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Oregon militia taking a stand
http://www.smh.com.au/world/oregon-militia-taking-a-stand-20160108-gm1v8u.html
Earlier, Finicum, a
Mormon with 11 children and nearly twice as many grandchildren, a strong, gentle voice and a firm handshake, said he would die before being arrested.
... ... ...
Republican politicians and conservative media formed a cheer squad for the Bundy stand, but later distanced themselves when he told a public meeting that "the Negro" was better off under
slavery.
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The militiamen drove through the snow the 30-odd miles down gun barrel roads to the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and occupied the buildings, which were empty of staff over the weekend.
God, Ammon explained in a YouTube video posted the day before, had ordered him to take action.
"The
Lord was not pleased with what was happening to the Hammonds," Bundy,
also a Mormon, said in the video. "If we allowed the Hammonds to continue to be punished, there would be accountability."
... ... ...
Nearby I came across Pete Santilli, host of a popular
right wing online radio show.
Like all the others I had met at the site he was friendly and welcoming, though he is not always that way.
He once attracted Secret Service attention after he said of Hillary Clinton on his program, "I want to shoot her right in the vagina and I don't want her to die right away.
"I want her to feel the pain and I want to look her in the eyes and I want to say, on behalf of all Americans that you've killed."
I asked him if everybody who felt their rights had been infringed upon had the right to take up arms against the government.
No, he said, just those that were true to the constitution. He had a copy handy in his top pocket.
Isn't it for the courts to interpret the constitution?
No, he said. The government has weaponised the courts against the people.
Now that the people of Burns had asked them to go, should they not leave?
No, he said, the people of Burns had been manipulated by the government.
As we finish talking a drone fizzes slowly overhead.
UQ