Armed Insurrection

So, what must we make of this armed militia in Oregon and the Texas Gubernator challenging the President to take his guns at his peril?  I suppose the Texan is simply doing what we have come to expect of Texas politicians—acting terminally stupidly. Although, he must surely be close to that red line, beyond which the Marshals must be dispatched to bring him into custody. Do ordinary Texans actually support this idiot?  Seems hard to believe.

But in Oregon, we really are way over that red line. I see no ambiguity there. An armed group of citizens has moved in and taken over a Federal installation.  It is immaterial to me whether that Federal institution is a wildlife refuge or the US Treasury.  They simply cannot be allowed to do that. I believe the act is called an armed insurrection, and such acts need to be countered, by force if necessary, including by deadly force.

I think we can safely conclude that, were the armed citizens a group of Muslim-Americans, or a group of Black-Americans, they would now be either dead or in jail.  I understand, though, that our President is trying to be more cautious than, say, the Ferguson, or Chicago police departments. But really, enough is enough. The Oregon insurrectionists have declared that they are peaceful at the moment, but that they would rather be killed than give up their position. And if we follow one of their leaders, Mr. Bundy, it seems that this group is classic—they do not recognize the legal authority of the US Government.  I believe that Mr. Bundy is correct when he claims that he won his standoff with the government. He is, after all, not in prison, and he still owes over a million dollars to the government. His “win” doubtless provided the fuel for the Oregon insurrectionists.  So, if we do not act and act quickly, we are creating a new basis for challenging the authority of the government on any issue of our choosing. Don’t like taxes? Buy some guns, get a group, and go take over the Treasury Department in Washington.  Don’t like the government meddling in our ability to pollute the environment (hello Koch brothers)? Get a group, buy some weapons and go take over the EPA building in Washington.

I simply do not understand why the Federal Marshall's are not already in Oregon, backed by the full armamentarium of the US Military, demanding that this bunch of thugs give up . . . or be killed.  Cutting off their power supply is cute, but hardly the stuff of powerful nations. If we are the mightiest nation on earth, perhaps we need to begin acting like it.  Either that, or withdraw our military everywhere, and slink into our respective closets and start sucking our thumbs.

And a thoughtful reader of my perhaps incautious remarks notes:

"I think the feds are going to wait them out. It's the oldest tactic of siege warfare. Block off roads and supply routes , cut power, and wait while the brutal winter sets in and then ask them to negotiate when they’re desperate . . . why go in blazing? They can fly in an Apache I, at any time. Gas the place and move in and people will get shot. It makes sense to me. If they were in a city it would be a public danger but out there they will get desperate.

It is a perfect location to wait them out. There are only so many roads to get there. If a perimeter is set up and access denied to power and provisions , eventually they will lose communications to the outside world and when they resort to survivalist mode of hunting for food, etc.,  they will find that the perimeter will keep out game, they are ill prepared and poorly coordinated for being in such a remote area . UPS and FedEx are not going to be allowed to deliver the goods that they requested. These guys have kids and families and eventually they will get weakened by the situation.

Their purpose is to incite. If not given the confrontation and martyrdom they want, they will lose steam. Isis in Syria is similar. They want a holy war with the west, only we are not rushing in with ground troops to rescue an already oppressed Syrian regime. Those who look at this as weakness do not understand military strategy."