Well, I didn’t think the Kim Davis story could get much worse here in the Bluegrass State.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes announced yesterday that he had reached out to Davis’ lawyers at Liberty Counsel to offer the protection of his group, which he says is already forming a presence in Rowan County, Kentucky, where Davis was recently released from jail after prohibiting her office from issuing marriage licenses. Rhodes said in a statement that his position has nothing to do with gay marriage, but rather his conviction that Davis had been illegally detained by the federal judge who held her in contempt for violating multiple court orders.
In a phone call with Jackson County, Kentucky, Sheriff Denny Peyman and other local Oath Keepers activists, Rhodes said that he was on his way to Kentucky to help with the Davis operation. Although the group had originally intended to picket outside the home of the judge who held Davis in contempt, he said, they had changed their plan when she was released on Tuesday.
Rhodes said that the Rowan County sheriff should have blocked U.S. Marshals from detaining Davis, but since neither the sheriff nor the state’s governor will do their “job” and “intercede” on behalf of Davis, the Oath Keepers will have to do it instead. “As far as we’re concerned, this is not over,” he said, “and this judge needs to be put on notice that his behavior is not going to be accepted and we’ll be there to stop it and intercede ourselves if we have to. If the sheriff, who should be interceding, is not going to do his job and the governor is not going to do the governor’s job of interceding, then we’ll do it.”
Peyman suggested that he meet with the Rowan County sheriff to “educate him” on his responsibility to block the actions of the federal courts, but in the meantime, Rhodes said, “our guys are already there and more coming” and they are ready to “lead by example” by preventing Davis from being arrested again.
I’m sure this will end well, right?
In all seriousness, do we get to use the term “domestic terrorist” and actually have it mean something if armed goobers like this are going to butt heads with U.S. Marshals after Davis inevitably violates her court order?
Bonus question: Do these guys show up at the Rowan County Clerk’s Office to “protect” Davis from same-sex couples wanting to get married?
Double bonus question: if you’re publicly announcing your intent to “interfere” with county sheriffs and U.S. Marshals, why are you not having a nice conversation with law enforcement in a little room with no windows?
kindness
Actually this is a win-win scenerio. Just imagine Police and Federal Marshalls having an OK Corral shootout with Oath Keeper types. Moar popcorn please.
shinobi42
It’s unfortunate that this guy seems to think he has an understanding of how the government structure of this country actually works. And by unfortunate, I mean scary as fuck. Also, does it not sound a little like he is threatening the judge?
It’s okay though you guys, the oath keepers are white.
Richard Bottoms
I just emailed the US Marshall Service inquiring who runs the show, them or these seditious motherfuckers.
Omnes Omnibus
@kindness: No. I don’t see shootouts as a win.
Zandar
@kindness: Yeah, see, some of us think that would be unnecessarily awful.
b1narys3rf
What is the worse possibility about these assholes’ mental functioning?
1) have not heard of the U.S. Supremacy Clause
2) have heard of it but choose to ignore it because reasons
How far do things have to get pushed before Democrats take off the gloves and begin calling the opposition the Confederate Party?
catbirdman
I wonder what would happen if the Black Panthers decided to do something like this.
mb
IANAL, but kind of sounds like he’s menacing a judge, something I don’t think is ever a winning strategy.
ranchandsyrup
the oathkeepers should rebrand to something that doesn’t contain the word “oath” after this.
BruceFromOhio
Now imagine the response if this Rhodes terrorist was African-American.
Like to see what happens when one of these OK-corral morons draws on county sheriff, or better yet, a US Marshal. Crossing state lines to do it ought to get the FBI involved at some point, for added interest.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
It certainly did get worse with this development. I have concerns that it will end rather badly. The oathers are not altogther rational folks.
dedc79
This reminds me – does anyone know what has going on with the Bundy ranch standoff? My hope was that the feds would wait for a while until tensions died down and then go in and arrest the lot of them. That doesn’t appear to have happened. I do worry that this set a bad precedent, encouraging groups like the Oath Keepers to pull thekind of dangerous stunt they’re considering here.
shell
Anybody else find it ironic that this fathead keeps using the phrase ‘not doing their job.’ Maybe he thinks its clever.
srv
Obama will fold like he did with Bundy.
