Support the Local Sheriff

After several days of taking a low-key approach, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward — known by all in Burns, Oregon, as “Sheriff Dave” — is mounting a media counterattack against Yokel Haram.

He is, in short, turning to spectacle.

That was evident at a meeting Wednesday at the Harney County Fairgrounds. The meeting, called by the sheriff on his home turf, was ostensibly to answer community questions. …

… Ward said his wife’s tires were slashed, prompting her to “pack up and leave town.” His parents were seated in the audience, and he asked them to stand, saying they had been followed home. “Those are true Americans right there,” he said to applause.

John Lamborn, a local defense attorney, approached the microphone. Lamborn and Ward are usually on opposite sides at the local county courthouse, but not at this meeting.

“Now, there are some people questioning your patriotism,” Lamborn said.

Ward nodded.

“Sheriff Dave, you’re a veteran, right?” Lamborn asked.

Ward said he was, and proceeded to detail his military history, including tours in Somalia and Afghanistan.

The crowd cheered.

“If he doesn’t hit all of these guys in the face with a pie in the next few days,” Charles Pierce writes, “Sheriff Dave’s got the Nobel Peace Prize locked up.”

I don’t doubt the part about slashed tires, as Sheriff Dave has been targeted by some right-wing sites for being a government stooge (example).

Meanwhile, Y’all Qaeda has torn down a government fence so that a local rancher can graze his cattle on the occupied wildlife preserve, and they’ve been digging through employee files in the compound looking for “transgressions” they can expose.

I personally think the government ought consider a variation of Sherman’s March. Maybe now the BLM should move on the Bundy Ranch in Nevada to seize cattle and other assets to help pay the delinquent grazing fee.  The Mullah Militia (that’s pronounced MOO-law, y’all) might find they have a bigger problem on their hands than being short of snacks.