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JANUARY 2,2016:OREGON STANDOFF:NOT SURPRISINGLY MORE US DOUBLE STANDARDS |
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Written by Barry Kowal
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Jan 05, 2015 at 09:46 AM |
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JANUARY 2,2016:OREGON STANDOFF:NOT SURPRISINGLY MORE US DOUBLE STANDARDS
On Saturday,January 2,2015,armed men broke into the desolate headquarters of a federally owned wildlife refuge in Oregon and said they weren't going to leave until the government stops its "tyranny.".Read:http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/04/us/oregon-wildlife-refuge-what-bundy-wants/
It just gets more crazy from there.That is the backdrop against which a very complicated,confusing and tense situation continued with Ammon Bundy and dozens of supporters who have answered his call on social media to join him at the remote outpost about 30 miles from Burn,Oregon. In a press conference in which a few followers rambled for a long time about Constitutional rights and against the federal government,Bundy said the group had decided to call themselves the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. In a tweet "150 armed white men take over a federal building and threaten violence if removed" Not a single shot is fired at them" followed by a photo of Tamir Rice with the caption, "12-year-old black boy plays with a toy gun'is gunned down in less than two seconds without as much as a warning." In any case,why won't they shoot at armed white fanatics isn't just the wrong question; it's a bad one. Not only does it hold lethal violence as a fair response to the Bundy militia,but it opens a path to legitimizing the same violence against more marginalized groups. As long as the government is an equal opportunity killer, goes the argument,violence is acceptable.
But that's perverse. If there's a question to ask on this score, it's not why don't they use violence, it's why aren't they more cautious with unarmed suspects and common criminals? If we're outraged, it shouldn't be because law enforcement isn't rushing to violently confront Bundy and his group. We should be outraged because that restraint isn't extended to all Americans. Citizens for Constitutional Freedom are all white males. If blacks or Muslims would have done what these right-wing wackos are doing,they would all be dead now.The police would have called in SWAT teams and the national guard by now.Surprisingly only white people can taunt the federal government with weapons in the USA.
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Last Updated ( Jan 05, 2016 at 10:22 AM )
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