The Oregon Standoff

[Ham]

24 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

Its weird how a person who seems to otherwise be a pretty admirable guy (fostered something like 51 kids over the years!) winds up taking such a radical position as what he did.

That's what I was struggling to understand. Why does a guy with 11 kids and 19 grandkids throw his life away over something as stupid as this?

[Al Agnew]

Like I've said before, people have an unlimited capacity to convince themselves that something they want to believe is true.  The guy obviously believed in his "cause" strongly enough to fight and die for it.  In one way, this is no different from radicals on any issue.  They convince themselves that what they believe is not only true but important enough to die and kill for.  I don't presume to be able to get inside this guy's head, but either that was the case with him, or else he had convinced himself that he was a courageous and heroic figure and then had to live up to it.

[mjk86]

The whole situation was completely unnecessary, and now a human life has been lost and it has become a tragedy.  The above statement could not have been said any better. 

[Kayak_Runner]

 overhead surveillance video of the stop, including the altercation that led to Mr. Finicum's fatal moments with fed/state LEOs has been released. 

[Ham]

Watched the video multiple times. Some versions are pretty hard to interpret, but it's clear that it did not have to end this way. They could have surrendered. Once you try to run a road block unsuccessfully and multiple guys are pointing firearms at you, that is a terrible time to reach into your jacket. It would have been a lot cleaner if the federal agents had let him get the gun out of his jacket before they fired. I'm sure they were pretty amped up too and did not want to get shot by this knucklehead.

[Flysmallie]

Who doesn't think that an officer, who is pointing a gun at you, is going to shoot you if you reach in your pocket? Anyone? C'mon people, everybody knows better than that. He wanted to be dead.

[Ham]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

Who doesn't think that an officer, who is pointing a gun at you, is going to shoot you if you reach in your pocket? Anyone? C'mon people, everybody knows better than that. He wanted to be dead.

It looked like suicide by Policeman to me, but I'll be darn if I can understand why he would choose to act hat way.

[David Unnerstall]

You know I have been watching the TV show "Route 66" on Hulu the past couple of years (one of the best shows, ever).  There was one episode where Tod and Buzz happened across a group of individuals in Arizona who were stockpiling weapons because they knew that the power stations the government were building was a way for them to take over.  The group was led by a single individual who seemed to be able to control the rest.

I know this is just a script for a TV show but I suspect these characters have always been around.  It is just that the Internet gives them the method of finding each other.

But something that I wish we could fix is the petty government individuals we have to put up with.  Sometimes after leaving the License Office in Missouri I am capable of donning a tin hat and occupying a government building armed to the teeth.  But I eventually realize I am just dealing with an individual and not system that is as evil as we want to believe.

[Ketchup]

No matter my political views on life's ramblings, when I read these threads"or in this case just a few pages" it shows me who I would and who I "couldn't" hang out with.  

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, Ketchup said:

No matter my political views on life's ramblings, when I read these threads"or in this case just a few pages" it shows me who I would and who I "couldn't" hang out with.  

 

I think these threads are a bad way to judge a person. I totally cringe at some of the stuff Chief says. Wrench sets me off with some of his ramblings as well. But I have been fortunate enough to spend some time on the water hanging out with both of them and you just aren't going to find better guys. The crap that is spewed on forums is just that. Crap.