WhatFinger


There is no practical rationale behind any federal agency having a private army to bully, extort and ultimately endanger American citizens.

Who values land as sacred? Ranchers, not environmentalists



When it comes to disparate groups of protesters who claim to value the land, the line is drawn definitively between the raucous, violent rabble that descended upon the Cannonball River in North Dakota and the orderly numbers that arrived at Malheur Wildlife Refuge and the Bundy Ranch in Nevada. Let's list the differences, shall we?
A. Claim of legal standing to make a protest: ND: Indian tribe asserting possible desecration of sacred sites unknown and unidentified. MWF/NV: Government seizure of public lands, locking out ranchers currently utilizing historic grazing rights. B. Land use ND: Tribe not blocked from established usage of public land or tribal land MWF/NV: Ranchers blocked from established usage of public and private land. C. Economic impact ND: Proposed DAPL does not affect economy except for possible income increase. MWF/NV: Removal of cattle from public and private land devastates ranch economy, essentially putting generational cattle industry out of business.

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D. Make-up of protesters ND: Standing Rock tribal members, sympathizers and mostly paid protesters. MWF/NV: Sympathetic ranchers dealing with similar issues on home turf. None are paid for their travel, presence or participation. E. Weapons present and usage or threat posed ND: Anything to hand--rocks, bottles, bats, firestarting materials--all of which were used against law enforcement who stayed at bay until protesters became violent. MWF/NV: Open carry states and some individuals had sidearms, none of which were drawn from holsters nor was same threatened. BLM threatened deadly force against protesters, and FBI, with malice, killed LaVoy Finicum and wounded other unarmed travelers in Oregon ambush. F. Condition of camp after evacuation ND: Thousands of pounds of trash and toxic and human waste left behind by protesters, who set fire to semi-permanent edifices they'd built illegally, endangering environment they claimed to be protecting. The mercenaries populating the camp even abandoned puppies to die of frostbite and starvation. MWF/NV: Protesters cleaned up after themselves, imposing minimal impact on environment. In fact, members of the Hammond family were incarcerated for protecting the land from wildfire set by BLM.

In North Dakota, the protesters were the aggressors whereas in Oregon and Nevada government forces were the aggressors

Comparison? There is none. And yet, the government not only murdered one of the protesters in Oregon after setting-up an ambush on a public highway, but charged peaceful demonstrators for threatening harm to law enforcement--for which they were acquitted. Although some violent paid agitators in ND are under arrest for defying orders to vacate the Cannonball River camp, the Bundys are fighting for the right to continue ranching on land they've lawfully used for over a hundred years, predating the Bureau of Land Management that engaged and aimed tactical weapons against non-violent demonstrators in Nevada. In North Dakota, the protesters were the aggressors whereas in Oregon and Nevada government forces were the aggressors. Going a step further, there is no practical rationale behind any federal agency having a private army to bully, extort and ultimately endanger American citizens. Non-law enforcement bureaucracies under USDA and Department of the Interior such as BLM, Fish and Wildlife, USFS, National Park Service, etc. along with EPA and IRS have no business toting guns in any capacity. Any of these agencies, which I contend should be abolished for the most part as being nothing more than revenue collectors, all operate within county jurisdictions. National and state parks, monuments and refuges, whether or not properly returned to county oversight, must be stripped of all "law enforcement" powers in favor of contracting with true law enforcement--local sheriff's departments. As the President lays out his plan to cut government spending, the demilitarization of these agencies should top the list, transferring the weaponry and armored vehicles to the armed forces that have suffered underfunding and lack of equipment in the field. Along with this must be dismantling the unconstitutional administrative courts of the EPA and IRS. The only "trashing" that should occur is that of dumping the overreaching regulations of all these bureaucracies that "regularly" strip citizens of their hard-earned dollars to fund what? Unnecessary jobs that entrench a cyclical need for bigger budgets to enforce useless regulations. There is a concerted effort by mainstream media and left-wing political forces to demonize average Americans, such as cattlemen and farmers that produce our nation's food, as evil desecrators of the environment. It is, however, these people who have protected the land for generations, understanding how to keep it productive and sound. The college-educated land use management types that populate Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, EPA and other government agencies have, on the other hand, no practical experience in land conservation. They work off of fantasmagorical ideals of what ecosystems should be rather than what they are or how they run in the real world. Hence, the anarchists and environmental wannabes operate in a haze of non-scientific "science" that's been shoved down all our throats for decades by leftist educators without actual experience... or, they're just mercenary riffraff. Whichever, it's time they got a productive job other than picking up a few bucks vandalizing property, rioting and setting cars afire.


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A. Dru Kristenev -- Bio and Archives

Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.


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