As you may have heard by now, there is some ruckus going on in a remote part of Oregon. The Malheur Wildlife Refuge has been seized by a group of anti-government protesters. The Refuge has been closed to visitors, and nearby schools are closed also, in the interest of safety. This article describes what’s going on quite well, and I’ll let Dickenson fill you in if you need it. Also, once again, I’m thoroughly impressed by the reporting coming out of Rolling Stone Magazine. Tangent alert: Matt Taibbi’s coverage of the fiscal collapse was really exceptional, and anybody who read his reporting on the issue already knew pretty much everything that happened in the Big Short — which was really entertaining nevertheless. Tangent over.
The armed takeover of the Refuge has sparked some debate about the way that we and our news outlets treat protesters of different stripes. I think this is worth looking at, and I also think it’s worth giving the benefit of the doubt, at least sometimes.
Hitting Bregma 