In a bid to avoid climate vote, Oregon Republican Senators cross state lines, go into hiding, threaten to murder cops, as white nationalist paramilitaries pledge armed support

Yep, tho come to think of it, many LEOs are white supremacists too (and also, thus may be less likely to shoot back in this situation @_@ ).

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The question I have is how serious these militants are, if faced with an actual shooting situation. Probably most know it wont end well for anyone, either they get killed or they go to jail. Only the seriously lost-in-propaganda are going to believe “this is it, the civil war we’ve been waiting for!” It’s also not clear to me if this talk of protecting the GOP Senators is based at all in fact-- from what I’ve heard the two groups haven’t even met, and this is just idle boasting.

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Dead end street in a shitty neighborhood.

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Hmmm…best places to stake out? Liquor stores/package stores? Golf courses? Strip clubs?

I know how this sounds…but, I dunno. Maybe don’t act like living stereotypes?

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So now if the Republican senators return to work, the police (or the FBI, since they crossed state lines and made threats) take them in for questioning about the threats and likely arrest a few of them.

If the Republican senators don’t return to work, the governor goes to the state Supreme Court seeking an opinion whether the senators have effectively resigned due to dereliction of their duties, at which point Oregon has either a special election or the governor appoints senators to serve out the rest of those senators’ terms? Or the governor just declares them as having resigned through executive order, and if the senators want to contest that they have to come before the state Supreme Court and at that point the police or FBI get a chance to have a little chat with them.

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I’ve been crossing my fingers with hope (against hope) that she’ll do that.

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Any cop who puts hands on a Republican legislator will be called a jack-booted thug minion of our lesbian Communist governor

If and when it’s possible to change the rules to fix this, the quorum requirement should be reduced so if a minority tries to play Eric Cartman games again business will just go on without them

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If not showing up is arrestable, than it should also be impeachable. You may not be able to do anything about it while they are still out,(still lno quorum) but once they return…

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As others have pointed out above, it is not exactly the same. It’s not the tactic I disagree with so much as the reason. Republicans will obstruct and/or break the law when they see fit, but it’s always for the sake of the most reactionary or blatantly repressive ideas or causes. In this case, they’ve also threatened the murder of police (imagine for a moment how Scott Walker would have responded if the Democrats in Wisconsin had said something similar) and are now receiving support from some of the most reactionary groups in the country. William Burroughs warned about such people: they are infected with the “right virus,” which causes them to believe they are right no matter what they do. He called such people Shits, and was very clear that they were nothing but trouble. The only question is what are we going to do about them?

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I would be willing to bet that such a move would violate the Oregon state constitution. Such power in the hands of a governor could easily be abused.

Sure, so wait until they have done something clearly outside the law and undermining of government and the structure of our society. Something like threatening violence against a legitimate branch of government to prevent them from carrying out the duties they are charged with.

Like right now. Round up every last one of these militia bastards, and the senators who sought their aid.

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Pretty good lay out from a redditor of what has been happening in Oregon/Utah.

Well, punish them, too. Also, did the Democrats, in those circumstances, accept and encourage the aid of the armed? Because that’s one hell of a mitigating factor …

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Well, what they did was wrong, too. (Unlike most American Liberals, I can walk & chew over a philosophical point at the same time.) Also, did the Democrats, in those circumstances, accept and encourage the aid of the armed? Because that’s one hell of a mitigating factor …

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Sounds like a great idea if the feeble minded frat boys of the GOP pay for the election. I don’t want to spend tax dollars on an election. Elections cost tax dollars that could be otherwise be spent for community good.

I agree with your strategy, but it also makes way too much sense for this nonsensical situation.

Have the state’s coroner declare them dead.

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Huh. If I tried to hide from my job, I would be fired.

I don’t care if it’s being done by Republicans or Democrats, this is the epitome of dereliction of duty, and should lead to job termination or jail time. Or both.

Mmmm. Of course, one would hope to never have to go through this mess we are going through.

The GOP (so far) are the Teflon party: Nothing sticks to them, and they are toxic to humans.

I’m sure next time will be different. /s

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But this wasn’t something that happened over many decades - it was a change that happened between '67 and '71. In fact, it seems like the hardliners took over precisely because they were motivated by instances of white people getting into conflicts with gun laws, having just been fine with laws targeting black people. (There’s a pro-NRA myth that the NRA was involved in helping Civil Rights groups. The reality is, one particular chapter was founded by civil rights leader Robert F. Williams, but what they fail to mention is that he carefully avoided revealing any information that would reveal he was black, because he knew he wouldn’t get it otherwise.)

So it’s rather disingenuous to mention the Democrats and KKK - it’s more like the '63 Republican party, which had a mixed view of civil rights acts, and the Republican party of a few years later which came out firmly against civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of '64 was the catalyst for change. The fact that racists could take over the party completely shows they were already there (and mostly in control) to begin with.

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Both of my points accurately illustrate that the identity of a group in the past doesn’t always accurately reflect the group of today, and understanding the context of what happened and why is important. For example, claiming the Republicans are still somehow the “Party of Lincoln”.