Better get the National Guard at the courthouse first, or you’ve already lost.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@b1narys3rf: Calling people names is hardly “taking off the gloves”. In fact, it’s literally the least you can do in opposition.
The government – the actual elected government – is going to have to shoot a few of these people before they start listening to reason. I don’t want it to go there, but it will.
@srv: 1. Most likely. 2. Damn right.
Anoniminous
@catbirdman:
We know what would happen, they’d get shot.
Gene108
WTF do Oath Keepers do for a living? They sure seem to have an inordinate amount of free time on their hands to cris-cross the country to spend days at a time standing about in public with their guns.
The Golux
@ranchandsyrup:
I always thought it was a misspelling of “oaf”.
ranchandsyrup
@b1narys3rf: what do you think that would accomplish?
Woodrowfan
@Gene108: i think a lot of them are retired///
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Gene108: Military can retire w/pension as early as age 38. Most cops can go at 50. So yeah, there’s a lot of unemployed people with killing skills, a steady stream of income, and no work.
They need better hobbies.
Shakezula
The authorities in Ferguson, MO has repeatedly allowed these supremacists fucks to roam the streets toting their projectile-firing sex toys. But I’m sure people are shocked to see they’re not limiting their intimidation tactics to the blah people.
ranchandsyrup
@The Golux: lols. the ones i’ve encountered were complete oafs.
burnspbesq
If OathKeepers try to fuck with the Marshal’s Service, there will be a small, windowless room in their futures.
I believe it’s called a morgue.
srv
@Gene108: They’re like hippies, without the dope and lack of real committment to their cause.
benw
Oath Keepers, Shmoath Keepers. I like how they’re blazing into town in the nick of everything being over. I doubt they really want a shootout with the sheriff. I predict some photo ops with Kim and hubby. Maybe some marching.
Although if she does choose to interfere with her office again, and has to go back before the judge, I hope these idiots haven’t talked themselves into a corner, where pride demands action. I hope no one gets hurt. Not even these asshats.
brantl
I hope the state and the Feds stake these guys out with such overwhelming force that they just lay down their arms, and put their hands in the air, but I wouldn’t expect them to show that much sense. Standing right next to every sniper should be a videographer, with the telephoto lenses, to make sure they can ID every one of these sons of bitches, and jail them. Bundy’s in remote territory, this is the center of a TOWN. Big difference, pinheads.
Betty Cracker
@dedc79: Yep. Seeing the Bundy Ranch gang get away with drawing a bead on federal agents almost certainly emboldened these yahoos.
A Ghost To Most
So the Silver Shirts are reforming? William Dudley Pelley would be so proud.
Fucking Xian Fascists
ranchandsyrup
I think the lot of them should change their name to The Constitution Misinterpreters, tbh.
Killjoy
Does this mean Cliven Bundy is left unguarded?
brantl
@The Golux: ranchandsyrup:
the oathkeepers should rebrand to something that doesn’t contain the word “oath” after this.
I always thought it was a misspelling of “oaf”.
Sofakeepers ?
b1narys3rf
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
If the history of politics in the last several decades of America have shown us anything, it’s that well-placed insults carry a lot of weight and outrage is a good weapon (i.e. “Liberal” becoming a dirty word which has only just recently started to abate).
You bet if a few Democrats used this word and refused to apologize for it once Gohmerts, Cruz-es and their ilk start carrying water for this latest maneuver (and I hope they do step into that trap) the outrage will force a dialogue even in the MSM about just what brink the Republicans have stepped over.
Plantsmantx
They seem to be spoiling for another Ruby Ridge. If that’s what they want, I hope they get it.
Just Some Fuckhead
We need to support these brave Christian warriors for protecting us from two people in love.
sukabi
@catbirdman: you and I know exactly what would happen. Every black person in a 100 mile radius would be detained…(probably beaten to a pulp, if not outright killed in the process).
