Discussion for article #221121
This is so very dangerous. It emboldens the right wing fringe and seems to validate their gun-toting, “Don’t Tread on Me” mentality. I sincerely hope no one gets killed, but I don’t hold out much hope that somewhere, some time, some right wing looney will take this as an object lesson and take it one step further, opening fire on federal agents merely doing their jobs.
This is tantamount to treason, as far as I am concerned.
But the federal government has more tools in its toolbox than agents seizing cows. Criminal conspiracy charges, asset seizure and more are certainly coming down the pike.
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Well this win will probably be short lived as they will now probably put as lean on his ranch for the back fees.
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This is a tremendous advance for the right wing.
They’ve produced a grammatically correct banner free of misspellings.
They’ve also managed to open themselves up to domestic terrorism charges but give credit where it’s due.
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The BLM Rangers’ website makes no mention of the armored SWAT unit required to fight off an angry mob of hotheads with assault rifles. “In the southwestern desert areas, Rangers spend a great deal of time dealing with large numbers of recreational users and off-highway vehicle issues, as well as a variety of resource theft and vandalism incidents.”
In any event, nobody’s delinquent grazing fees are worth a human life. So just slap a lien on the property, for crying out loud.
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The only good news in this is I suspect the BLM folks will be much easier to get along with at Burning Man this year. After these crazies, they’re going to be relieved to get back to us hippies.
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Ha, I actually read it as “Thew estha snow/Be enwon”
Is it me or is anyone else in the dark about why it’s been allowed to escalate?
The guy is selling these fricking cows. Why not a court order and confiscation of funds at the point of sale?
Like ten or fifteen years ago.
I mean, if I don’t pay a $75 parking ticket in NYC, they track me down right away, take my car and it costs me another $200+ to get it out of impound.
It has never crossed my mind that I could load up a truck with a bunch of armed men and simply take my car back at gunpoint because, after all, I have a right as a citizen to park my own vehicle any damned place I please and the government is oppressing me by restricting free access to taxpayer funded sidewalks and the grass in Central Park.
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Bundy countered that his claim to the land pre-dated the federal government’s.
Apparently the courts do not agree. Which means that he has been freeloading off of land that belongs to all of us since 1993.
I thought the Republicans were supposed to be against freeloaders. I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the party of law and order. I guess that’s only when someone else breaks the law.
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This cannot be allowed to stand as the end of this matter. How does that saying go anyway?
win the battle but lose the war.
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So, having effectively intimidated federal officials from
performing their duties, right-wingers who had come to
view the showdown as some kind of proxy battle for the
future of American freedom quickly claimed victory.
Anybody else note the similarity to The Whiskey Rebellion?
- Farmers (ranchers) refuse to pay a federal tax (fee)
- Federal agents come to collect (confiscate) the tax (cattle)
- Armed farmers (ranchers) ran off the federal agents
For those who don’t remember, 13000 state militia from PA, MD, NJ and VA showed up and the farmers went home.
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I’m hardly a military type, but even I know that a considered, rather than precipitous, response to such a situation is far more likely to lead to the best possible result.
Far from being a battle, or even a skirmish, this is only the beginning of the maneuvering which will bring the full force of the government to bear.
The Bureau of Land Management has only about 10,000 full time employees in the whole of their jurisdiction, only a handful of which are involved in front line enforcement.
It was prudent of the authorities on the scene to deescalate the situation temporarily, but that hardly means surrender.
I suspect that the end to this will come soon and be somewhat anti-climactic in nature, at least if there is anyone with a modicum of sense and ability in charge.
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Truthfully, they would be justificed to federalize the Nevada National Guard and shoot the jackasses. That being said, I would probably just send out a joint team from the FBI and ATFE and arrest the lot of them. Anyone who says boo goes out in a body bag. You don’t get to decide to draw down on a federal agent.
Police often pull off a dangerous pursuit if someone is wanted only for speeding. They weigh the crime against the public’s safety. Only a jackass would point to something like that and claim they won some sort of game. I hope that these rubes can be arrested without bloodshed. They’ve been led down the path by right wing blather, and someone could still get killed over NOTHING.
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Those smelly, lazy militia protesters have time to slouch around and wave signs in Nevada because they are too lazy to work for a living. Shiftless, government dependent misfits the lot of them!
How does one get out of paying fees for 20 years. Does the government not have any means of collecting grazing fees? Seems like they should have started knocking on his door about 19 years ago.