I need some rational advice.

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

First of all, I need to thank everyone who showed up for Ronstock 08. My wife and I will send out a formal, blubbering, emotional, last-episode-of-M*A*S*H-melodramatic goodbye and thank you later.
As many of you may already know, a sloppy bit of reporting by a local newspaper led to the county officials thinking that they would be embarrassed if they allowed our little family reunion of freedom to occur without their intervention.
Thankfully, Ken from Arkansas was around when the county people showed up. He won them over to our side with charisma I have never witnessed before. After they said their peace, I asked the deputy to leave. He refused and later verbally assaulted me when I did not fall for his word games and allow myself to be put under his jurisdiction.
The advice I need now is whether to push the issue by:

A) Get a restraining order against the deputy. He trespassed. He brought weapons onto the property and assaulted me by legal definition. The county officials would need to bear some responsibility as well, because they were the ones that summoned the loose cannon. If the deputy was acting as an official representative of the Sheriff, I should be able to get a restraining order against him and all of his other deputies as well.

B) Write the county a letter formally acknowledging their intrusion to put them on notice, possibly sending a copy to the local newspaper to make it public and official.

C) Privately talk with the parties involved, letting them know that I do have rights, but I do forgive them for their intrusion. Basically attempt to persuade them to respect property rights by being nice. After all, it was our smiles that woke people up all weekend. Besides, by the time Ken was done with them, even the cop seemed excited to help us out.

D) Do nothing. They are embarrassed enough already. They went off half-cocked and ended up looking like Barney Fife. They know that any further action will result in getting a bigger black eye. It is a small community with a "healthy" rumor mill, and you guys really impressed a lot of people.

I would like to close with a big "congratulations" to everyone. We discovered through all of this that the media looks to us, specifically this website, to find out what is going on. Ted Turner is a dinosaur and the future of the news is us.

P.

 

[angelatc]

Without having been there, I'd let it die. Save your energy for the important battles on down the road.

 

[Indy Vidual]

Why did they show up?

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

They have regulations on temporary campgrounds with more than five sites. They claimed that they should be involved for the protection of our guests. Water, food, sanitation, tent spacing etc. The irony is that it was government trying to tell environmentalists camping on an organic farm how to be responsible.

They never once provided any evidence that they even had jurisdiction in the matter. They pretended that they did not hear me ask them for it.

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Without having been there, I'd let it die. Save your energy for the important battles on down the road.

I agree. Right now, I am leaning toward a casual conversation, but I know that it does not take much to set off a government type and I may accidentally offend.

 

[dirknb@hotmail.com]

Hey Paul, thanks again for your hospitality. We really enjoyed partying on your farm! I'd let it go. By staying on friendly terms you will have a better chance of waking them up and educating them.

 

[speciallyblend]

hmmm

Hey Paul, thanks again for your hospitality. We really enjoyed partying on your farm! I'd let it go. By staying on friendly terms you will have a better chance of waking them up and educating them.

i would agree, I am just like paul. i want to react and tell them where to go,but i think dirk is right sigh dirk it was a pleasure to meet you and your always welcome to come to colorado and that includes all the ronstockers, GREAT AMERICANS ,it was a pleasure to meet you all no sniffling this time

 

[pacelli]

They never once provided any evidence that they even had jurisdiction in the matter. They pretended that they did not hear me ask them for it.

Right there. I'd say that if you are taking a sovereign position, as long as they leave you alone and don't push the matter, then they've conceded to your jurisdiction challenge. If they come back or attempt to serve you, challenge jurisdiction before answering any questions at all. As a sovereign you have diplomatic immunity and they cannot prove they have jurisdiction, because they work for an artificial entity that does not exist in nature.

 

[constituent]

You are the land owner?

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Pacelli,
Good call with the sovereign thing. We actually have a pretty cool county, so I don't think I need to be an a-hole to force them to leave me alone. They did actually leave us alone all weekend--mostly.

Constituent,
The land is in a trust owned free and clear. Yes, this is tricky territory because of the lawyers, the bar, etc. involved, but I don't think the state wants to reveal its hand to the public just yet.

 

[acptulsa]

I would like to close with a big "congratulations" to everyone. We discovered through all of this that the media looks to us, specifically this website, to find out what is going on. Ted Turner is a dinosaur and the future of the news is us.

P.

Not only that, but it seems the McCain/Palin campaign has been turning to us for strategies and talking points for some time now. They b.s. spewed at the convention sounded for all the world like a forum discussion. To bad they'll never live up to the high tone. Thank you so much for your hospitality. I enjoyed staying at your lovely place.

As for the cops, you could make an issue of them showing up without a warrant, then let it blow over. Not enough to embarass them, mind you, just enough to keep them honest. Maybe a letter to the Goodhue paper if there is one?

 

[Ninja Homer]

Check your PM. I sent you my opinion. Basically it's like the others. Choose your battles wisely. All of us who met you this last week think the world of you, and would hate to see you run into any trouble. But in the end, it's up to you.

 

[berrybunches]

I would say let it go. Kill them with kindness. I think taking action could lead to further harassment from them. The whole time I was there, Sat night through Wednesday afternoon we were not bothered.

 

[libertarian4321]

Paul, I think its probably best to just let it go. They passed by the camp site enough times to realize that they were wrong about us. Maybe our good behavior will even spark some interest among them in learning about Ron Paul and the liberty movement.

 

[constituent]

Constituent,
The land is in a trust owned free and clear. Yes, this is tricky territory because of the lawyers, the bar, etc. involved, but I don't think the state wants to reveal its hand to the public just yet.

In that case I would be ultra-nice to them, and leave the hostility to your lawyer.

Just b/c they're being held accountable for their unlawful intrusion onto your property, doesn't mean you can't still be friends.



just my opinion.

 

[shesapainter]

I have to agree with Dirk, NinjaHomer, SpeciallyBlend and Libertarian4321 - that battle is over. They lost, but the opportunity to open their eyes is not. Thanks again for everything. I sure do appreciate you guys staying on the phone with us while we were lost, lol. I just wish we would have had more time to socialize, but I was so busy the last 3 days.

 

[RickyJ]

We discovered through all of this that the media looks to us, specifically this website, to find out what is going on. Ted Turner is a dinosaur and the future of the news is us.

The media looks to this site for news?

I think they look to this site to find out what we are up to, but the news is given to them from their masters on a daily basis. The BBC, ABC and CBS reporting about WTC7 collapsing on 9/11 up to 1 hour before it did collapse is proof of that.