Shocker: Bundy Brothers, Five Others Acquitted

Seditionists and sagebrush moochers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and their five co- defendant militia nuts were (shockingly) acquitted of multiple charges related to their armed take-over of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters earlier this year. The jury's verdict was announced yesterday in Federal court in Portland, Oregon.  The Bundys still face charges in Nevada along with their father Cliven "Hoof" Bundy over a standoff at the Bundy ranch in 2014 over unpaid grazing fees.

Karoli at Crooks & Liars tells us the acquittal might have been the result of prosecutorial overreach:

Apparently the reason for the acquittal relates to the structure of the charges. Instead of going for the straightforward charge of possessing firearms on federal property, prosecutors went for intent to commit a crime, and didn't prove it.

In any event, we share the sentiments of Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, on the impact of the verdicts:

"We are deeply disappointed in today's verdict, which puts our park rangers and scientists at further risk just for doing their jobs. The outcome of today's trial will undoubtedly embolden extremist groups,'' Rokala said. " It's imperative that local, state, and federal law enforcement ensure the safety of our land managers.''

The timing of this verdict is also dangerous to all of us.  It's not a stretch to say that future acts against the government by Bundy- style armed nitwits will be the direct outgrowth of this verdict.  With violent, eliminationist talk (see post below) already a fixture of the shampaign of neo- fascist loon Donald "Rump" Trump and his alt-right supporters, this will be interpreted as a green light to act out if and when Rump goes down the crapper on November 8.

Meanwhile, this sums up the message being sent, once again:

White privilege, 2016:

Heavily armed militants just acquitted in #oregonstandoff as unarmed #NoDAPL protestors are attacked by riot police. pic.twitter.com/ZdVyEgUXTq

— David Harris-Gershon (@David_EHG) October 28, 2016

Stay tuned for more reactions.

(Photo:  Such nice people;  such nice Constitutional experts; such nice mugshots)

Bundys And Other Seditionists Indicted On Multiple Felony Counts

Indictments have been announced for the April 2014 armed standoff at the Cliven "Hoof" Bundy ranch in Nevada:

A federal grand jury in Nevada indicted Cliven Bundy and four others on 16 charges related to an armed standoff near his ranch in 2014 over unpaid grazing fees.

The 69-year-old Nevada rancher was arrested Feb. 10 in Portland, Oregon, where his sons, Ammon and RyanBundy, are jailed and accused of organizing the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In the takeover, which lasted nearly six weeks, they had demanded that public lands be turned over to locals and that two area ranchers serving sentences for arson be freed.

Ammon Bundy, of Idaho, Ryan Bundy, of Nevada, Ryan Payne, of Montana, and Peter Santilli of Ohio, were also indicted by the Nevada grand jury Wednesday.

The charges against them and Cliven Bundy include: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, weapon use and possession, assault on a federal officer, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction, extortion to interfere with commerce, and interstate travel in aid of extortion.

If convicted, the jamokes could spend a very long time in prison and be subject to millions of dollars in fines.  Excuse us while we enjoy the schadenfreude.

Oregon Jamokes Ask For, Get What They Need

Steven Colbert wonders if the jamokes occupying the Alamo Malheur wildlife refuge visitor center in Oregon are asking for their long list of "stuff" because they're in for a long siege or because they're opening a bed and breakfast:



Meanwhile, in response to the jamokes' appeal for "anything," someone to whom we will be forever grateful sent them ...  a bag of dicks.  How appropriate!  They could all use some!

"What You Need To Know" About The Jamokes Holed Up In Oregon (UPDATED)

Recently, the Onion provided some helpful information as to what we need to know about the right- wing domestic terrorists jamokes holed up at the Malheur federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.  Here's a snippet (h/t Silver Spring Bureau Chief Brian - TCIITM):

Are the protesters violent?

They have vowed to only seek a peaceful overthrow of the entire U.S. federal government. 

How long are they planning to stay?

As long as their supply of whiskey and bison chili lasts.
 
What is the militia ultimately hoping to achieve?

Garner enough attention over next few weeks to be brought onstage during rally for a low-polling GOP candidate.
 
Is the protest going to work?

Nope.

Amusing now, maybe not so later.

UPDATE:  Here's the list of supplies the jamokes have requested, misspellings and all. Clearly, this was a well- planned operation ("Boxer briefs - Medium/ Large /and Extra Large"?!) We kid you not!

The OR militants have updated their wish list. pic.twitter.com/ZmDB3XC4Ag

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) January 9, 2016

Today's Tweet And Graphic - Goober Gun Grabbin'

Shaved head, goateed white guys in camo coordinates await Obama to come and take their guns like Linus does The Great Pumpkin.

