slightly sweeter and tangier than mayonnaise. Originally bought for the low price, it became a staple in many southern households, and wedged its way into the culture.

Interestingly, the British had the same problem (the cost of vegetable oil during the depression and war), and came up with a very similar solution -- salad cream. Miracle Whip is thicker than salad cream, but both were created to reduce the amount of oil needed for a mayonnaise-like substance.

I was raised on Miracle Whip. My momma mixes it with her Ranch Style beans, which is an abomination. In college, a yankee roommate preferred mayonnaise, so I switched. I'm fine with both. If I'm making southern food, like deviled eggs, I tend to use Miracle Whip, or it just doesn't taste right, but I put mayo on a sandwich.

I've come to prefer mayo on sandwiches, but can't use anything other than Miracle Whip to make ham salad. Mayo flavor is too strong to use it as a binder.
 

FelixOrion

Poet Centuriate
Dukes is GOAT. They make a balsamic dressing which also goes well with deviled eggs (just a tablespoon for a dozen eggs).

I've come to prefer mayo on sandwiches, but can't use anything other than Miracle Whip to make ham salad. Mayo flavor is too strong to use it as a binder.

Deviled eggs too. They don't taste right with mayo - which should always be Hellman's. ;)

I hate both miracle whip and mayo

come at me
 

Koomaster

Member
From the shits and giggles department, a list of supplies requested by the militant extremists in question:
qjlRYQi.jpg
Body wash, throw rugs, vanilla creamer... This an occupying militia or a teenage slumber party?

Also just straight up asking for money.

I'm assuming this is just a list for people who want to donate and not a list of demands they sent to the government. Either way really need to cut them off of supplies lest they bring in some curtains and tchotchkes and start setting up a home.
 

eu pfhor ia

Neo Member
yeah, that list...what in the fuck...remember, these are a bunch of dudes posturing as manly-men who are gonna live off the land until they take back their freeeedummm. They really need their slippers and throw rugs, though, nobody told them that it would involve chilly toes in the morning :(

it's really tempting to do something like let my dog "donate" directly into a box to mail to them, but honestly the only way to get this to end any quicker is for the world to stop giving them the attention they so clearly crave
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom