These very wealthy ranchers and large farmers are not only against the
federal and state governments. As Miriam said, they are against undocumented
and highly exploited farm workers. I want to add that they are also against
documented highly exploited farm workers. And they are against workers
organizing into unions to fight for decent pay and decent working
conditions. And they are against everyone who is not rich like them and
Christian fundamentalists like themselves... And, they want to be the people
to decide what happens to the rest of us...
For justice and peace,
Sylvie
----- Original Message -----
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2016 2:32 AM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: 'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat
murdered'
Precisely!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2016 9:27 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: 'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat
murdered'
Sorry, but I don't think any of these guys are peasants. They are wealthy
farmers. Their allies are members of the Patriot and Dominionist movements
which disavow the laws of the federal government. To try to reshape this
into something that fits within Marxist theory seems to me to be insane,
to
put it mildly. The reason that I would never join a Marxist party is this
kind of authoritarianism and inflexibility. I am not saying this to
insult
you, Roger. I understand that this is stuff you have studied and that it
is
a part of your life. But it is an example of why, when we get involved in
discussions, I end up stating opinions which you see as backward and why
you
call me "liberal" as a derrogatory term. Because I am reading Undocumented
by Aviva Chomsky right now, and one of the things I've been reading about
is
how the farm industry uses immigrants in order to make a profit, I find it
especially objectionable for you to describe those wealthy cattlemen as
farmers or peasants. The peasants are the undocumented immigrants and the
farm industry wants them to be financially and legally insecure so that
they
will do filthy back breaking work and the American public will be provided
with inexpensive food and the stock holders will grow rich. So if someone
wants to help the workers or start a prarie fire, that's where it should
be
started. But of course, that is really too difficult. Those people are
hard
to organize. So the party picks on these militant libertarians instead. If
that isn't a topsy turvy world, I don't know what is.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2016 8:38 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: 'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat
murdered'
I am sure that the SWP is in strong disagreement with his politics.
However, that is irrelevant to defending him against an injustice. The SWP
is also in strong disagreement with the Workers Party of Korea, for
example,
but defends North Korea against imperialist aggression. As in the case of
Korea the disagreements are not played up when defending them. That would
defeat the defense. Also, there is a reason to defend the victim of this
particular injustice. If you will read the SWP constitution you will see
that it states its purpose as to establish a workers and farmers
government.
There are a lot of industrial struggles to get on top of, but there are
relatively few militant farm struggles to support. Remember the aphorism
that one spark can start a prairie fire. The SWP is involved in a constant
effort to identify the likely fire starting spark. Some are more likely
than
others, but there is still not a reliable crystal ball to use. That is why
the party deploys comrades to one strike while not deploying to another
strike. That is why the party collectively works to get comrades into jobs
in certain industries and into certain unions. Farming is a good deal
harder
to get into and out of rapidly with the changing ebb and flow of the class
struggle though. Deploying comrades to work as migrant farm workers would
be
easier, but since the party's turn to industry there have been no
struggles
in that sector of the working class that has shown great promise to be the
spark that might start the prairie fire. This case, however, is a case of
peasant rebellion over a real injustice and deserves support. It is an
opportunity to gain support among the American peasantry and to encourage
farmer rebellion.
On 2/20/2016 9:37 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I still don't understand why the SWP would think this whiteall over our country for years.
supremacist guy who was fighting for the rights of rich guys to use
public lands for profit is a cause, worthy of time and effort.
Instead, they should have been writing about poor Muslims who have
been profiled, entrapped by the FBI, and imprisoned in secret detention
injustice?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2016 11:31 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy]
'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat murdered'
And what does one risk when one chooses to not fight back against
up.
On 2/19/2016 9:26 PM, Charles Krugman (Redacted sender ckrugman for
DMARC) wrote:
when one chooses to live as an outlaw and adopt the ways of the wildcops.
west taking over property that doesn't belong to them they run the
risk of being killed or murderedd if one chooses to use the
melodramatic rflare.
Chuck
-----Original Message----- From: Roger Loran Bailey (Redacted sender
"rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2016 6:35 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] 'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat
murdered'
http://themilitant.com/2016/8007/800755.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 7 February 22, 2016
'The truth will come out: Finicum was flat murdered'
BY SETH GALINSKY
Working people should denounce the cold-blooded Jan. 26 killing of
Robert "LaVoy" Finicum by Oregon State Police and the FBI; the
frame-up conspiracy charges against Ammon Bundy and others who took
part in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge; and
the frame-up of Dwight and Steven Hammond, two Harney County, Oregon,
cattle ranchers, imprisoned for a second time on the same bogus arson
charges dating back to 2001 and 2006.
