Oregon's proposed new class of terrorists

[Tim May]

On Thursday, May 22, 2003, at 12:41 AM, Anonymous Coward wrote:

>> May[SMTP:timcmay at 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