Question: How many Bundys does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer: Three. One to screw in the bulb, one to hold the AR-15, and one to remind the pseudo-military bodyguards to tell someone to remember to bring snacks next time.
But on a more serious note, in 1985, iconic American songwriter John Mellencamp released a B side track titled “You’ve Got to Stand for Somethin’,” a catchy tune with a rhythm-and-blues beat that recalled some unrelated events the singer experienced in his three-plus decades of life. By the title of the song and the chorus, the idea was pretty clear: if you do not stand for something, you are likely going to fall for anything.
Mellencamp went on to co-produce Farm-Aid as well as humanitarian projects and became a known voice in the agricultural industry as well as the music industry as a person who in fact did stand for something. He appeared to walk his talk.
In American culture, a lot of stock is placed in the this notion of walking one’s talk. Likened to the old adage of what you do speaking louder than almost anything you say, Americans — particularly in the West it seems — will only take seriously the adherence to this somewhat cowboy code.
And to this end, it is quite fair to assert that this is exactly what the militiamen and their self-appointed leaders are doing. They emphatically hold to the notion that the federal government has chronically overstepped its bounds by enforcing the laws pertaining to federal land. Laws on the books mind you. Laws validated by the Constitution that have stood up to legal scrutiny over time. And they have taken a stand, which they are carrying out by things like armed stand-offs with federal agents, seizure of federal buildings and property, and the recent development of instituting a new government within the boundaries of the United States. So ardent are these people and the views they espouse that some have even been photographed dressed like Colonial soldiers from the 1700s as if to imply their actions are somehow in line with or similar to those of the founders of this country.
It should be noted that one of the founder’s points of contention with Britain at the time was that the Colonies did not have representation in Parliament. This is a critical distinction between those people and the ones who now claim such similarities. They actually do have representation. But so does everyone else. They are not a majority.
The Bundy brothers, Ryan and Ammon, are known to carry pocket-sized truncated versions of the Constitution and assert themselves as astute authorities on the intentions of the founders and writers thereof and that somehow everyone else has has it wrong — everyone who disagrees with them, that is. Ryan even goes as far as to, in celebrity-like fashion, autograph the mini-pamphlets for people.
In a somewhat distorted manner, despite how what they are doing would be hilarious were it not so damn dangerous, the fact of the matter is that these people walk their talk.
But unlike most civil disobedience carried out in this country, they also seem to be impervious to the legal consequences of their actions, and it is emboldening them. They appear to think they are not only right but even righteous in their cause and have good reason. The Department of Justice appears to be doing nothing about it. Not a damn thing.
It has been nearly two years since the standoff in Bunkerville, Nev., and to most people’s knowledge, not a single arrest has been made. This is simply confounding to the intelligent mind, is it not? Seriously, try to recall and name one other time in our nation’s history when a group of militant insurgents engaged in sedition were greeted by local law enforcement with a handshake and all but ignored by the feds.
The millstones of justice turn slowly, it is said. But do they grind exceedingly fine? One can only hope.
As this article is being written, reports of arrests related to the incident in Oregon have been made.
On a broader level, the battle to take control of federal land is being championed here in Utah and spearheaded by Utah House of Representatives member Ken Ivory and the curiously profitable nonprofit organization, The American Lands Council.
Again, a group of American citizens that is micro-fractional in number compared to the majority of this country is taking a stand.
It is similar to the radical one being carried out in Oregon at present in ideology, if not also in rhetoric. Their approach, while not taken up with the use of weaponry, is as abusive to the American citizen as the seizing of federal assets intended for the benefit and use of all people, because although carried out with some hint of civility, it is egregiously wasting taxpayers’ money.
But back to this notion that standing for something is somehow noble, it appears only so in this case in that it is occurring somewhat in a vacuum. The magnitude of the groupthink among the people on the side of a federal government overthrow is again what would be a damn hilarity were it not so deadly serious. They seem somehow to think that the illegitimacy of their premise for taking this stand is somehow overshadowed by the mere fact that they are taking one.
While it is difficult for many, if not a majority of people in this country, to comprehend the confounding illogic the militiamen in Oregon or the historical revisionists Ken Ivory and his so called “Council” espouse, it is in fact a bit of an almost entertaining anomaly to marvel at.
And while Ryan and Ammon Bundy are sitting in a federal prison, (hopefully with their father), one cannot help but wonder if they will say with pride and passion, “By golly, at least we stood for something.”
See you out there.
Very fine assessment. Standing for something doesn’t mean you’re right, just that you have an opinion. Many figures the world despises have stood for something but thankfully the majority opposed them.
If the FBI had arrested and the Justice Department had prosecuted those pointing weapons and threatening violence during the April 2014 Cliven Bundy Bunkerville standoff, then the current Malheur Refuge illegal occupation would likely never have happened. The consistent lack of effective law enforcement has encouraged and emboldened these dangerous militia leaders. The FBI and Justice Department must learn from their mistakes and stop repeating them.
I’d agree except once researched it appears the creeps wanted a gun fight like Ruby Ridge. LaVoy and others seem to have come there to die in their own words.
Remember that at Ruby Ridge, idiotic federal officers killed a teenage boy by shooting him in the back, and fatally shot a mother from 200 yards away while she was holding her baby. I have a hard time wondering how people assume so much righteousness and infallibility on the part of government officers, and how easily people buy the media-inspired tripe that those who distrust the government are so entirely imbecilic.
These people are breaking the law and should be stopped. Instead, the Feds let them come and go at will while making them feel right at home by providing them with electricity, heat and the ability to communicate with their loved ones and the media. It’s no wonder they are so confident in their actions. It’s well past time to put a stop to this type of activity.
The notion of the states “taking back” Federal lands, the basis for the Malheur circus, will be on full display next Friday at Rep. Stewart’s “Listening Session” at the Dixie Convention Center. Unfortunately, the only folks that Reps. Stewart, Bishop and Chaffetz will be listening to are their invited guests, who will be sounding off on such topics as Federal Agency Actions Against Ranchers and Potential Collusion between Federal Agencies and Environmental Groups. Hardly an atmosphere that fosters diverse viewpoints. I certainly hope there will be a public transcript of the proceedings that can be fact-checked and discussed in a more open, public forum than that being provided by Mr. Stewart. Our democracy deserves nothing less.
It is interesting you speak of fact checking, perhaps you should start with your own as we are a constitutional republic and not a democracy…yes there is a difference.
In fact we are a democratic republic. Iran Iraq north Korea. USSR Vietnam China are all republics. We vote directly on some things majority rule local state and some federal officials and others indirectly. We also have representives. The right keeps saying we are just a republic. So you get use to a we
Ext few rich rules the country like the examples above. Fact
They have constituions too
You present one side of the argument with snide arrogance of those who dismiss those who disagree as less intelligent. Here is the other side. We also have history and truth on our side. This article is a symptom of why the wrongs in the west go undressed and unresolved. https://youtu.be/T424sWq1SkE
You’re right, of course, that the question of federal land ownership has been tried several times in several courts, with results more or less consistently in favor of the national government. Your philosophical opponents are no less aware of that circumstance than you; the difference lies in the fact that they do not recognize the courts as infallible. History suggests theirs is the correct assessment. For instance, for fifty years after slavery was well and truly outlawed, these same courts kept separate Bibles to swear in witnesses: one for the whites, and one for the blacks.
Freedom loving governments must have some tolerance for civil disobedience, which is exactly what this incident is.