BGinCHI
Post should be titled “Kentucky Fried Kentucky.”
Punchy
These guys are all horse, no saddle. Not a chance these fuckers draw down on US Marshalls. They may be dumb, but no one’s THAT dumb.
The Oathers are a less ridiculous version of Westboro. They say simply outrageous shit just to get airtime on CNN and Fox. Then they slink away, until they return in 6 months for something else anti-gov’t.
Belafon
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Most people who leave the military, even after 20 years, have very little shooting experience. My brother-in-law will retire from the Air Force in 3 years with managerial skills, not fighting skills.
ranchandsyrup
@b1narys3rf: A race to the bottom then. I see where you’re coming from.
Anoniminous
In 1966 Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel said of the Conservative movement, “A fanatical neo-fascist political cult in the GOP, driven by a strange mixture of corrosive hatred and sickening fear, who are recklessly determined to either control our party, or destroy it.”
Dude nailed it and we’re living with it.
PurpleGirl
@catbirdman: You know damn well that if a group like the Black Panthers had done (or does) something like this, they’d be in jail or dead in a short time.
IOKYAR (or white); otherwise, you’re a domestic terrorist and good luck with living.
Brachiator
What a silly question. It’s easy.
Crazy ass white guy threatening violence in the name of the baby Jebus: Patriot.
Crazy ass nonwhite guy threatening violence in the name of anyone other than the baby Jebus: Terrorist.
@Punchy:
David Koresh was that dumb.
hitchhiker
Anybody else immediately think of the kkk scene outside the jail in To Kill a Mockingbird when they read this?
Buncha patriots rolling up to do what needs to be done because the authorities just don’t have the hang of justice.
Shakezula
@Punchy:
Given their habit of roaming the streets armed to the teeth, the word ridiculous is not the one that comes to mind.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@dedc79: (Sorry if this has already been posted.)
From June in TheGuardian:
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
PurpleGirl
@Gene108: I think a lot of them are retired LEOs and military careerists. That means they are living off pensions — pensions paid with taxpayer money.
(Yeah, yeah, I know they earned the pension by working but, at some level, it pisses me off that they are living off the public and want to fight the public.)
Bobby Thomson
Oh please. Organized white men with guns are never confronted by law enforcement. Clive Bundy is still laughing his ass off. Ours is a nation of men, not laws.
Bobby Thomson
@dedc79: gee, ya think? I couldn’t care less if there’s another Ruby Ridge. The fuckers have it coming and failing to confront them will inspire a lot more of this shit.
gian
@ranchandsyrup:
It’s a spelling issue. They really mean oafkeepers
Archon
I almost want a Republican President so all these people can go back to being drones again.
Almost.
boatboy_srq
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: So, Bundy is another Trumpist, then? Hoocoodanode…
BGinCHI
Since this is KY, I would assume that pretty soon Raylan Givens will shoot the shit out of these morans.
/Justified
Bobby Thomson
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: the Obama administration has less than 18 months left. I’d be surprised if they filed any charges now, especially in an election season.
OzarkHillbilly
@Punchy:
The guys at the Bundy ranch were that dumb. US Marshals are the ones who enforce Federal Court orders.
Do NOT- I repeat -DO NOT… expect a shootout in the middle of town. The Bundy ranch is out in the middle of a desert where there innocent bystanders are few and far between.
As one who wants these asshats to get it what they got coming, even I would be pissed if a Marshal started a shootout in the middle of a town.
dedc79
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Thanks!
Actually, the matter has already been pursued through the legal system. The legal system has ruled, efforts were made to enforce the ruling and those efforts were met with resistance. The government can go to court seeking a gazillion contempt orders, but at some point (preferably soon) they’re gonna have to storm the ranch and arrest these people.
dr. bloor
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
Thanks for reminding everyone that Obama–as if he was pulling all the levers anyway–didn’t “fold” with Bundy; the government wisely chose not to make a bad situation worse by demonstrating some patience.
