The Bundys, Oregon, Federal Land and the Constitution, Part 1

On Saturday, 300 peaceful marchers, both local and out-of-state, protested on behalf of two Oregon ranchers who reported to prison this week. After the march, a militia group took control of a federal wildlife building. The occupation occurred without violence, but the militia said it plans to stay at the facility to protest "overreach" by the federal government. The two ranchers were convicted of arson. They burned brush and creeping weeds on federal lands to prevent fires and to protect the grazing land they leased from the federal government. Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr., 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, reported to federal prison in California on Monday. The Hammonds lit the fires on lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2001 and 2006. They were convicted of arson in 2012. Acting US Attorney Billy Williams said : "Fires intentionally and illegally set on public lands, even those in a remote area, threaten property and residents and endanger firefighters called to battle the blaze." The Hammonds have already served time -- Dwight three months in prison and his son one year -- but a judge said the sentences were too short under federal law and ordered them back to prison for four years each. ~~~~~ The militia, joined by some marchers, took over a federal building -- the unoccupied headquarter building of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge 30 miles south of Burns in the high desert of eastern Oregon. The area is very remote, about 280 miles southeast of Portland. Property was not damaged. Some militia were armed, others weren't. The FBI said it's "working with the Harney County Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police, and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation." The militia is led by Ammon Bundy, 40, and his brothers. Bundy is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who made headlines in 2014 for his standoff with federal agents over grazing rights on lands he said belonged to Nevada, not the BLM. Cliven won as the Justice Department decided not to prosecute him because, according to many legal analysts, DOJ would have lost. Ammon Bundy told the Oregonian : "We're planning on staying here for years....This is not a decision we've made at the last minute....The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds. The only violence that, if it comes our way, will be because government is wanting their building back...We’re putting nobody in harm’s way. We are not threatening anybody. We’re 30 miles out of the closest town." The Hammonds, the county and the town of Burns distanced themselves from the Bundys. Sheriff David Ward said that the occupiers were only "claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers." 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." ~~~~~ Federal lands are lands in the United States whose ownership is claimed by the US federal government, pursuant to Article IV, section 3, clause 2, of the Constitution. According to a 2012 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the federal government owns roughly 635 million acres of the 2.27 billion total acres in the US - about 28% - almost entirely in the far West, reports the CRS -- Nevada: 84% / Alaska: 69% / Utah: 57% / Oregon: 53% / Idaho: 50% / Arizona: 48% / California: 45% / Wyoming and New Mexico: 42% / Colorado: 37% / Montana and Washington state: 30%. Land in the far West was acquired for national parks and mineral rights as America moved toward the Pacific. Compared to these 12 far West states where the federal government owns on average 58% of all land, in the other states, only 4% on average is federally owned. ~~~~~ Dear readers, efforts to retake control of federal lands began over a century ago in the West. It is the basis of the Bundys' fight. It also represents a fundamental divide in American political thought and constitutional interpretation. Tomorrow, we'll explore this key issue.

