Tim, At a time when the deceptive and, I think, criminal acts of our current administration have taken the people out of the decision process on our public lands- you have found a way back in the door- Thank you brother for your selfless act. You have my supp0rt- Dave

I gave 25 and after I heard him I went back and gave another 50….

Can SUWA raise 1,8 million for paying for these leases in whole? That would be a good way to validate what Tim has done and to protect him from any legal repercussions.

Great job, Tim- thanks for what you have done! Check out this line from a news story about the BLM auction:

“The BLM is giving the other bidders 10 days to decide if they want to withdraw their bids on the parcels they won at inflated prices.”

The key phrase here is “inflated prices.” The other bidders were willing to pay those prices, so in what sense are the prices “inflated?” Tim has succeeding in revealing the truth– that these auctions are private, good ‘ol boy affairs in which the participants are accustomed to stealing these leases way under true market value. My bet is that the various energy development companies have a private pow-wow before the auctions take place, and sort out who is going to buy what, thus minimizing any actual competition.

Bravo. Tim !

If our state prosecutors go after this Utah activist, won’t they be putting themselves in the position of having to define a premeditated fraud?

Good luck with that.

All we need to do is raise the $45,000 to protect Tim from charges that his “bids” were fraudulent. Then they can resolve this in the courts during the NEXT administration. Everybody who wants to protect our wilderness areas should cough up a small donation. We can do this, YES WE CAN. Tim is the change we have been waiting for.

the fundraising link isn’t working.

That said, i agree that the leases should not be paid for b/c it would validate the process.

What this thread is missing is the fundamental proposition of non-violent civil disobedience: Not all laws are just, and unjust laws must be challenged by responsible citizens for the benefit of others. So here’s my two-cents, starting with a word that fills the hearts of many and also inflames others.

Tim DeChristopher’s action was highly patriotic in the sense of the word’s original meaning — which comes from the Latin word “patria,” meaning “homeland” — as a person who defends the LAND they love. The current, distorted meaning of the word patriot connotes a blind defense of capital and the unquestioning willingness to kill or die in the name of the corporate interests of wealthy Americans. But DeChristopher is a true patriot, in the original and best sense of the word. He took a courageous stand to protect the beautiful land of America.

Both Gandhi and Martin Luther King disapproved of violence, but also understood how their methods of protest exposed the violence that was already present in society, lurking below the surface in the oppressive regimes they confronted. While the protesters who followed Gandhi and MLK committed no acts of violence, they were exposed to terrible acts of violence from the police, who represented the arm of enforcement for unjust laws written by corrupt powers.

Similarly, there is great psychological and social violence hiding underneath the chant, “Drill, baby, drill!” heard frequently at the Republican national convention. Large masses of well-meaning Americans have been brainwashed by Cheney and his friends – they truly believe the only answer for America’s financial woes lies in the further rape and pillage of the American home-land. Last week DeChristopher walked into the jaws of that angry mob. He will now be judged on the basis of desperate, last-minute legislation written to support a final land grab by the Grand Oil Party.

Gandhi and MLK both humbly adhered to Jesus’s commandment to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” They firmly believed that wisdom and justice would ultimately prevail, not by destroying the people who opposed their peaceful agendas, but by appealing to their shared humanity and eventually winning enemies over as allies. History has proven them right. Greed, anger, and other human frailties turn into social memes (like “drill, baby, drill”) that galvanize mobs, sway public opinion and cloud the judgment of people who are truly well-intentioned.

Because ignorance, not malevolence, is the source of the vast majority of human conflicts, the principles of non-violent civil disobedience actually work: Kindness and compassion for individuals (if not institutions), the willingness to educate others, and the courage to challenge others to act more responsibly toward their communities and, in this case, toward their planet. I hope that those of us who stand alongside Tim will demonstrate all three.

Best regards,

Damian Nash
Moab, Utah