Anything worth having is worth fighting for, and sadly, few Americans are willing to fight for freedom.
Oregon, like most of the west has been under attack by all sorts of ABC (BLM, EPA, G&F, USFS, USBoR, etc…) tentacles of the US government and environmentalists for decades. Logging, mining and ranching have been targets, industry and commerce have been lost, and farms and ranches have dried up or been stolen out from underneath the owners by government strong arming terrorist tactics.
In 2001, my parents, my husband, our 8-month old daughter, and I headed to Klamath Falls, OR with the Bucket Brigade (a group that grew out of the Jarbidge Shovel Brigade, a story for another time) to deliver food to farmers and ranchers whose farms and ranches had dried up when the US Bureau of Reclamation turned off the irrigation water to protect the sucker fish. Yes, I said “to protect the sucker fish”, a literal fish, a fish that apparently sucks, as in sucks the life out of an entire community.
This community not only welcomed us with open arms and gratitude, they opened their homes to us. The ENTIRE community appreciated the support. They appreciated what we came to do. They appreciated knowing they were not alone.
Burns Oregon, is a community divided. Half don’t want help fighting against their oppressors, half appreciate it.
So, I have a solution, help those who are willing to fight for themselves, help those who appreciate people taking a stand with them against their oppressors; the government operatives who use terrorist tactics to steal land and shut down industry and commerce.
I used to be more compassionate, I am still compassionate, but I have lost my compassion for complacent people… to put it in church terms I don’t have compassion for Laodicea. Luke warm people, people without a fire in their belly to fight for what is right, people unwilling to call evil “evil”, and rise up against it. People who would rather be spoon fed by Big Brother than to fight for their and their children’s freedoms, their rights…
I have said since last Saturday (1/2/16), when the Malheur Refuge was first “occupied” by freedom loving Americans, the first thing I said was “They are doing the right thing the wrong way”. I stand by that.
The people taking a stand at the refuge love this country, and they are sick and tired of government operatives terrorizing the Western United States. They are sick of ABC government bureaucracies stealing land, stealing water, shutting down mines, shutting down logging operations, etc…
I support taking a stand, I understand why they chose the refuge as the location to stand, and they certainly are getting noticed. Attention has definitely been brought to this situation, and the tyranny leading up to it. I disagree with the way they went about it, but… at this point why split hairs about it, it is done, we can’t change that.
It may be time to move on to the ranches that the BLM is coming after this summer, and let Burns go. Burns does not have a constitutional sheriff (those seem to be harder and harder to find these days…), and about half of the community just doesn’t care, as long as they have “free” healthcare, and someone to pump their gas (you know during normal business hours) …
From the outside, it looks like the people of Burns have succumb to the Socialist Utopia that Oregon is known for.
When my husband and son were in Burns last week to march in support of the Hammonds, they grabbed a bite to eat at McDonald’s when an employee thanked them for being there and said “It’s about time someone came to help us”.
The appreciation is nice, but notice the entitlement mentality born out of living in a socialist Utopia; she was unwilling to fight for herself, but was irritated it took so long for other people to show to fight for her.
I don’t mind fighting for people who show that they are putting the effort in to fight for themselves, I will not fight for people who are unwilling to fight. I can’t. If it is truly important to you, you know what is at stake, you know what the risks are, and if it is worth it, you fight anyway.
Meanwhile, Wyoming has our own issues with the government ABC’s…
Andy Johnson is still racking up fees and fines daily because he dared to build a pond on his own property, and BLM is harassing oil companies, creating paperwork nightmares, waiting for paper work errors and then shutting down well sites.
Ranchers are told when people can come and go on THEIR OWN property during the Sage Grouse “migratory” period.
And to top it off, our state government, during the palace (whoops, I mean Capitol) reconstruction project has moved the legislative offices to the Jonah Business Center in Cheyenne, but since this is a privately owned facility, and other businesses utilize other parts of the building, the people will be essentially restricted from participating in the legislative session in person.
No protests. Limited Lobbying. No one is sure how many people will be able to watch from the “galley” or if there will even be one. If there is not a galley, where will the press be allowed to spend their time when our legislature meets? Where will committee meetings take place, and will the public be able to attend?
You see, we have actual real problems in Wyoming worth fighting for. We have real intrusions. There are ABC organizations terrorizing Wyoming land owners and businesses, and our own state government is out of control.
What can you do? For now, follow the legislative session, there are groups that you can follow that can help you sort through legislative issues, bills to watch, calls to action etc.… Wyoming Gun Owners, WY Watch, Natrona County Campaign for Liberty, TheWyoming.net, and Wyoming Freedom in Education. You can also follow [your county here] County Conservatives, they usually share posts from other organizations to keep people abreast of what is going on.
Pay attention to those groups during and after the legislative session, this is an election year, and voting records are crucial.
Which brings me to making informed votes. I hate to break this to you, 90% of our legislature are Republicans and well over half vote with the Democrats every time… Too many people vote for the name that sounds the most familiar (forgetting if the name is known for positive or negative reasons) during the primary, and vote the “R” in the general.
The truth is, in Wyoming, the election is won and lost in the primary. Informed votes are crucial, especially in the primary, incumbents with horrible voting records keep getting reelected, and we need to make sure incumbents with excellent voting records retain their seats.
Wyoming is on its way to becoming “Oregon” … Will you do what it takes to keep that from happening?
The time is now. We cannot wait until people come in from other parts of the country to fight, the time to fight is now. Get informed, and be involved in process. It is not just your right to be involved, it is your duty.
by Michelle Sabrosky
