Where Are Hitchcock's "Birds" When They Could Really Do Us a Service?!

I'm a little hot under the collar over this "occupation" of the Malheur Wildlife Sanctuary headquarters building by these yahoo self-appointed "militia" types.  They apparently believe that the idea that they have bought into right-wing propaganda as to how bad the Federal government is should inoculate them against charges of sedition and criminality.  Or at least some of them, maybe.  There is pretty clear evidence that at least a few are only slight mutations on the career-plan, in lieu of actually having a career or a plan, that suicide by federal agent would make them forever a hero in the eyes of the children they were eager to leave behind for this "mission."

It only increases my sense of outrage that we enjoyed visiting this refuge a while back, including I believe the occupied building and a Round Barn in the vicinity that has been visible in some press photos.

I have been very tempted to label this an act of terrorism.  It certainly seems to have a lot in common with the idea of abandoning the accepted rules of established domestic protest, much akin to terrorism.  But I find the argument of UCLA Professor Mark Kleiman at Washington Monthly pretty compelling.  This is not an act intended to trigger feelings of terror, e.g., via a lethal attack on random civilians.

It is a traitorous act attempting to undermine the lawful authority of our government.  Kleiman describes it as a seditious conspiracy punishable by 20 years in prison.  Sounds about right to me.

As I assume was also the case for the 2014 Bundy compound faceoff with Federal authorities regarding their $1M in unpaid lease costs for grazing cattle on our public lands.

Let us hope both of these incidents are still very live topics for the Justice Department.

Incidentally, the third quite-long paragraph at the K link (I didn't really expect that you would peruse the whole article!) includes this:

The patriot side in the American Revolution, Algerian rebels against French rule, the Viet Cong, and elements of the ANC in South Africa and the IRA in Northern Ireland all used terrorism with some success.

Interestingly, posted side-by-side with the Kleiman article at Washington Monthly is an article by David Atkins arguing that the occupying militia folks should be treated just the same as ISIS terrorists!  I can't sanction his characterization of the thugs or his confrontational approach.  I would definitely approve of gradual snugging in of the net on these criminals.  Turn off the utilities.  Close the roads.  No deliveries (see below).

I'm not sure whether to compliment the WA Monthly site for their open-mindedness or slam them for lack of editorial consistency.  Given how frustrating I find the increasingly frequent evidence of on-line lack of even simple re-reading of posts, never mind proofreading or (gasp!) actual use of a trained editor, frequently low quality of on-line text, typos, repeated words, homonyms, and etc., the latter reaction is a strong temptation, but I am going with the former.

Meanwhile, there is some incriminating evidence that these folks and their supporters may be more than a few bricks short of a load.  If only that gummint check would come in so I could afford the gas I would be with you fighting oppressive government, brothers!  By all means at least skim the comments on these.

Oh wait, we're going to be staying for a while?  Please send snacks and socks!

Truly incredible.