They strike me as unambiguously foolish and crazy. But keep in mind that the origins of the current standoff can be traced to the government’s treatment of the Hammonds, who were re-sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years in prison under federal anti-terrorism laws—even though the initial judge in the case said such a lengthy sentence for two counts of arson would “shock his conscience.”

In any case, everyone who opposes government-sanctioned violence should remember that unfounded concerns about terrorism are the health of the state. Lowering the bar for what counts as terrorism is not a winning move for critics of authoritarianism and unconstitutional exercises of police power.

Liberals should ask themselves what would stop, say, abortion rights advocates, who advocate what they call a medical procedure that to their opponents is murder, from being labeled as domestic terrorists by a future Republican attorney general. (That was basically how anti-Vietnam War protesters and civil rights activists were viewed by the federal government in the 1960s and early 1970s. Someone once wrote something about what happens when you don’t learn from history.)

The Washington Post provides valuable context through maps:

There’s a historic link between population and federal land ownership. In 2012, the Congressional Research Service looked at the history of tensions between the government and the population out West — particularly ranchers and farmers who, like the Hammonds and Bundys, use federal land for grazing and other purposes.

Early in the history of the country, the government took over land that was then distributed to citizens for farming and economic growth. As the United States expanded westward, the land was increasingly inhospitable, including the Rockies and the deserts of Nevada and Utah. By the end of the 19th century, a new focus was placed on conserving the land, with Yellowstone becoming the first national park in 1872. …

Over the course of the 20th century, the government’s emphasis shifted away from releasing the land to private citizens and toward managing it itself. The passage of 1976’s Federal Land Policy and Management Act made that policy concrete, keeping the land as the property of the government. After the federal government’s shift, there was a push from some in the West, including governors and members of Congress, to shift control from the federal to the state or local government. The Sagebrush Rebellion, as it was known, tapered off during the relative friendly administration of Ronald Reagan. …

What’s new is the way in which the broader political moment has cross-pollinated with longstanding objections to how the government manages land out West. The takeover in Oregon has its roots in the Sagebrush Rebellion. They way it’s being manifested, though, is as modern as it gets.