The Second Amendment Protects Americans from Government Tyranny

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Second Amendment, US Constitution, adopted 1791. ~~~~~ A new Texas law allows residents to openly carry licensed handguns in Texas, where licensed carrying of concealed weapons is permitted. Retail and commercial businesses can opt out of the law that bans open carry at schools, courts, jails, bars, polling places, and sanctioned sports events. Government meetings can be gun-free, with notice. Texas is now the largest state to have some form of open carry. Supporters in the Texas legislature tied the new law to Second Amendment rights. Opponents, mostly Democrats, argued the open carry law would be dangerous. ~~~~~ On the gun control side, a new California law allows police, without prior warning to a gun owner, to seize weapons if a judge decides there's a potential for violence. The law was passed after a 2014 mass shooting, in which officers had visited the shooter's home after his parents warned about his mental health, but the police decided he wasn't a risk and didn't search the apartment where he had guns, ammo and knives. Under the new law, families can obtain a "gun violence restraining order." Los Angeles Police Assistant Chief Michael Moore said : "The law gives us a vehicle to cause the person to surrender their weapons....It's a short duration...an opportunity for mental health professionals to provide an analysis of a person's mental state." California law already bans gun possession by anyone who has committed a violent crime or been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. Second Amendment advocates say the new law could put lawful gun owners at risk of seizure. ~~~~~ Second Amendment supporters warn they'll vigorously oppose President Obama's plan to order expanded background checks for gun buyers at gun shows. Obama's threatened executive order signals "war," Chicago radio host and former congressman Joe Walsh says. Yesterday, Obama met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch about the executive orders to be released today. The National Rifle Association said Obama’s "gun control agenda was rejected by Congress. Now, he is doing what he always does when he doesn’t get his way, defying the will of the people and using executive action." GOP presidential candidate, Senator Rand Paul has introduced a bill to prevent executive orders on gun control from being effective until Congress passes a law supporting the order. Senator Paul said : “In the United States, we do not have a king, but we do have a Constitution. We also have the Second Amendment, and I will fight tooth and nail to protect it." ~~~~~ In 1786, the new US government had not paid many Revolutionary War veterans. They returned to their farms and were levied heavy new state taxes to pay war debts. Those who couldn’t pay the taxes had their farms seized and were sentenced to debtors’ prison. Angry veterans in Massachusetts shut down local courts and tried to take over an armory. Shays’ Rebellion was crushed by state militia. Many rebels were imprisoned, and some executed, as recommended by Samuel Adams : “...the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death." Thomas Jefferson took a milder view. One of Jefferson’s most famous quotations is from his letter to James Madison on January 30, 1787 : “I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing....Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.” ~~~~~ Dear readers, the right to bear arms is America's protection against tyrannical government. Never surrender it. The Founder who wrote the Second Amendment also wrote : 'The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed, which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." __James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

Iran Mocks US with Ballistic Missile Tests and Threats to US Air Carrier

On December 26, Iranian military vessels approached and fired rockets near a US aircraft carrier traveling to the Arabian Gulf through the internationally recognized maritime traffic lane in the Straits of Hormuz. The Iranian vessels came within 1,500 yards of the USS Harry S. Truman before firing the rockets. A US military official called the incident "certainly unnecessarily provocative" and "unsafe." Several Iranian navy vessels approached the Truman, as well as other coalition and merchant vessels, warned of a "previously unannounced live-fire exercise over maritime radio and requested for nearby vessels to remain clear," the official said. Forty minutes later, the exercise warnings were repeated, the Iranian ships launched rockets, firing in a direction away from the commercial and coalition ships, and then departed. ~~~~~ Iran's menacing aside, we should ask why President Obama left the Arabian Gulf without a US carrier from early October to late December. The Truman is the first US aircraft carrier to enter the Gulf, after the USS Theodore Roosevelt left in October, leaving a US carrier gap of several months. The US has maintained a carrier presence in the Gulf for decades, even keeping two carriers there to support the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Perhaps the answer is that Obama ordered the Roosevelt to leave the Gulf in early October so that Iran could conduct its first two ballistic missile tests since the nuclear deal was signed. ~~~~~ The Wall Street Journal reported on December 31 that after Iran's ICBM tests, the White House has delayed imposing new financial sanctions on Iran over either its ballistic missile program or tests. On December 30, the WSJ, citing US officials, had said the Obama administration was preparing to sanction a dozen companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates for their role in developing Iran's ICBM program. The US sanctions were expected to be formally announced this week, the WSJ said. But, Iranian President Rouhani threatened Obama by telling his Defense Ministry to “quickly and firmly continue with its plans to produce different missiles...” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan obeyed, saying he would make Iran’s missiles even more powerful, claiming that “peace and security can only be achieved by strength.” ~~~~~ We long for the day when President Obama adopts a policy that leads from strength. But, Obama showed no strength to Iran -- Rouhani apparently stopped any White House consideration of sanctions. Obama and his team showed no spine. Apologists explain Obama’s timidity by saying Rouhani needs to stand up to the US to appease right-wing factions in Iran. We could remind President Obama that the US does not need a nuclear deal with Iran -- Iran needs a nuclear deal with the US. Putting Rouhani’s political needs ahead of US self-interest and world safety is lunacy, or deliberate appeasement. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the sanctions that Obama considered are permitted under UN resolution 1929 passed in 2010 : “States shall take all necessary measures to prevent the transfer of technology or technical assistance to Iran related to such activities,” referring to its ballistic missile program. Obama's targets were Iranians working for the Ministry of Defense, and an Abu Dhabi firm and its Hong Kong affiliate charged with providing key materiel to the weapons effort. The Obama sanctions, proposed but so far not put in place, reflect the serious concern that Iran is dealing with rogue nuclear state North Korea to procure components for its ICBM program. Obama apparently won't treat the threat seriously for fear of ruining his legacy nuclear accord, turning a blind eye and preferring to let Iran receive billions of dollars in sanctions relief desperately needed because of its oil revenues collapse. Unleashing on the world a nuclear Iran with ICBM delivery capability is the leftist view of a fitting Obama legacy and a denial of all that America stands for. No wonder US allies think Obama's real Middle East partner is Iran...and Russia.

