# Matt Shea

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [August 14, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674 "2019-08-14T20:58:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/1 "2019-08-14T20:58:06Z")

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My state representative Matt Shea is [back in the news](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/matt-shea-biblical-war-washington-team-rugged) (ironically however, not in the local paper) again.

I’m cringing while I await the Crusades, Part Deux.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/2 "2019-08-14T21:05:35Z")

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There is increasingly some very disturbing right wing activity coming out of places such as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen an uptick in the use of media to foment white nationalist violence. In the 1990s, there was radical talk radio. I think the OKC bombing and other high-profile incidents drove some of these people off the air, but there’s no way to shut them down now in the day and age of the internet.

Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington have not just defended 2nd Amendment rights but have essentially made the case for political violence if they are out-voted.

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/3 "2019-08-14T21:23:05Z")

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Matt Shea - the man who was at the center of the biggest political dilemma I had to face in my life ([as discussed in this 2014 thread).](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=730142) Since then, he’s easily brushed back all Republican and Democratic opposition while I try to explain to people who live outside Spokane County that I never voted for him and am just living in his district temporarily.

As for the Guardian article, I think there’s a glimmer of hope that he’ll be dragged out to the state legislature in a straight jacket before any of his plans come to fruition.

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/4 "2019-08-14T21:26:41Z")

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Matt wants to create a new state to free us here in Eastern Washington from the demonic libs in Seattle. I can’t believe my neighbors actually re-elected him after his [“manifesto”](https://www.inlander.com/spokane/spokane-county-commission-candidate-rob-chase-i-didnt-see-anything-wrong-with-rep-sheas-biblical-basis-for-war/Content?oid=14086673) became public.

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/5 "2019-08-14T21:28:16Z")

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> [@NDP](#):
>
> Matt Shea - the man who was at the center of the biggest political dilemma I had to face in my life ([as discussed in this 2014 thread).](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=730142) Since then, he’s easily brushed back all Republican and Democratic opposition while I try to explain to people who live outside Spokane County that I never voted for him and am just living in his district temporarily.
> 
> As for the Guardian article, I think there’s a glimmer of hope that he’ll be dragged out to the state legislature in a straight jacket before any of his plans come to fruition.

God willing (heh) I so hope you are right.

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**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/6 "2019-08-14T21:28:59Z")

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Hey, any old politician can support and be guided by the constitution. It takes a really, um, special one, yeah…special one that’s it to defend the Bible. Especially a politician that has done the above and beyond legwork of tailoring his own preferred interpretation of it.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/7 "2019-08-14T23:07:35Z")

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Huh, I never knew that the Bible contained instructions on firearm use, nor that it said anything whatsoever about Muslims.

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**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/8 "2019-08-14T23:16:17Z")

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That’s the cool part! You just pick and choose certain parts, and put them together. You can make it say anything.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/9 "2019-08-15T01:25:40Z")

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> [@pohjonen](#):
>
> \*\*Matt wants to create a new state \*\*to free us here in Eastern Washington from the demonic libs in Seattle. I can’t believe my neighbors actually re-elected him after his [“manifesto”](https://www.inlander.com/spokane/spokane-county-commission-candidate-rob-chase-i-didnt-see-anything-wrong-with-rep-sheas-biblical-basis-for-war/Content?oid=14086673) became public.

Don’t laugh this off as right wing bat shittery – they are not fucking around here. Same is true in Oregon and Idaho and Nevada and Ohio and elsewhere. I made a post about this in another thread: there is a white separatist movement, a white colonial movement, and they are willing to KILL people to make it happen. The Bundy clan is just the very beginning; look at what right wing cranks did to the Oregon legislature, and that gives you an idea of what’s in store for the future.

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/10 "2019-08-15T02:36:11Z")

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> [@asahi](#):
>
> Don’t laugh this off as right wing bat shittery – they are not fucking around here. Same is true in Oregon and Idaho and Nevada and Ohio and elsewhere. I made a post about this in another thread: there is a white separatist movement, a white colonial movement, and they are willing to KILL people to make it happen. The Bundy clan is just the very beginning; look at what right wing cranks did to the Oregon legislature, and that gives you an idea of what’s in store for the future.

