On Thursday, May 22, 2003, at 12:41 AM, Anonymous Coward wrote:
May[SMTP:timcmay@got.net] wrote:
The Oregon law makes a very broad class of forms of civil disobedience--including unscheduled gatherings which disrupt traffic, sit-ins in colleges, marches, etc.--the same as blowing up buildings or crashing airliners, and carries a mandatory, no parole, minimum of 25 years incarceration. After 25 years, the possibility of being a slave laborer (in effect) picking up trash and cutting brush for the state of Oregon.
What a hypocrite! You have repeatedly stated that you would kill people who committed far less serious offenses. What if protestors performed a sit-in or march on your property? You have threatened many times to kill trespassers in such situations. How can someone who threatens death for the most minor offenses claim to be shocked at a sentence of 25 years?
Your violent rhetoric has destroyed whatever credibility you once had as a defender of rights.
Defending my property against trespassers is not the same class of thing as a march down a public street spilling over into another public street and thus causing traffic delays. My purpose in stockpiling weapons to defend my house is to defend my house against home invaders, thieves, looters, and other threats. The purpose of life imprisonment for all involved in a street protest which delays or impedes street traffic is to frighten off any form of public demonstration. One is a citizen defending his life and property. The other is a politician passing a draconian (and expensive!) law to show how tough on crime he is. By the way, this has happened in reality. The chancellor of a major university tolerated various disruptions and marches on his campus, without 25-year sentences. Indeed, without even expulsion from the university. But a woman wielding a machete inside his house was shot and killed. A justifiable difference. Protest marches or demonstrations which may cause some delays in traffic flow are not terrorist events, but intruders inside houses are almost always deserving of killing. --Tim May