Saturday Politics : It's Time for Bill and Hillary Clinton to Retire

Saturday politics. Mainstream media label Hillary Clinton the runaway winner of the Democratic presidential nomination, but the latest Rasmussen poll taken after the last Democratic debate shows Hillary losing ground. Before the debate, Rasmussen had her beating Bernie Sanders, 50% to 29%. Now her lead is 46% to 30%. What's critically important is that Hillary for the first time is below 50% -- a majority of Democratic primary voters do not want to vote for her -- 46% will and 54% won’t. In the general election, the Rasmussen poll shows Sanders roundly beating Hillary 53% to 33% among Independents who say they'll vote in a Democratic primary. ~~~~~ The falling polls reflect negative baggage Mrs. Clinton has carried during her entire public life. It scares Democrat leaders. Hillary says she's supported by the Democratic establishment, but she has yet to be endorsed by key leaders : President Obama - Vice President Biden - Senate minority leader Harry Reid - House minority leader Nancy Pelosi - Senator Elizabeth Warren - California Governor Jerry Brown - Richard Trumka, head of America's largest federation of labor unions, the AFL-CIO. ~~~~~ There are also her emails. The State Department says parts of 275 of the 5,500 emails released on New Year's Eve have been newly classified. Clinton insists she didn't send or receive classified information via her personal email account run on a private server at her home. The GOP has repeatedly questioned whether her use of the private system put sensitive information at risk. So far, the State Department has retroactively classified 1,274 Clinton emails since starting to review them for release under a federal court order. ~~~~~ The latest State Department email dump also confirms that George Soros, the billionaire socialist-progressive Democratic donor, is a close friend of Hillary Clinton with unfettered access to her. Soros told a close Hillary Clinton ally he regretted voting for Obama over her in the 2008 Democratic primary. Hillary's ally, Neera Tanden, president of the Soros political entity, Center for American Progress, wrote in a May 2012 email to Clinton about talking to Soros at a dinner : "I told him I worked for you in the primaries...he said he's been impressed that he can always call/meet with you on an issue of policy and said he hasn't met with the President....He then extolled his work with you from your time as First Lady on." ~~~~~ And there is the rarely raised matter of Hillary's health. In Ed Klein's book, "Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary," he says her health is an issue that must be explored. In July, her longtime personal physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, released a two-page letter seeming to give Hillary a clean bill of health : "She does not smoke and drinks alcohol occasionally....does not use illicit drugs or tobacco products....eats a diet rich in lean protein, vegetables and fruits....exercises regularly, including yoga, swimming, walking and weight training." Dr. Bardack said Hillary had completely recovered from the fainting spell, concussion and blood clot in her brain suffered while she was at State. But Klein says : "To this day, Hillary still suffers from many of the troubling symptoms that I wrote about in Unlikeable: blinding headaches, exhaustion, insomnia, and a tremor in her hands. As a precaution against...fainting in public...Hillary now travels with a personal physician on all her major campaign trips....There have been several incidents in which she has nearly collapsed....after her 11-hour testimony before the Trey Gowdy Benghazi committee, Hillary swooned....She had to be supported...and helped into the [car]....Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff and her closest adviser, frequently orders campaign aides to alter Hillary's schedule...so [she] can catch her breath and take out time for naps." Klein quotes a close Hillary source saying : "She no longer has the stamina for 18-hour campaign days that she was once capable of doing." ~~~~~ Dear readers, when will American politics be free of the Clintons? Hillary and Bill should retire.