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) January 9, 2016

Or, as John Fugelsang illustrates,

Meet More Of The Jamokes Holed Up In Oregon (UPDATED)

The more you learn about the jamokes who commandeered the Alamo a wildlife refuge in Texas Oregon, the more you understand what pathetic, sad, deluded losers they are.  We profiled one the other day;  here are a few more to add to the Roll Call of Valor Sad Asswads (our emphasis):

A heartbroken militiaman announced that one of his buddies had walked off the Oregon nature preserve they had overtaken and had holed up in a local motel to drink away donation money.  [Ed. note: bwahaha!]

Joe Oshaugnessy, an Arizona militiaman, has been actively seeking volunteers through social media to join the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

But his friends tearfully announced that Oshaugnessy, who is known as “Capt. O,” [Ed. note:  we prefer to read that as "Zero."] had left the refuge Wednesday and was instead staying at a motel nearby — as some others associated with the militants have apparently been doing, according to sources.

Some of the militants have reportedly been spotted eating at area restaurants during the standoff, as well. [Ed. note:  "I'll have the Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity Pancakes, ma'am."]

The militants have been allowed to come and go freely from the nature preserve in the absence of a law enforcement presence, but at least one of them, Brian “Booda” Cavalier, failed to return after a newspaper report revealed he had lied about serving in the U.S. Marines.  [snip]

Jon Ritzheimer, the Arizona militiaman known for organizing anti-Muslim rallies and fundraising through his “Rogue Infidel” site, went to see Oshaugnessy at the motel and found him drinking there, according to Maureen Peltier, a disabled National Guard woman who claims to be the group’s official spokeswoman.

Peltier said Ritzheimer had confirmed that Oshaugnessy had kept the money he had raised through social media for himself and had spent at least some of it on a drinking binge.  [Musical accompaniment]

Step forward "Capt. Zero!"  You are awarded the Motel 6 Medal with Old Crow cluster (they'll keep the light on for you).

Step forward "Marine" Booda Booda!  You are awarded the Legion of Haha with Bullshit cluster.

Of course, this story has to have a Stormtrumper in it for completely glistening schadenfreude.  And here he is, "Rump" Trump's New Hampshire veterans co-chair Jerry "DeLoony" DeLemus, who's on a special operations mission to the jamokes' encampment:

Jerry DeLemus, a Trump campaign official and the husband of New Hampshire state Rep. Susan DeLemus, has arrived in Burns, Oregon — where some of his associates have taken over a visitors center at Malheur National Wildlife Reserve.

DeLemus met many of the participants, including ringleader Ammon Bundy, when he traveled cross-country to take part in the armed standoff with federal agents at the Bundy ranch in Nevada, and social media posts show he has maintained ties to the militants who took over the federal building.

In the meantime, DeLemus has taken an official role with Trump’s campaign, taken part in CNN focus groups about the candidate and organized the infamous rally where Trump failed to correct a man who called President Barack Obama a Muslim.  [snip]

DeLemus apparently arrived with a videographer Wednesday night in Oregon, where he plans to meet with militants and help them sort out rumors circulating about various participants. 

The rumors concern "Marine" Booda Booda being a secret gummint spy!  Obviously, being the paranoids that they are, something like this was bound to come up... and its been less than a week.  Next we hear they'll be roasting Ammon Bundy in the fireplace.  And, thanks to DeLoony's videographer, it might all be caught on tape!

Also, you may have heard the name of DeLoony's wife, New Hampshire State Rep. Susan DeLemus.  She's quite the unhinged Stormtrumper loon herself.

No wonder the locals want nothing to do with these clowns.

UPDATE:  The conspiratorial, paranoid rats are starting to bite each other.  Marvelous!

Locals Want Occupying Freeloaders Gone

Yesterday, the community of Burns, Oregon gathered in a building at the county fairgrounds to discuss the small band of delusional sagebrush freeloaders, armed with their manhood compensators and fueled by Ding Dongs and Cheetos, who are occupying a building in the nearby Malheur Federal Wildlife Refuge. To make a long story short, the community isn't happy that these dimwitted jamokes are disrupting life there:

“You don’t get to come here and tell us how we get to live our lives,” said Sheriff Dave Ward of Harney County, who led the meeting, and the crowd erupted into applause and cheers. “I’m here to ask those folks to go home and let us go back to our lives in Harney County,” he added, again to huge applause. (emphasis added)

In addition, as the tweet below suggests, one of the rich ironies here is that the land in "dispute"may actually belong to the Burns Paiute Indian Tribe by virtue of an 1868 Federal treaty with the tribe that was never ratified by the Senate. Frustrated Burns Paiute tribal councilman Jarvis Kennedy expressed the tribe's opposition to the Vanilla ISIS occupiers:

“Harney County residents don’t need some clown to come in here and stand up for us. We survived without them before and we’ll survive without them when they’re gone. So they should get the hell out of here. Sorry, but we didn’t ask them here. We don’t want them here.”