Believe me, I’m not laughing it off. I used to wonder how on earth the holocaust could have happened. I don’t wonder that any more.

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/11 "2019-08-15T14:29:32Z")

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If you haven’t listened to the excellent podcast, Bundyville, I recommend it. The second season focuses on the “matt shea” movement: The Redoubt, white christian identity, prepper, gun-loving, marble creek madness.

It baffles my mind that he keeps getting elected. I know a lot of it is ignorance and not knowing, but the sad part is, I think the majority of the voters agree with this horrible human being.

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**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/12 "2019-08-15T18:26:52Z")

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> [@wguy123](#):
>
> If you haven’t listened to the excellent podcast, Bundyville, I recommend it. The second season focuses on the “matt shea” movement: The Redoubt, white christian identity, prepper, gun-loving, marble creek madness.
> 
> It baffles my mind that he keeps getting elected. I know a lot of it is ignorance and not knowing, but the sad part is, I think the majority of the voters agree with this horrible human being.

Obviously, the US Northwest is a big space, but I remember while living in Oregon and traveling about the region (some years ago now) that there’s just a different mentality out there. They are very much tied spiritually and politically to the ownership of their lands. Some of these people categorically reject federal authority, and they always have. They just see their space as having its own sovereignty. There are many more Bundy clans out there where Bundy came from, which is why we witnessed what we might essentially label jury nullification a few years ago during one of his trials.

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/13 "2019-08-15T18:42:17Z")

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Here’s a [link to the podcast.](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/606441988/bundyville) The local paper finally [has a story](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/aug/14/rep-matt-shea-endorsed-training-child-soldiers-for/) on Mr. Shea today. These people scare the crap out of me.

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**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/14 "2019-08-15T18:48:39Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Huh, I never knew that the Bible contained instructions on firearm use, nor that it said anything whatsoever about Muslims.

Book of Armaments, Chapter 3, Verses 6-35. :rolleyes:

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/15 "2019-08-15T19:18:52Z")

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> [@asahi](#):
>
> Obviously, the US Northwest is a big space, but I remember while living in Oregon and traveling about the region (some years ago now) that there’s just a different mentality out there. They are very much tied spiritually and politically to the ownership of their lands. Some of these people categorically reject federal authority, and they always have. They just see their space as having its own sovereignty. There are many more Bundy clans out there where Bundy came from, which is why we witnessed what we might essentially label jury nullification a few years ago during one of his trials.

Abso-fucking-lutely. Except, it isn’t just the NW. This mentality is very strong in UT, NV, etc.

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**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/16 "2019-08-15T19:19:01Z")

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They don’t seem to be much of a threat if they were to be allowed to secede. Forcing them into a union they disagree with could result in needless confrontation.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/17 "2019-08-15T19:24:25Z")

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> [@WillFarnaby](#):
>
> They don’t seem to be much of a threat if they were to be allowed to secede. Forcing them into a union they disagree with could result in needless confrontation.

They are already _in_ the union. If they want to leave it they should find a country that wants someone of their ilk.

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**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/18 "2019-08-15T19:27:47Z")

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> [@WillFarnaby](#):
>
> They don’t seem to be much of a threat if they were to be allowed to secede. Forcing them into a union they disagree with could result in needless confrontation.

Yeah, well, allowing any portion of the US to secede basically gives that small cohort power over the drawing of our national boundries. Not a good path the start down.

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**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/19 "2019-08-15T19:32:34Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> They are already _in_ the union. If they want to leave it they should find a country that wants someone of their ilk.

Why should they leave if they own the land?

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**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674/20 "2019-08-15T19:34:01Z")

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> [@Icarus](#):
>
> Yeah, well, allowing any portion of the US to secede basically gives that small cohort power over the drawing of our national boundries. Not a good path the start down.

I disagree. Borders have changed since the dawn of time when they existed at all. Changing borders often reduces conflict.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-shea/838674.md?page=2)