Not that it will convince some folks that the best solution didn’t involve Robert Duvall, napalm, and Wagner.
MomSense
@Gene108:
Seriously. We should call them loafkeepers with all the free time they have. I can’t even find time to get a haircut.
Also, too what happens if one of these loafers shoots a bystander? Do they have insurance? What kind of recourse do we have if they fuck up? For all the talk about tyrannical government, they have created a posse of un-elected, unaccountable, and most likely uninsured vigilantes.
piratedan
@Bobby Thomson: It could be hypothesized that the Obama Administration is picking its battles and seeing that an armed confrontation is exactly what these folks want in order to “justify” their behavior. Would I rather that he send the national guard in and arrest these dipshits, yes I Would. Can I see some reasoning behind not wanting to confront them and watch this potentially escalate into the established GOP Armageddon narrative, yeah, I can see that too.
Steve in the ATL
@MomSense: IIRC, many of them were living off of government disability payments. Typically ironic.
Breezeblock
I guess they call themselves “Oathkeepers” because Freikorps and SA were already taken?
MomSense
@Steve in the ATL:
Projection ain’t just for movie theaters.
Omnes Omnibus
@dedc79: Fine ’em and levy their bank accounts.
boatboy_srq
@Omnes Omnibus: @Zandar: I can’t help wondering which would be worse: a) Oafbreakers get bored and go home still simmering about Big Gummint and something something Unconstitutional, waiting for the next Gummint Overreach that they can bring their shootin’ irons out to oppose; b) major shootout where Oafbreakers get trounced by US Marshals and/or Nat’l Guard; c) major shootout where Oafbreakers perforate a few unarmed pairs of Those People for
being uppitywanting marriage licenses. The first preserves the already-horrid status quo and merely postpones a dustup; the second would trigger fringiness so severe that even the Teahad would back away from it, and would include a handful of ugly standoffs/duels between the Reichwingnuts and LEOs; and the third would be right up there with Columbine and Sandy Hook (for “wasn’t-that-awful-somebody-should-do-something” handwringing and fvck-all else).Jeffro
Where are Kentucky’s two senators on this? Why can’t they be asked to quit making excuses for groups threatening violence and take a stand for the rule of law here?
schrodinger's cat
Stoking fear and hatred using heated religious rhetoric is dangerous. Since I am reading a book on India’s partition, the rivers of blood that flowed when Pakistan came into being are on my mind.
BGinCHI
@Jeffro: Because Rand Paul is a Libertarian and Libertarians only stand for less government when it harms white people and College Republicans. And yes, one is a subset of the other.
benw
@piratedan:
As with the “concerned citizens” “monitoring” Jade Helm in TX, this does feel like a frustrating win-win for the Oathkeepers. If they get rounded up, then “OBAMA TYRANNY” and their nutty pseudo-militarization is justified, but if they’re left alone, then they “courageously” prevented whatever bullshit they claim was about to happen (e.g. the US Army takeover of TX, Obama coming for our guns). I think the most effective thing is to laugh at these guys and their delusions of competency, but it’s a little sketchy when they are waving around assault rifles. I’m just going to focus on how the Oathkeepers seem to have a knack of showing up after anything serious seems about to go down and declaring VICTORY.
LAC
@dr. bloor: and you always have to consider the source of that stupid comment, the srv meister. Master of empty tough guy stances and hoarder of cough syrup. As soon as he figures out how to get out of his lazy boy, he will show you what fer!
Archon
@Steve in the ATL:
The paradox of our age is that the people most radicalized in our society are the ones most deeply invested in the status quo.
Lord Baldrick
@gian: JDS vs oafkeepers would be like Batman vs Three Stooges. Oafs will likely steer well clear.
skerry
@b1narys3rf: OT: Change of venue request denied for Baltimore LEO in Freddie Gray death.
Patricia Kayden
@BruceFromOhio: It’s obvious that if Oathkeepers were not White, they wouldn’t get away with threatening Federal Officers. Can you imagine someone from Black Lives Matter saying they’re going to interfere with police interactions with Black motorists, for example?
