Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).
American veteran Matthew Crane has been to Iraq and Kuwait, and has led disaster relief teams in the U.S. Now he says he’s found a new mission at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota, supporting those opposing the Dakota Access pipeline.
The 32-year-old navy veteran is one of a growing number of ex-military members heading to the centre of the pipeline fight as part of a group called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock.
Naturally, Kirchmeier has been moaning about the veterans, saying they will bring violence. Right, because you damn piggish thugs haven’t been indulging in criminal violence at all, right? And shame on all the nDakota veterans* who are standing around tsking, and attempting to pour shame on these veterans who are standing up and doing the right thing. You can all go shut up and hide, and pretend you have morals somewhere in your back pocket. Doing whatever authority tells you, swallowing a gallon of oil and propaganda about us horrible savages, that’s easy. Standing up, thinking for yourself, recognizing evil, and having the courage to stand against it, that’s what the veterans at Standing Rock are doing, and everyone should be proud of them.
My thanks to those cops who have finally seen the light, and have refused to send people here. There aren’t enough of you, but it’s good there are some.
*Also, that cowardly lump of paste has the fucking nerve to say that the protectors have cost ND $10 million dollars. NO, THEY HAVE NOT. That criminal bigot, KKKJack Dalrymple cost the people of nDakota 10 million dollars, and has dumped another 7 million on that, for what? Oh, more piggish thugs! More shiny military equipment with which to brutalize the unarmed protectors. Fuck every single nDakotan who is such a fucking idiot that they buy this garbage. *spits*
Full article is here.
As for KKJack Dalrymple’s supposed “concern”:
The Standing Rock Sioux, in a statement on Wednesday, said that because “the Governor of North Dakota and Sheriff of Morton County are relative newcomers” to the land, “it is understandable they would be concerned about severe winter weather.”
They said the camp has adequate shelter to handle the cold weather, adding that the Great Sioux Nation has survived “in this region for millennia without the concerns of state or county governments.”
Veterans are already arriving at camp. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/oMdxsKxaVT
— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) December 1, 2016
Veteran Chris Turley walked over 200miles to Standing Rock to show solidarity f/t water protectors. Let's show him some love. Share! #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/q25iSfF4VQ
— IndigenousEnviroNet (@IENearth) December 1, 2016
And KKKJack says he’s worried about all us Indians in winter. Yeah. Let’s see you walk 250 miles, Jack.
And for all those fucking idiots who keep claiming this is what we deserve, because hey, Standing Rock didn’t show to meetings, once again, yes we did. In 2012 and 2014, along with 2016. Stop spreading that damn lie.
I noticed still-brainwashed vets exhibit the naked hostility normally reserved for those Others to vets who woke up. Maybe some part of them is scared the koolaid isn’t as foolproof as they think. Nothing threatens the authoritarian social order quite like the beneficiaries of its violence turning against it.
Good on them, may they keep arriving and may they be a good, solid support in this fight.
<3 <3 <3 !!!
Shiv, that’s part of it, but there’s more when it comes to nDakota. There are vets organizations and halls all over the place here, and there’s a deep reverence for vets, but those vets are white, most of them old, and steeped in the whole patriotism thing, to the point of jingoism. Then there are the Indians. Most nDakotans, if they think about Indians at all, think of them in the “nigger” sense, and there’s a lot of open hatred of Indians here. Most nDakotans don’t know jack shit about Indians (of any tribe), unless it’s the usual white-washed nonsense, and as far as the nDakota vets* are concerned, the vets at Standing Rock are consorting with the enemy.
*Not all of them. Some nDakota vets do not have their heads up their asses. Neither do all white nDakotans. Just most of them.
That response to the governor’s “concern” is some top-quality snark.
I’m glad I donated.
I wonder if there’s no monetary cost in connection with oil spills and other pollution by the oil robber baronies. Mr Dalrymple seems to forget that rather conveniently, for him.
Ice Swimmer:
He doesn’t care about that, because he’s made sure it doesn’t matter. Dalrymple refused to put together an oversight and ethics committee, he’s the sole oversight of oil in this state, and he also made sure there’s no accountability in this state for oil. Even Texas insists on accountability, but not Jack. He’s a greedy asshole, and he doesn’t care what happens to anyone else.
While I think that the US veteran worship is a fucked up thing*, it’s good it’s put to a good use this time.
*No US soldier has fought in an even justifiable war in seven decades. They have all fought for US capitalist and imperialistic interests.