It’s around 4 a.m. and I just finished reading an article from the New Yorker (12/21/2020) about our infamous Idahoan, Ammon Bundy, entitled “How Ammon Bundy Helped Foment an Anti-Masker Rebellion in Idaho.” I like to get up early and read controversial editorials; it gets my day off to a good start. I don’t get apoplectic when I read an inflammatory article like that, but I find myself wanting to get even. Basically, Ammon Bundy and his band of miscreants, are, purely and simply, not model citizens. When arrested, I don’t think they should be mistreated horribly, possibly water-boarded or dragged behind a fleet of Harley road hogs seems reasonable. Maybe shuttled to Venus, which is thought to be uncomfortably warm. At the very least tarred, feathered and run out of Idaho to Texas, where the Longhorns will take them on a rattlesnake roundup. I was born in Texas and lived there for an excruciating six months, but I did enjoy a good old-fashioned rattler roundup on the buckboard on my momma’s knee.
BULLIES* include the anti-masker, anti-vaccinator doppelgangers and any members of the extreme right, including white supremacists, hate groups of any flavor, etc., that exist and are growing throughout the U.S. (I can’t speak for the civilized world). BULLIES** are deluding themselves masquerading as 21st century “patriots” still fighting the Redcoats. One major difference between the revolutionaries of 1776 and today’s version is that ‘common good’ has yet to creep into the vocabulary of our modern-day zealots. As a matter of fact, as a concept, I doubt they can wrap their aberrant brains around it. I suspect BULLIES** would be inspired by such individualistic quotes as:
The “self,” it seems today, is at the core of the nation’s worldview rather than the common good or God.” ― Martha McCallum (Fox News host; frequent contributor to www.foxnews.com)
“The only common good is the common liberty to pursue individual goods.” ― Jakub Bożydar Wisniewski (Libertarian theorist, Mises Institute, Auburn Alabama)
They would not be impressed with the following Saul Alinsky quote:
“People cannot be free unless they are willing to sacrifice some of their interests to guarantee the freedom of others. The price of democracy is the ongoing pursuit of the common good by all the people.”
Over the past few months, the BULLIES*** of Idaho, and their toadying conservative citizens and politicians are digging feverishly to exhume the fond memories of Richard Butler and his Aryan Nations on Hayden Lake in the mid-80s. Idaho still gets Easterners asking whether there have been any lynchings lately or gun fights at the OK Corral. Have we fixed our Injun problem yet? They still send our mail to Ames, Iowa. The climate change refugees migrating from California seem to be willing to take their chances with the Idaho Klan.
I do have a few delicately phrased questions for the BULLIES*:
- What do you think would have happened to the outcome of Second World War if citizens had protested the Home Front effort? What if people had said, “No way Jose am I limiting my family to 3 gallons of gas for my roadster. Replace my daily sirloin with horse meat? Get laid. Bullshit to saving metal and rubber if it means I can’t buy Lucy that Hoover she’s always wanted or little Tommy’s camo AK-47. Or my rubber supply. A victory garden in my side lot would mean shoveling under my award-winning Mr. Lincolns (red rose). Screw that, Mr. Rogers.”
- Would ignoring Home Front sacrifices have resulted in more than 405,000 WWII deaths?
- Could it have meant the Man in the High Castle would have become a reality and there wouldn’t be an Anne Frank memorial to deface? Hm? What does thou thinketh?
- What if your efforts and those of your patriotic compadres can be shown to result in an accelerated death rate of Covid-19 and thus a higher final total, surpassing the total mortality for WW II sooner? Covid-19 is already at 350,000 plus, with no end in sight, so passing 405 K will be easy.
Fortunately, it didn’t happen in WW II, at least as much as I’ve studied, because there was a strong respect for the common good, the nation over the individual. Also, there were penalties for profiteering, and ration stamps were carefully regulated. Besides, people were petrified of the consequences if they didn’t comply. Hitler might be your carpool buddy, as imagined below. That probably was enough of an incentive to even ride to town with your spouse.
If a connection could be verified between your selfishness, BULLIES*, wouldn’t that make you guilty of something? Maybe a crime? Let’s look, together, at the definitions of two possibilities and potential penalties:
Criminally negligent homicide (CNH) is the killing of another person through gross negligence and without malice. For example, death that is the result of negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Or, in Bundy’s case, if anti-lockdown efforts result in someone dying from Covid-19, then they could be guilty of CNH as if they were driving drunk. I assume that in order to prove CNH, the prosecution must be able to show that a person does not realize that their behavior is potentially dangerous, which in Bundy’s BULLIES*, the anti-lockdowners situation, is not the case. The penalty can include probation and up to five years in prison. Consequently, we are left with,
Manslaughter means that someone acts in a manner that puts others at risk when you are aware that your behavior could seriously harm or kill another person, but you choose to ignore it. That is being reckless. Most likely your crime would be considered involuntary manslaughter because it lacks the element of intent. The penalty can be up to a 16-month prison sentence, which increases if the crime was committed through an act of reckless conduct. Involuntary manslaughter varies between states but in Idaho, it is a felony offense and if due to recklessness, it can have maximum sentence of ten years in state prison along with up to $10,000 of fines. After the Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally last August, it was linked to more than 260,000 new cases of Coronavirus (USA Today, 9/8/2020. Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies at San Diego State University). I don’t think anyone has been prosecuted yet.