Looks like we’re heading for a showdown on Monday. Let’s see if the Federal Officers back down like they did with the Bundy ranch.
Anoniminous
@schrodinger’s cat:
Yes it is. That, however, seems to be the trajectory we’re on.
Armstrong’s book The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam lays it all out.
benw
@skerry:
Good news!
Even more OT, did people see the NY Times article on a new human species? Super cool.
Chris
Do what Ike did. Send in the 101st.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chris: Why?
gbear
Are these guys going to threaten the clerks that are willing to issue marriage licences if Davis is still telling them not to do it? Are they going to stand watch inside the county office to monitor non-compliance for marriages?
This is going to be insane if they decide to act as Davis’s private army (which it sounds like they want to do).
Felonius Monk
@BGinCHI:
Nah, he moved back to Florida.
Omnes Omnibus
Huckabee is dumb. He went on record saying that Dred Scott is still valid.
Kyle
These are the same sh*t stains that “protected” Cliven Bundy in Neveda. Perhaps if they had been arrested then, we wouldn’t be faced with this today. But they were white and conservative, so that got to walk away unmolested.
schrodinger's cat
@Anoniminous: Yes indeed. Pakistan’s case is illustrative of the fact that a common religion is not enough of a glue to keep a diverse nation together.
john not mccain
On the plus side, Kim Davis could get a ticket to heaven in the crossfire. She’s very keen on heaven.
Roger Moore
@gbear:
I’m inclined to agree with the people who think they’re just media whoring. That’s why they’re showing up now rather than when the whole thing first broke; they get their faces in the papers without the risk of actually doing something that might get them in trouble.
Hungry Joe
@benw: Agree: So far these guys have been all strut & bluster. Still, if they show up armed to the gums they have to be taken seriously.
@Archon: Damn — that’s pretty good. Stealing.
schrodinger's cat
OT: My thoughts on Nisid Hajari and his book on India’s partition. Anne Laurie has FPed Dalrymple’s book review of the same, that appeared in the New Yorker.
JPL
OT.. Sarah’s dog comment yesterday, bothered me because MSM ignored them. The Fix has a good run down on why her words shouldn’t be ignored. link
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: She is a horrible person.
Hungry Joe
@gbear: I assume they’re saying they’ll intervene if anyone attempts to arrest Kim Davis again. I’m betting they wouldn’t dare — again, strut & bluster — but the Marshals better have a plan in place.
Patricia Kayden
@gbear: Perhaps they’ll hold guns at any gay couple coming in to get a marriage license. Who knows how low they’ll go.
gbear
Has Davis’s lawyer agreed that this help would be appreciated? I don’t expect him to be smart enough to say ‘HELL, NO!!’
At what point can the federal judge decide that her lawyer needs to face charges of obstruction?
Sherparick
@Shakezula: They did not have much choice as Missouri is an open carry state (for white people that is, blacks not so much.) Yes, they are media whoring and engaging in right-wing grift. But someday they are going to get someone shot.
boatboy_srq
@Omnes Omnibus: Of course it’s still valid. It precedes every amendment from the 13th onward (/Tenther logic; the 11th and 12th have minimal impact in Tenther political theory).
trollhattan
Goatkeepers. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Funny, just yesterday I was a-wonderin’ to myself if they’d come get entangled in this latest Shiny Thing and voila, here they be!
One of many things they share with Herr Cruz is the LOVE of camera time.
SFAW
@schrodinger’s cat:
I remember her precious fee-fees getting hurt over “lipstick on a pig.”
But then again, IOKIYAR(oWP).
boatboy_srq
@gbear: Not Davis’ private army; the Righteous Defenders of the Citizens of Kentucky (who voted to ban SSM some years ago and whose
bigotrysovereign rights must be respected at all costs).schrodinger's cat
@SFAW: Pigs should have sued for libel since they are so much more intelligent than La Palinista.
cmorenc
@BruceFromOhio:
More likely than not, the same thing that happened when another group of OK-corral morons out in Nevada pulled an armed showdown with US Marshalls to protect deadbeat/freeloader Clive Bundy from the just reach of federal law – they’ll back down and do nothing rather than risk another Ruby Ridge or Branch Davidian showdown where the psychopaths somehow end up folk heroes.
