Oregon Standoff Loosing Steam

Ken AshfordRightwing Extremism/Violence, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Kudos to law enforcement.  Looks like their tactic worked.  A lot of lefties, including me, thought they were ignoring the armed occupiers when this thing began, but the feds knew what they were doing: It’s a pretty safe bet that by seizing the opportunity to decapitate the leadership of the Oregon occupiers, federal authorities were hoping the remainder of the … Read More

Oregon Standoff Has Arrests, A Shootout, and A Death

Ken AshfordCrime, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

… but it continues. There had been no visible law enforcement presence around the refuge as the situation stretched on for days and weeks, and occupiers came and went as they pleased, though they said they remained on guard. The group’s leaders had felt comfortable enough to move freely, leaving the refuge’s headquarters to attend meetings with residents and law enforcement officials. On Tuesday … Read More

Y’All Queda: The Oregon Standoff – Day 5

Ken AshfordRightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

First, this: Ammon Bundy, a leader of the armed protesters who took over a federal building in Oregon, and his family are known for battling the federal government. But Bundy told CNN on Tuesday that he’s not opposed to government and said that taking a six-figure loan from theSmall Business Administration doesn’t conflict with his political philosophy. Bundy borrowed $530,000 … Read More

Domestic Terrorism Update

Ken AshfordConstitution, Rightwing Extremism/Violence, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Busy day today, so I have little commentary.  I recommend an article in The New Yorker for a slightly different, but valuable, perspective than mine: American vigilantism is never racially innocent. Its two parents are self-mobilization on the frontier, usually against Native Americans at a time when homesteading was reserved to whites, and the racial terror of the Ku Klux … Read More

Armed Terrorists Seize Federal Property

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Constitution, Gun Control, Rightwing Extremism/Violence, War on Terrorism/Torture1 Comment

You would think this would be 24/7 headline news, but it isn’t.  The terrorist takeover began Sunday morning, but the regular news outlets barely covered it.  Only on Twitter was it discussed at any length, thanks to the hashtag #OregonUnderAttack. Now that it is a regular non-holiday workday, the media is starting to report it.  Before then, the only real … Read More

Trump May Have Hit The Ceiling

Ken AshfordConstitution, Election 2016, Godstuff, Immigration and Xenophobia, Republicans, Rightwing Extremism/Violence, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Donald Trump has defied political pundits for months now.  When he first attacked John McCain, the thought was that it would kill him in the polls, but then he went up.  And that’s been the story for over four months now.  He keeps on appealing to the worst-of-the-worst conservative base and his numbers go up. But many are now saying … Read More

Planned Parenthood Shooting Is Domestic Terrorism

Ken AshfordCrime, Election 2016, Gun Control, Rightwing Extremism/Violence, War on Terrorism/Torture, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

I’ve been vacationing and the holidays and yada yada, so there’s been light blogging lately. The big news that I missed was a terrorist attack here on the United States, although whether to call it a “terrorist attack” seems to be arguable.  I’m talking of course about the shooter at Planned Parenthood.  On Saturday, November 27, a shooting and five-hour … Read More

Fox News Moron Doubles Down With Dr. Carson: Stupid Jews Could Have Taken The Nazis

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Gun Control, History, Right Wing Punditry/Idiocy, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

Yes, the European Jews were just a bunch of pants-wetting pansies back in the thirties: Dr. Ben Carson recently asserted that if guns had not been confiscated from Jews then Hitler would have had more trouble orchestrating the Holocaust. Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director of the Anti-Defamation Leauge, quickly objected, stating that there were few firearms available to Jews in Germany … Read More

Trumps Reaction To Hate Crime — He Hits A New Low

Ken AshfordCrime, Election 2016, Immigration and Xenophobia, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

This turns my stomach: The homeless man was lying on the ground, shaking, when police arrived early Wednesday. His face was soaked, apparently with urine, his nose broken, his chest and arms battered. Police said two brothers from South Boston ambushed the 58-year-old as he slept outside of a Dorchester MBTA stop, and targeted him because he is Hispanic. One … Read More

Even The Gun Nuts Don’t Want A Piece Of This

Ken AshfordGun Control, Race, Racial Homicides, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

A few days ago, I mentioned the presence of armed white people — the Oath Keepers — present on the streets of Ferguson during the racial tensions.  They were there, they said, the protect a reporter from the ultra-right wing website, InfoWars. Except now we learn that Infowars denies knowing these guys or what they’re doing. Maybe that’s true, maybe … Read More

Has Ferguson Gotten Better?

Ken AshfordRace, Racial Homicides, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

One year after the arrest and killing of Michael Brown, a young unarmed black man, Ferguson seems to be in deeper trouble than ever.  Several investigations, including one by the DOJ, found that the police officer did not act improperly in the shooting of Michael Brown.  BUT the DOJ found that the police department was ethically un-diverse (compared to the … Read More

Good Ol’ Boys Shooting At The U.S. Military

Ken AshfordGun Control, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

For the second day in a row, shots were reportedly fired Wednesday near a Mississippi military facility where part of the “Jade Helm 15” training exercise was expected to take place. Soldiers training at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg reported shots fired into the air around 8 a.m. local time, according to a news release obtained by local TV station WJTV. … Read More