That would make the occupiers double moochers: off of the Feds, and off of the tribe.

Tweet Of The Day - Whose Land Is It Anyway?

#OregonUnderAttack #NativesBeLike pic.twitter.com/GuvPsDkjDu

— Megan Red Shirt-Shaw (@mredshirtshaw) January 5, 2016

(h/t Balloon Juice)

Wingnut Militias Rise After 2014 Fed Backdown

According to a report released yesterday by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), right-wing extremist militia groups grew a shocking 37% just from 2014 to 2015 (202 identified groups to 276). Not surprisingly, the number of right-wing militias rocketed after President Obama's election to 334 in 2011, before declining.  However, the 2014 standoff with Federal officials at the Bundy Klan ranch apparently encouraged the extremists to organize and initiate new extremist anti-Government actions. According to the director for the SPLC's Intelligence Project:

“We believe these armed extremists have been emboldened by what they saw as a clear victory at the Cliven Bundy ranch and the fact that no one was held accountable for taking up arms against agents of the federal government...When the federal government was stopped from enforcing the law at gunpoint, it energized the entire movement. The fact is, Bundy is still a free man and has not paid the money he owes to the federal government – and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it.” (emphasis added)

These wingnut "militia" have learned that taking up arms against the Federal Government apparently has no cost…yet.  It's a dangerous assumption, but they're "heroes" in their own paranoid and narcissistic comic book minds so they won't be dissuaded easily, if at all.

Meet One Of The Tumbleweed Terrorists (UPDATED)

Here's one of the tumbleweed terrorists camped out at the Malheur wildlife refuge in Oregon.  He identified himself as "Capt. Moroni."  Though he clearly wanted to associate himself with the "prophet warrior" angel "Moroni" from the Mormon faith, our guess is it's more likely someone just forgot to drop the "i" or add the "c."

Yes, "Capt. Moron" -- much more fitting. (We suspect it's actually Blaine Cooper, described by Robert Bateman here.)

After some in the Bundy Klan claimed they were following Mormon scripture in seizing the facility, the Mormon Church (LDS) condemned their action in no uncertain terms:

"While the disagreement occurring in Oregon about the use of federal lands is not a church matter," the church said in a statement, "church leaders strongly condemn the armed seizure of the facility and are deeply troubled by the reports that those who have seized the facility suggest that they are doing so based on scriptural principles. This armed occupation can in no way be justified on a scriptural basis. We are privileged to live in a nation where conflicts with government or private groups can — and should — be settled using peaceful means, according to the laws of the land."

As with their "interpretation" of the U.S. Constitution, they can't even get their own religious teachings right.

UPDATE:  Just when we were getting fond of our "tumbleweed terrorists" moniker, Albert Burneko at Deadspin makes a good argument why they shouldn't be called "terrorists,"  and we're inclined to agree:

Here is the thing. These men are not frightening. They are jamokes. They are exactly jamokes. Their guns, on the other hand, are very frightening—for precisely and entirely the same reason and to absolutely the same degree that those same guns would be frightening in the hands of toddlers. Not because the people holding those guns are serious, but because the people holding those guns are not serious.

This, my good buddies, is the entire American pro-gun argument made (embarrassing, oh my God so fucking embarrassing) flesh. A big scary gun lends a degree of real power even to the variety of sad, corny-ass loser who invades and occupies what is essentially a fancy birdhouse in the name of ending tyranny. That is the whole reason to have a big scary gun. Not as a safeguard against home invaders or the totalitarian state, but as a safeguard against a clear-eyed reckoning with plain reality. A gun is—or at least these jamokes hope it is—a Get Out Of Getting Laughed At Free card. When you call these horse’s asses “terrorists,” you are not only dignifying their ridiculous, impotent actions, you are doing them the biggest favor for which they can hope.  (our emphasis)

There's a lot more at the link worth reading.

(Photo:  Amanda Peacher Twitter, via Raw Story)

Today's Cartoon Twofer - Tumbleweed Terrorists

(click on images to enlarge)



(Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

 
(Tom Toles, the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

BONUS:  Harney County Sheriff David Ward to the domestic terrorists:

"You said you were here to help the citizens of Harney County.  That help ended when a peaceful protest became an armed and unlawful protest... It is time for you to leave our community.  Go home, be with your own families and end this peacefully."

