The Oath Keepers, the anti-government “Patriot†group that mounted an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management at the Bundy Ranch, stationed armed guards outside of military recruitment centers after the Chattanooga shooting, and unsettled Ferguson protestors when they showed up carrying assault rifles, is now offering anti-gay Kentucky clerk Kim Davis a “security detail†to protect her from further arrest if she continues to defy the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes announced yesterday that he had reached out to Davis’ lawyers at Liberty Counsel to offer the protection of his group, which he says is already forming a presence in Rowan County, Kentucky, where Davis was recently released from jail after prohibiting her office from issuing marriage licenses. Rhodes said in a statement that his position has nothing to do with gay marriage, but rather his conviction that Davis had been illegally detained by the federal judge who held her in contempt for violating multiple court orders. …
… Rhodes said that the Rowan County sheriff should have blocked U.S. Marshals from detaining Davis, but since neither the sheriff nor the state’s governor will do their “job†and “intercede†on behalf of Davis, the Oath Keepers will have to do it instead. “As far as we’re concerned, this is not over,†he said, “and this judge needs to be put on notice that his behavior is not going to be accepted and we’ll be there to stop it and intercede ourselves if we have to. If the sheriff, who should be interceding, is not going to do his job and the governor is not going to do the governor’s job of interceding, then we’ll do it.â€
A shootout between these self-important bastards and the authorities might be the what finally makes clear to America that conservatism has gone stark raving mad, but there won’t be any bloodshed — at worst, these guys will show up armed and the authorities will back down, sensibly seeking to keep the peace. The crazies will get a win, it’ll be a one-day story at best, and we’ll just shrug and forget all about it as a nation, because nobody died.
In all seriousness, do we get to use the term “domestic terrorist†and actually have it mean something if armed goobers like this are going to butt heads with U.S. Marshals after Davis inevitably violates her court order?
Bonus question:  Do these guys show up at the Rowan County Clerk’s Office to “protect†Davis from same-sex couples wanting to get married?
Double bonus question: if you’re publicly announcing your intent to “interfere†with county sheriffs and U.S. Marshals, why are you not having a nice conversation with law enforcement in a little room with no windows?
Because as long as they are politically useful to the Right, they’ll be protected.
Meanwhile, the Nooz says that Mike Huckabee thinks Dred Scott is still the “law of the land.”
Huckabee appeared on conservative radio host Michael Medved’s show to defend Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who went to jail for contempt of court after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. The former governor compared the Supreme Court’s recent decision to legalize same sex marriage to the Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery.
“Michael, the Dred Scott decision of 1857 still remains to this day the law of the land which says that black people aren’t fully human,†he told the radio host. “Does anybody still follow the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision?â€
Huckabee needs a long rest and lots of drugs, methinks.
Yeah I could see this coming days ago, these people are batshit fucking crazy. When will our “mainstream media” make those on the right answer for this, Rapheal et. al. run around calling president Obama “lawless” what do they say about this? If this actually happens I hope President Obama holds strong, let them take up arms against the ATF, FBI, etc lets see how long the GOP stands for it?
I wonder if Huckabuck wil hold a rally for this man, his religous freedom is really under attack, I’ll not be holding my breath!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/burr-ridge/crime/ct-police-investigate-after-sikh-man-called-terrorist-beaten-in-darien-20150910-story.html
This is why we have the National Guard. If the Oath Squeekers give the local law enforcement officers a problem, bring out a hundred guardsmen. Remove them
and confiscate their weapons without being very gentle about it and cite them for obstruction of justice. I, for one, will not cave to a bunch of toothless hick white supremacists from Idaho.
Maybe Trump supporters have a point about this administration’s “weakness.” They let Cliven Bundy get away with armed insurrection and now the Oath Keepers think that they must also be appeased. You can point a firearm at federal law enforcement in Nevada without consequences; why not Kentucky?
I’m not getting the Bundy thing, having re-read the wiki on the case. Why don’t the Feds just serve him with a warrant, freeze his bank accounts, and toss him in a dark, dark hole next time he leaves his ranch to buy toilet paper at Walmart’s? There might still be some armed morons at his ranch, but you could also pull them in one at a time by staking out the local Chik-Fil-A’s. Hold off on dealing with the cattle until you have enough of the troublemakers off the streets. Am I missing something here?
