Pacific Patriots were there to 'De-Esculate' the Encounter

   They came. Now have left. Word is, some of the protesters have departed the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, home of the Ammon Bundy uprising of 2016. Some past supporters are calling on Bundy to give up and go home.
   But, one of the funnest incidents of the encounter came towards the end of last week, when the Pacific Patriots Network showed up at Malheur, saying they were there to "de-esculate" the situation. But, to me, not much needs to be de-esculated. A group of people are sitting around on federal land, and the feds aren't jumping to sending them away.
  One member of the Pacific Patriots said they weren't a militia. That was fun, because if they are not a militia, maybe there just isn't such thing as a militia. They showed up heavily armed, and are a volunteer ensemble, and are bent on making things better.
    The Citizens for Constitutional Freedom -- that's what Bundy's group calls itself -- asked the newcomers to leave. And, they did. The interesting thing, is that the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom early on had asked for other like-minded militia folks to join them. Now someone shows up, and they ask them to leave.
   I'm wishing we knew more about these militias. What is the history of the Pacific Patriots? Is there an organized militia from which a number of Citizens for Constitutional Freedom comes from? What are the beliefs of these groups? In America, where many people tie militias to the Second Amendment, what are the militias we have, and what do they espouse and believe in?
   And, what might they do in the future? If the standoff near Burns, Oregon grew out of a militia culture and the Sagebrush Rebellion, should we wonder if other encounters with militias lie ahead? The standoff at Malheur is but a bubble that has risen to the top. Other militias are percolating under the surface. I think of one militia I'm aware of (they proclaim themselves not as a militia, but as a emergency preparedness organization) and of how they seek to have training in every state. To me, you don't train for something without there being a possibility you will eventually do something.