Dangerous Nonsense Quote of the Day

"These are men with guns who have declared themselves outside the law. These are men with guns who have taken something that belongs to all of us. These are traitors and thieves who got away with this dangerous nonsense once, and have been encouraged to get away with it again, and they draw their inspiration not solely from the wilder fringes of our politics, either. Ammon Bundy and his brothers should have been thrown in jail after they gathered themselves in rebellion the first time."(emphasis added) -- Esquire.com's Charles P. Pierce on the sagebrush moocher rebellion in Oregon, where armed Vanilla ISIS goons, led by the seditious Bundy Klan, have occupied a Federal facility in a bird sanctuary.

These lowlife militia types were emboldened by the soft response by law enforcement at the Bundy ranch nearly two years ago. They're cut from the same cloth as Oklahoma City right-wing terrorist bomber Timothy McVeigh, and need to be stopped now before more innocent lives are lost.

UPDATE:  Charlie's colleague Robert Bateman has some background on three of the heroes deranged lowlifes who liberated the Alamo Malheur wildlife refuge headquarters..

Today's Cartoon - Loons!

(click on image to enlarge)



(Clay Jones, www.claytoonz.com)

See below.

Far-Right Sagebrush Moocher Terrorist Standoff Continues; Media Cowers

As the standoff with the insurrectionists in Oregon continues, the "mainstream" media continues to have difficulty coming out and labeling these armed, traitorous yokels as just that.  Paul Farhi at the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle gives an insider look at why this major news outlet is struggling with what is plain for all to see:

Scott Wilson, The Washington Post’s national editor, said the paper is using the terms “occupiers” and “militia members” when those involved identify themselves that way.
“We believe these terms most precisely describe what is taking place, the tactics being used and those involved,” he said. “Further, terrorism is a tactic meant to instill fear in a population or group. In this case, the occupiers, though armed, are not terrorizing, but rather occupying a government building in protest or solidarity.”    [snip]                         

Fox News, on its website, noted that the protest was touched off by the sentencing of the Hammonds, which it said “touched a nerve with far right groups who repudiate federal authority.”

The New York Times also said that Cliven Bundy “previously galvanized conservative critics” with his stand against federal authorities.

The Post noted all this background but avoided using the terms “conservative” or “right wing” to describe the occupiers. Wilson, the national editor, said the paper will “likely try to avoid [such labels] unless we have evidence to support one of those characterizations.”

Great Caesar's Ghost!  When even Fox "News" website is referring to these criminals as "far right groups," we think it might be time for Scott Wilson to put on his big boy pants and act like something other than a cowering wordsmith. Until then, he's a damn fool.

Meanwhile, Janell Ross, who writes on race, gender, immigration and inequality at the Bezos Bugle, has this take on media outlets using delicate terms to describe the takeover and the insurrectionists:

Not one seemed to lean toward terms such as "insurrection," "revolt," anti-government "insurgents" or, as some on social media were calling them, "terrorists." When a group of unknown size and unknown firepower has taken over any federal building with plans and possibly some equipment to aid a years-long occupation — and when its representative tells reporters that they would prefer to avoid violence but are prepared to die — the kind of almost-uniform delicacy and the limits on the language used to describe the people involved becomes noteworthy itself.

It is hard to imagine that none of the words mentioned above — particularly "insurrection" or "revolt" — would be avoided if, for instance, a group of armed black Americans took possession of a federal or state courthouse to protest the police. Black Americans outraged about the death of a 12-year-old boy at the hands of police or concerned about the absence of a conviction in the George Zimmerman case have been frequently and inaccurately lumped in with criminals and looters, described as "thugs," or marauding wolf packs where drugs are, according to CNN's Don Lemon, "obviously" in use.  [snip]

Deliberate language choices are always a wise and reasonable move. That is especially true when telling stories of conflict with government and political protests. But the incredibly limited and relatively soft range of words in wide use Sunday seems to extend beyond all of that. The descriptions of events in Oregon appear to reflect the usual shape of our collective assumptions about the relationship between race and guilt — or religion and violent extremism — in the United States.

This is a serious and potentially deadly situation, and it does no good for the media to soft- soap what's going on.  Right there, in the Bugle's front page story is the assessment of someone in authority on the front line in Oregon, Harney County Sheriff David M. Ward.  Perhaps the delicate souls in the media could use his help to accurately describe what's going on there:

“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers,” Ward said in a statement Sunday. “When in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”

BONUS:  Here are some more useful tags for the sagebrush moocher terrorists (a lot more have been suggested since):

Roundup: #YallQueda #YeeHawd #VanillaISIS #YokelHaram #CowTippingTerrorists #FailQueda #Infantada #WhiteSIS #SaturdayNightTreason More?

