Mixed Feelings.

The situation at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge appears to be winding down, what with the capture or death of the major participants. There are a few holdouts left out there, but I suspect barring major reinforcement from idiot yokels, they will probably be rooted out soonish. I've written before about my ambivalence here, what with my support of protesting in general but my dislike for these guys in particular, and I feel like I have come to terms with that seeming hypocrisy, these guys aren't actually oppressed and are in fact protesting the very thing that allows them to live a life that lets them wander away from their livelihoods for months on end without going bankrupt.

But now a man is dead and I have another problem, I just can't summon any empathy or goodwill towards the man.

Lavoy Finicum is for some reason the name he preferred, he was a father of eleven and an idiot who, based on interviews, was caught up in something he hadn't really thought much about and never contemplated the possible consequences.

I watched the video the FBI released of his shooting, and while it might be my biases speaking, it certainly looks like a justified shooting, dude nearly took out someone with his truck before getting out and reaching for his side, possibly a gun, possibly a pocket for some reason, possibly his side hurt after he crashed into a snowbank, but he was armed and certainly more threatening than, to use a random example, a twelve year old boy playing by himself in a park with an airsoft gun.

But I don't have to justify the shooting to anyone except myself, and I just can't summon the energy to be upset about it, which bothers me because I don't think that law enforcement should get a pass just because I don't like the guy who was killed, so I have to ask myself if I am looking at it objectively, and while I think I am, I just can't be sure, and it bugs me.

Now just because I disagree with the guy doesn't mean I think he deserves death, there are very few crimes that I believe rate a serious look at the death penalty, and most forms of treason don't really qualify in my opinion.

Now whether or not the acts constitute treason is for the courts to decide, currently they are being charged with a vaguely defined conspiracy crime, which, since they never attempted to hide anything they were doing, and in fact gave interviews, I suspect it will be pretty easy to convict, they'll get their day in court, and watching our legal system go after someone who deserves it for once will be kind of nice, which again, makes me a bit of a hypocrite but also again, I find it hard to care.

I'm getting circular here and if I had a point, I have forgotten it, just an odd situation and I am glad it is ending, it does generate some introspection that I will have to think more on.