Another Holocene Human
@Omnes Omnibus: Damn, that guy I was bitching about on here yesterday said something something Dred Scott.
They’re all getting their stupid talking points from the same source.
burnspbesq
@Jeffro:
Hilarious.
boatboy_srq
@BruceFromOhio:
Never gonna happen; everyone knows the Sheriff is legitimate law enforcement (unlike DEA, ICE, Marshals, Secret Service etc).
Another Holocene Human
@Archon: Er, I think it’s the status quo ante, or whatever they fantasize it to be.
The status quo, the “facts on the ground” as it were, is what has them shitting their pants. Same sex marriage. Black ppl on the teevee.
Yogaparachute pants. You see.ranchandsyrup
Oathkeepers waste a lot of taxpayer $. a family member works for USFS in north west and has to have law enforcement protection whenever the idiot oathkeepers come around.
A Ghost To Most
@Archon:
Isn’t that the definition of a reactionary?
Cervantes
@Anoniminous:
Tom was describing the Birchers. He refused to endorse Reagan for Governor (of California) in ’66 because Reagan refused to repudiate them.
But instead of just making a speech against Reagan, I wish he had run against him. He could have won, too. In his Senate race in ’62 he took every single county while Democrat Pat Brown defeated Nixon in the gubernatorial.
Anyhow, Republican or not, he was a decent fellow. I liked him.
sukabi
@LAC: he’d be just like that guy taking the banner from the code pink lady the other day.
John Revolta
@dr. bloor: I love the smell of Robert Duvall in the morning.
Roger Moore
@John Revolta:
Is that before or after he’s had a shower?
Ydobon
@Cervantes: Also, as Wikipedia notes, “Kuchel pointedly refused to endorse ticket-mate Nixon’s candidacy for governor in 1962 in a heated race against incumbent Democrat Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, Sr.” Dude was way ahead of his time!
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
I haven’t had time to get around to “Midnight’s Furies,” but have read a number of reviews (I think I read a good one in Literary Review), and Hajari’s own essays FP, along with some interviews with him. Your criticisms seem eminently fair. It sounds as though the book wants to concentrate on the “great men” at the time, though it amazes me that there is not more devoted to the Muslim League.
In interviews and excerpts, I do like how the author gives some sense of what was happening in particular communities and provinces, such as Punjab, and how some of the proposed boundaries affected Sikhs and others. And given the current flight of refugees from Syria and other countries, the magnitude of the population movement that accompanied the partition is astounding. Something on the order of 15 million uprooted and up to a million dead.
Citizen Alan
@catbirdman:
Hell, Republicans are still outraged over that time a Black Panther was somewhere near a polling place with a stick!
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: I have to yet finish the book but the focus of most commentaries on the partition, including this one, is Punjab. Hajari doesn’t have much to say about the NWFP which did not want to join Pakistan and is giving Pak considerable headaches right now.
John Revolta
@Roger Moore: Yes.
workworkwork
@CONGRATULATIONS!: And they all think they’re Jack Reacher.
Honus
I predict that if the oath keepers start parading in front of a federal judge’s home or courthouse with firearms, their open carry rights will be swiftly curtailed.
Bobby Thomson
@piratedan: better that than allowing the rule of warlords.
boatboy_srq
@piratedan: I’d be willing to accept that if I saw DOJ move to seize Bundy’s liquid assets in a forfeiture action.
Curt
@Plantsmantx: No, after the peaceful conclusion of a standoff, they should be individually snatched off the streets by law enforcement when they’re walking their dogs or whenever else they least expect it. And prosecuted as terrorists, for EVERY confrontation they’ve illegally staged.
chris9059
@Omnes Omnibus: Depends on who gets shot. A few of these self proclaimed heroes actually having to face reality might do this country a world of good.