"Something scary is happening in the so-called libertarian west. Armed terrorists have taken over a federal building in Oregon. By now, you know the story, even as it plays out in real time. It’s an escalation of an ongoing battle that started with the Cliven Bundy Ranch fiasco, wherein a gutless Federal government let a bunch of armed kooks run roughshod over basic law enforcement. Bundy refused to pay his grazing fees, and instead decided to make his private profit with stolen public resources, threatening violence if authorities attempted to correct his infractions. This latest dustup is superficially about a couple of ranchers given five-year prison sentences for setting fires that destroyed public land, but that is only a flimsy pretext; this is another round of antisocial behavior by a group of (mostly) men who are watching the decline—if not outright elimination—of their power and influence in the west.
This battle is not about individuals in any sense. Rather, it’s a fundamental disagreement about who controls public land. Nevada, like so many western states, has a tremendous amount of land controlled by the federal government. It’s complicated and technical, pitting business interests against recreation, access versus the protection of vulnerable species and habitat. The federal government does not always get it right and there are always winners and losers, but the vast majority of people who live here want public land to be protected, and the numbers aren’t even close. Thus, the central conceit of this battle is utter nonsense. By massive majorities, Nevadans do not want to give up public land to the likes of Cliven Bundy, who would use it to enrich themselves while denying access to others."
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MONDAY, JAN 4, 2016 04:04 PM EST
The Bundy siege is a wake-up call: American extremists are getting desperate — and dangerous
People like the Bundy family are on the decline in America. But before they disappear, they're going to raise hell VIDEO
EDWIN LYNGAR
At a meeting in Philadelphia SPLC Chief Trial Attorney Morris Deeds put up 2 photos. One guy had a swastika on his forehead. The other guy had no tattoos and was wearing a coat and tie.
Morris Dees and Ingrid Jones |
Mr. Deeds said that the guy without the swastika is the scary one.
The fight here was over City of Coatesville land not Federal land.
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