There’s a lot of really warped beliefs at the foundation of the ‘Oath Keepers’ philosophy. Two facets are that they want to enrfoce a ridiculous view which makes the local sheriff the supreme authority. The federal authorities are subject to local authorities. The cousin belief is the ‘sovereign citizen’ argument which basically says that anyone has a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card anytime they run afoul of any jurisdiction. You simply say the words- “You aint the boss of me.” And the authorities, chastised by your courage and wit, will slink away.
The sham is based on the demand that reality must conform to their bigotry. All government authority ONLY has power – when they are carrying out the agenda of the Oath Keeper leadership. (Or did anyone else notice that when contempt of court has been slapped on journalists who refuse to give up sources, the OK folks showed up with guns in DC or NYC to spring liberals – because I sure missed it.)
On the subjects of civil disobedience and open defiance of authority… I have some experience. IMO, if you want to defy the law on the premise you are doing it for a greater good, you have to be prepared to face the music. I don’t want to go to jail, but I will if a jury sees it that way. Thoreau was willing, even happy to go to jail on principle. That he was right and acting on a moral principle, was never offered as a reason he should be exempt from consequences.
One other thing – if you have any balls – and you want to defy authority – do it unarmed. Ghandi style. MLK style. Jesus Christ style. Strutting around with your big guns, suggest you’re stuck will little ones. And trying to compensate.
Am I missing something here?
My opinion is that President Obama has made the calculation to let the Bundy thing go, I think he see’s just how wacked out this “tea-party” insurrection of the right-wing is becoming and has made the decision to just let it go? The problem with that is as Ed above states, inaction will encourage more bad behavior, these “oathkeeper” tea-tards are like 2nd grader juvenile delinquents and they need to be treated as such, they need a good ass whoopin!
Well, I’m old enough to remember the Waco thing—Janet Reno took some flak after the fact from the “dumber side of the aisle”, but BATF’s response to the Davidians was quite measured. It certainly wasn’t the Govt’s fault the Koreshees cowered in their complex behind their children. Let’s imagine she let things ride— ALL the people in that town would have continued to live in fear of the Davidian complex. Much like Bundy’s neighbors, no doubt, are now. The wiki on the Bundy terrorization of the local towns is quite horrifying.
If Stewart Rhodes could see himself through my eyes he’d be both embarrassed and ashamed. What kind of a nutjob would even consider the idea of a County Deputy Sheriff hijacking a prisoner from a Federal Judge. Evidently Rhodes has no concept of the power structure in American government. Everybody bows to a Federal Judge.
Rhodes is delusional… and if he thinks that he’s going to have some sort of an Alamo type shootout to defend Kim Davis from returning to jail if the judge decides that’s what he wants to do, then he’s sadly mistaken. If Kim returns to jail it will be because that’s what she wants to do to further her cause. She will be eager to show up in order to bolster her image as a Christian martyr.
But I think Kim has had enough and she’s gonna be a good little girl from now on. Her Liberty Council lawyers played their hand wrong. They were expecting the judge to impose fines which would only act as fuel for her martyrdom. Unfortunately the judge anticipated their game and left them scrambling for a plan B which they didn’t have.
And Huckabee is just a puke… I’ve been thinking about him and trying to understand what exactly causes me to feel the way I do about him. One of the things that I find so distasteful is his cause jumping/grief crashing antics. The same thing I see in Al Sharpton..The exploitation of other’s grief, tragedy, and suffering to benefit themselves. An emotional ghoul.
And the other thing is his use of deception for behind the name of Christianity. I know I’m always quick to toss a barb at Christianity, but that’s only because scumbags like Huckabee use Christianity as a shield and a blind from which to spew their poison and hide their wickedness. Pastor Huckabee’s Dred Scott statement is a prime example of his deception..He preys on intellectually vulnerable people to further his own ends without regards for the damage he does to their intellect.
Here is a good take-down of Huckabee’s ignorance:
https://cwcrossroads.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/mike-huckabee-hucks-up-history/
Our peckerwoods are once again turning into powder-kegs!