— David Roberts (@drvox) January 3, 2016

Far-Right Sagebrush Moocher Terrorists Seize Federal Building (UPDATED)

The locoweed spawn of sagebrush moocher Cliven "Hoof" Bundy are back doing the only thing they know how to do:  engaging in armed insurrection.

BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A protest in support of Oregon ranchers facing jail time for arson was followed by an occupation of a building at a national wildlife refuge led by members of a family previously involved in a showdown with the federal government.

Ammon Bundy — the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a standoff with the government over grazing rights — told The Oregonian on Saturday that he and two of his brothers were among a group of dozens of people occupying the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Ammon Bundy posted a video on his Facebook page asking for militia members to come help him. He said "this is not a time to stand down. It's a time to stand up and come to Harney County," where Burns is located. Below the video is this statement: "(asterisk)(asterisk)ALL PATRIOTS ITS TIME TO STAND UP NOT STAND DOWN!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! COME PREPARED."  [snip]

Bundy said the group planned to stay at the refuge indefinitely. "We're planning on staying here for years, absolutely," Ammon Bundy said. "This is not a decision we've made at the last minute."

We still subscribe to Rick Perlstein's observation made after last year's standoff with the seditious Bundy Klan and its right- wing militia supporters, and the government's reaction at the time:

Here is a truth so fundamental that it should be self-evident: When legitimately constituted state authority stands down in the face of armed threats, the very foundation of the republic is in danger. And yet that is exactly what happened at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch this spring: An alleged criminal defeated the cops, because the forces of lawlessness came at them with guns...

Let's hope that a lesson has been learned from that episode of intimidation:  you don't back down to bullies and crackpots who think they're above the law;  you stand up, just like George Washington did 225 years ago.  Anything less is encouraging ever more outrageous acts of sedition.

UPDATE:  Exactly --

If they were dressed like Arabs it would be considered an attack on the homeland. #OregonUnderAttack #burnsoregon

— Jesse Becker (@JesseRBecker) January 3, 2016

UPDATE II: Clowns at the Associated Press initially described the armed, threat-hurling moocher militia siege as "peaceful." That's like describing AP as "intelligent."  ABC, too.  New York Effing Times, too.  Our broken media on display.

UPDATE III:   Charles P. Pierce speaks truth.

In Sagebrush Moocher News….

We're reading where the son of freeloading rancher and right-wing ammosexual magnet Cliven "Hoof" Bundy has a warrant out for his arrest after missing a hearing before a judge in Clark County, NV.  Lance "Little Hoof" Bundy was convicted last year on a burglary and weapons charge, and has failed to appear in court several times for probation hearings stemming from his conviction, which allowed him 5 years' probation.  He ducked this latest warrant, claiming that he had outpatient surgery the day it was issued.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

If found in violation of the probation, he could face two to eight years in state prison.  Hoping he's sent to the slammer, we'll send some lilac-scented soap to Little Hoof for those awkward prison showers.

Sagebrush Moochers, Cont. - A Thug Is A Thug Is A Thug

Read this sentence from today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle on the situation in Ukraine, where we've bracketed several words we've added for effect:

In a nation of 44 [315] million, it became clear that a few hundred men, operating on the eastern [western] fringes of the country with guns and unmarked uniforms, have brought the Ukraine [United States] to a deeply dangerous juncture.

The words in brackets refer to the U.S. population, the western (Nevada) region, respectively.

Whether you're operating in the Ukraine or on Cliven Bundy's ranch, a thug is a thug is a thug.

UPDATE:  Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) had this to say about the Sagebrush Moochers in his State:

“Well, it’s not over,” Reid told KRNV-TV on Monday.  “We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it’s not over.”

Sagebrush Moochers, Cont.

The recent lawlessness in Nevada by a small army of wannabe Timothy McVeighs over a freeloading rancher's long-term illegal use of public property has surfaced one revealing nugget of information:  the right-wing militia types were prepared to use women as human shields in a potential gun battle with the Feds.  The cowards believed that the resulting images of carnage would spark outrage and greater rebellion against the Government.

Many if not most of the militia types came from other states, itching for a violent confrontation with Federal officers in a situation that they didn't have a real stake in.  The fact that they were contemplating  such a sick action as using women as human shields speaks volumes about their sociopathic perversity.