The fate of the BULLIES* will be decided by wealthy lawyers and corrupt courts. Obviously, I’m not a lawyer for a lot of reasons, the least of which would be 1) we have 1,560 lawyers in the U.S. to every citizen (fact corroborated with www.foxnews.com); 2) I would be bored past tears; and 3) I would fail the bar exam forever and ever. Amen.
Solutions
Let me be very clear about this: the law-abiding majority (at this juncture) in our society are being bullied by BULLIES*, currently a forceful minority, and the civil majority are capitulating to them for reasons that only the victim of bullying can testify. It could include fear, a desire to please, to maintain the peace, inability to respond without retaliation, all the above. Well, OK, let the authorities handle it, peacefully if possible, applying the following suggested ways:
- Our federal and/or state governments need to quit pussyfooting around regarding consequences of disregarding lockdown protocols and prosecute violators, probably, with involuntary manslaughter. Uncle Sam really wants this social group in jail, and being true “patriots,” they should turn themselves in, just like they did at Malheur Wildlife Refuge. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!;
- Our federal and/or state governments need to quit pussyfooting around regarding consequences of disregarding lockdown protocols and prosecute violators, probably, with involuntary manslaughter. Uncle Sam really wants this social group in jail, and being true “patriots,” they should turn themselves in, just like they did at Malheur Wildlife Refuge. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!;
- If they believe so strongly in individual freedom to do as they damn well please, regardless the consequences, they should be required to sign an affidavit that if they get Covid-19 they will not ask any health care professional to treat them. And, finally;
- If law-abiding citizens feel threatened by the BULLIES*, they should be able to invoke Idaho’s Stand Your Ground Law. After all, it is every man for himself.
Bully Day, January 6, 2021
And now we can add to the growing list of serious criminal offenses perpetrated by the extreme fringe political right: the tragedy of January 6, 2021; I’ll call it Bully Day. On that day, those perpetrators wrongfully felt they were entitled to execute heinous, illegal crimes in the name of freedom. I just wrote about the shitshow of January 6 in my blog post entitled, “Violated.” I’m not sure where mob rule and trashing the Capitol is encouraged in the Constitution. In the BULLIES* Bible, “Might makes Right” was clearly illustrated when Goliath pounded the shit out of David. Furthermore, www.foxnews.com cites several good examples that God always puts his money on BULLIES** and that’s why Jesus lost.
Those Capitol BULLIES* were grossly disoriented as to what true patriotism is. A patriot does not violate federal laws, destroy public property, especially one as communal and sacred as the Capitol. And then, bragging about it only confirms that they thought they were on a field trip and clueless. I doubt Ammon Bundy was in D.C. for the event but I’m sure he applauded it from his Idaho bunker. Those who violated the Capitol could easily have been part of Bundy and his BULLIES* siege of the Malheur NWR in 2016, and some might have. This fringe element, some of whom probably fondle their AK-47 in bed at night and never remove their camo BVDs. They don’t ever want to be caught unarmed, even at the Christmas dinners in case Granny pigs out on the stuffing. She’d look good on the white wallpaper.
In a reality check, BULLIES* are nothing more than tyrants, insurgents, cowards, and scared as Hell of their own shadow. But, caution is advised around them because I think many of them possess trigger fingers. America is not theirs to play with as they would their Barbie dolls. They carried the Revolutionary War Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread on Me”) and Civil War Confederate Flag along the American flag, as they vandalized the Capitol. There seems to be massive disconnect here. They have entered in the no-man’s zone of domestic terrorism which, if guilty, carries somewhat stiffer penalties that criminally negligent homicide or involuntary manslaughter.
If they continue to arrogantly violate laws, eventually they will get treaded on. That sounds like a threat that I, as a dedicated senior citizen, will not be able to make good on, but there are plenty of legitimate people who can, and will. So, as I hop aboard a Boeing 737 MAX, disguised as a scholar, I guess that is a promise. See ya!
**https://reischlawfirm.com/criminally-negligent-homicide-vs-manslaughter-whats-difference; AND https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/criminal-defense/involuntary-manslaughter/involuntary-manslaughter-penalties sentencing.html#:~:text=Involuntary%20manslaughter%20in%20Idaho%20is,up%20to%20%2410%2C000%20of%20fines)