I’d like to form a group that shows-up whenever these assclowns do, to counter them:
“Oath Throwers!”
I’m sure you get the idea! 😉
As for Huck-a-Buck, I see he knows as much about the US Constitution and SCOTUS decisions, as he does about the Bible.
Speaking of Janet Reno, I was just thinking how I miss her.
She always knew what to do.
Well, of course Huckleberry has a mental block around Dred Scott. He’s trying to forget the 14th Amendment, which promised equal protection to dark skinned folks and, well, other minorities he doesn’t like (hint: the same class Davis doesn’t care for). This from a guy who claims to worship a dude who never married and hung out most of the time with guys. Not implying anything– just saying it would be ironic if his deity of choice wore his earring in the other ear.
I think the oath creepers want gunfire to break out, or at least are willing to threaten to take it that far. They were willing in the Bundy case. There they successfully stood down the executive branch; now is the judiciary’s turn. An armed standoff at a marriage license office? What a scene.
Doug: I certainly admire and respect the courage it took to do what you did. Where I differ is that it took “balls”. Using that logic, women would never have courage. And we know they do. Look at Rosa Parks. And many more. If we need to use a body part to describe courage, how about the gut. There is the expression “it takes guts” which I find more appropriate.
Yes, I do find it enjoyable at times to make fun of men and their pride in their anatomy, but sexual organs have nothing to do with being a real man. I know that and you know that. It comes from higher up, the heart. The heart is also associated with courage. Think of being lion-hearted. Sometimes I feel sorry for men with their sexual organs on the outside of their body and exposed to all sorts of insults and assaults. It makes them very vulnerable. But let’s get over this silly idea that it takes “balls” to stand up for what you believe in.
As for Kim Davis, she has no courage. She is delusional and I learned in my psych experience that people who claim to be doing “God’s” work are the most dangerous. Although I hope Swami is correct that she is a flash in the pan and will go back to work and obey the law, I don’t think she will. She so wants to be a martyr and she has worked up a bunch of people and she is depending on them to carry on her fight. I’m sure it is very exciting to her to think the Oath Keepers will come to her defense and allow her to obey God. She won’t win. The gov’t will put up with this nonsense only so long. She should resign and take up her real calling, that of preaching. Or maybe a pundit on Fox News. I’m sure they would pay her as much as she is making now.
I could go on cause now I’m all fired up but maybe I should just go take a walk.
Grannyeagle – you know me well enough to know that I wasn’t suggesting that men, by virtue of their plumbing or their psychology have greater capacity for character or fortitude than women.
I also don’t know (and don’t want to know) if any of the ‘Oath Keepers’ are actually acting out a Freudian compensation because they have a short pipe.
We all know that the heart isn’t the source of courage or compassion or sexual desire, nor is it shaped as it’s traditionally pictured. However it’s an effective shorthand to describe in a couple of words, what would otherwise require much more.
I won’t apologize, as no offense was intended or taken (I hope) and I admit I’m not sure how to resolve the typical metaphors we use, ascribing traits to body parts which we understand aren’t biologically accurate.
Looking above on this thread, I see that I referred to the Oath Keepers as ‘oath creepers’. That was inept of me, and inappropriate; so I apologize. I should have referred to them as “Oaf Creepers”.
You’re welcome.
Henis the penis came riding up on his lily white ass. He asked the King for more land. The King kicked him in the balls and said..How’s that for two acres?
______________________________________________________________________
Although I hope Swami is correct that she is a flash in the pan and will go back to work and obey the law, I don’t think she will.
I would suspect that this coming week after she’s caught up on her conjugal obligations and back to work, somebody is going to show to test Kim and see if she is going to comply with the judge’s order. I might be wrong but I don’t think the gay community is going to give much breathing space.
Doug: I took no offense and don’t feel an apology is needed. Perhaps I was being a little over-sensitive. Or it’s just one of my crabby days. And perhaps we humans do go overboard when attributing emotions to body parts. I think we can agree that it is just a figure of speech.
Don’t the “Oath Keepers” care that Ms. Davis is not keeping the oath she swore when she took this job?
She swore an oath to uphold the law when she became clerk. Which was in Nov. She had to have known the Scots would be ruling on SS marriage and she might have to deal with issuing licences.