All Talk & No Action When It Comes To Ammon Bundy & Oregon

Somehow I’ve angered what the media labels the extreme-right, although. Mainstream news media would call me extreme-right as it calls everyone to the right of Mitt Romney. My local Twin Falls County Sheriff surprised me yesterday by filling in on a segment of my show usually covered by one of his deputies. I’m not offering any apologies, I like Sheriff Tom Carter and his staff. The county doesn’t have much crime and I think you could find a correlation between the low figures and the department’s approach to building good relationships with other law enforcers and the public.

Sheriff Carter isn’t by any means a shy man. He’s a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. Members would also be considered extreme-right politically by most news media. It’s a group of law enforcers strongly backing your Second Amendment right-to-bear arms and vows to respect the Constitution. Many of the members also believe the locally elected Sheriff is historically the arbiter-of-justice in his or her home county.

Tom Carter wanted to talk about his counterpart in Harney County, Oregon. David Ward is being criticized by many of those pigeonholed as extreme-right because he didn’t welcome the demonstrators who came to his county and then later occupied a federal wildlife refuge. Some also argue Ward failed in his duty because he didn’t arrest federal agents who took two local ranchers back-to-prison for what I certainly believe is a wrongful conviction and grave injustice.

Carter won’t denounce Ward. My Sheriff explains the man a 5 hour drive down the highway is caught between the proverbial rock-and-a-hard-place. You would’ve thought Carter had denounced the occupiers, the imprisoned ranchers and then used the Stars-and-Stripes as toilet paper. Some members of my audience believe Sheriff Carter should drive to Oregon and punch Sheriff Ward. They think I should sock Sheriff Carter. They do this while calling from the comfort of home or work or while behind the wheel in Southern Idaho. None of them have put their money where their mouths are and joined the occupation of a few buildings at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

Carter agreed with me that Ammon Bundy and his associates have brought attention to some serious issues. He also believes they’ll at least be charged with trespassing when it all comes to a close. Believing the occupiers will be charged isn’t an endorsement of Bundy being charged. I think the Panthers are going to defeat the Seahawks this weekend. It’s not an endorsement of the Carolina football team. Can we also acknowledge no one has been wounded or killed in Harney County and Sheriff Ward may be the man responsible for keeping-the-peace? I do wish he was more vocal in support of the occupiers views and I need to point out he has no plans of his own to arrest Bundy and his associates.

For the caller who suggested later in the show that Sheriff Ward should arrest the federal agents, again, you’re telling me this from the comfort of neighboring Idaho. Ward would then be targeted for arrest by the federal government, lose his job and could be jailed for interfering with a federal operation. If you’re in Idaho how you do expect to protect a lawman in Oregon? I didn’t hear any callers tell me they were willing to die to protect Sheriff Ward for risking his own neck. There are a great many blowhards playing at revolution but not many actual takers. You want change? Demand the President pardon ranchers Dwight and Steve Hammond. Then with a sign of goodwill and a promise to bring some sanity back to our federal courts everyone can go home. The President can also pardon the occupiers. There certainly would be precedent. All sorts of left-wing activists have done the same or worse and many have walked away without threat of prosecution. Some even advise President Obama.

I’ll leave you with one last argument. When I lived in Delaware we had a Sheriff in my county who believed in liberty and knew his Constitution through-and-through. Liberal media hated him. Liberals hated him. Establishment Republicans hated him. They found some lackey to announce a challenge. Come Primary Day the lackey won. There was a low turnout despite the bluster heard on talk radio from people who supported the incumbent. Perhaps he would’ve survived what was essentially a recall election, however. It rained Primary Day and a lot of big talking revolutionaries stayed put on their dead-asses and didn’t show up to vote. It appears they followed me west.