"The truth will come out. LaVoy was just flat murdered," Tad Houpt,
the owner of a small logging company, said by phone Feb. 7. Finicum
and Bundy were traveling to a Jan. 26 community meeting that Houpt
helped organize in John Day, Oregon, when they were intercepted by
the
Bundy initiated the refuge occupation Jan. 2 to draw attention bothranch.
to the frame-up of the Hammonds and to U.S. government land policies
that have been undermining the livelihood of ranchers and farmers.
The persecution of the Hammonds outraged small ranchers and farmers
throughout the West - controlled burns are common to control invasive
plants and to prevent the spread of wildfires.
Despite serving the sentence imposed by the trial judge, the Hammonds
went back to jail Jan. 4, because of a U.S. Appeals Court ruling that
their sentences didn't meet federal minimum rules.
After the trial the U.S. Bureau of Land Management vindictively
revoked the Hammonds' grazing permits, threatening the survival of
their
Meanwhile, the Oregonian reported Feb. 6 that the scanty official
information and one grainy video released on the killing confirm many
aspects of the accounts by Shawna Cox and Victoria Sharp - who were
in the pickup truck driven by Finicum.
According to both of them, the cops first fired one shot at the
vehicle they were in after Finicum initially pulled over. Finicum
then shouted out to the cops, "I'm going to see the sheriff," a
reference to Sheriff Glenn Palmer of Grant County, who was also
scheduled to be at the John Day meeting and has been quoted in the
press as saying the Hammonds should be freed.
Finicum tried to drive away, but was soon forced off the road again.
The Oregonian reports that the FBI admits lethal force was used when
the truck "approached the checkpoint," that is, even before the
vehicle crashed into the snow bank and Finicum gets out with his hands
Much of the capitalist press justifies the killing and prosecutions
by labeling Finicum and Bundy as extremists and outside agitators.
"To his detractors," the New York Times said, "he was a doctrinaire
leader of an illegal protest that is deeply opposed by many who live
near the refuge." The paper conveniently leaves out that most people
in the area support the demand to free the Hammonds and are
sympathetic to their opposition to the government land policies. Many
local residents visited the refuge, met Finicum and Bundy or donated
food and supplies to the occupiers.
Some 1,000 people attended Finicum's funeral in Kanab, Utah, Feb . 5.
While pretending to be objective, the Times' description of the scene
plays on many of its readers' prejudices. After the service there
were "cowboys on horseback and members of so-called patriot groups
wearing camouflage and carrying small weapons," it reports.
The Times did quote one rancher from Nevada, Diana Clark, at the
funeral. "All of us ranchers feel like we're backed into a corner,"
she said. "And it's hard to get anyone to acknowledge our needs, and
so they gave us a platform."
At least 22 smaller protests against the killing of Finicum took
place Feb. 6, from Florida to Washington. One common placard was
"Hands Up, Don't Shoot," a slogan first popularized by protesters
against police brutality after the killing of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. At events in John Day and Prineville,
Oregon, dozens of local ranchers participated.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors have now indicted 16 supporters of the
occupation with conspiracy to "prevent by force, intimidation and
threats, officers and employees of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service . from discharging the duties of their office" at
the wildlife refuge.
The list of what the indictment calls "overt acts" to further the
conspiracy is proof itself that the prosecution is a frame-up.
The first "act" it lists is an Oct. 5 meeting where Ammon Bundy
warned Harney County Sheriff David Ward that if the Hammonds went to
jail there could be "extreme civil unrest."
Although the occupiers are not accused of pointing their weapons at
anyone, the indictment claims that they "brandished and carried
firearms." Oregon law allows the open carrying of firearms.
Bundy released a statement from prison Feb. 6, noting that the
occupation was civil disobedience. He encouraged those "who disagree
with my speech" or dislike his ideas to engage in civil discussion.
"If you do not advocate for government to tolerate ideas that it
hates, then the First Amendment and free speech mean nothing," he
said. "Arm yourself with ideas. . Argue and disagree. Be free."
Supporters of the Hammonds continue to organize. A new online
petition calling on President Barack Obama to free the Hammonds had
3,341 signatures as of Feb. 9. The Oregon Cattlemen's Association is
asking that donations be sent to: The Hammond Family, c/o Sandra
Carlon at US Bank, 493 N. Broadway, Burns, Oregon 97720.
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