Stand down?

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio finally have something they agree on: Both have told the protesters in Oregon to stand down.

“Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds,” Cruz told reporters in Iowa on Monday.

“But we don’t have a constitutional right to use force and violence and to threaten force and violence against others.” He added that, “it is our hope that the protesters there will stand down peaceably, that there will not be a violent confrontation.”

Other GOP candidates are speaking out as well, Marco Rubio had this to say:

“You can’t be lawless. We live in a republic,” Rubio said. “There are ways to change the laws of this country and the policies. If we get frustrated with it, that’s why we have elections. That’s why we have people we can hold accountable.”

Joshua Riddle writes at Young Conservatives,

You indeed can’t be lawless in this republic…Unless your name is Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Lois Lerner, or anyone else protected by the liberal media elite!

Read more here.

Governmental tyranny in Oregon

The Hammond family.

Oregon Live reports,

The Bundy family of Nevada joined with hard-core militiamen Saturday to take over the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, vowing to occupy the remote federal outpost 50 miles southeast of Burns for years.

The occupation came shortly after an estimated 300 marchers — militia and local citizens both — paraded through Burns to protest the prosecution of two Harney County ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, who are to report to prison on Monday.

Among the occupiers is Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and two of his brothers. Militia members at the refuge claimed they had as many as 100 supporters with them. The refuge, federal property managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was closed and unoccupied for the holiday weekend.

In phone interviews from inside the occupied building Saturday night, Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy, said they are not looking to hurt anyone. But they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, they said.

“The facility has been the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds,” Ammon Bundy said.

“We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely,” he added. “This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”

At The Conservative Tree House Sundance has written a comprehensive report giving the history of the Hammond ranch and the actions of the federal government.

The Chief Instructor at Accept the Challenge and Bison Risk Management Associates has a comprehensive analysis of the constitutional issues involved in the case.