These People Worry Me.

This Bundy Ranch thing is really taking me back to the heady, Ruby Ridge/Waco days of spooky mid-90's militia/black helicopter wackiness. I get that there's a kind of underdog appeal to the idea of an ornery old coot who is just trying to pasture his cattle! Same as his ancestors did! Ain't that America! But give me an ever loving break, here--this is not about freedom--it's about license. My POV about this guy's actions pretty much does coincide with the BLM's position as well as that of local conservationists:

“Mr. Bundy has long falsely believed that Gold Butte is his ranch,” said Terri Robertson, long-time advocate for protecting the rich cultural and natural resources of Gold Butte and currently president of Friends of Sloan Canyon. “We all know that is not the reality, and it is time for him for obey the law.” 

“Mr. Bundy's defiance of the law and decades-long free grazing on public lands is a poke in the eye of every rancher who rightfully pays for their use of the public lands, and a further thumb of the nose to those responsible, progressive ranchers who graze sustainably, allowing for threatened species to survive on their allotments,” said Karen Boeger, a former BLM advisory committee member. 

The BLM estimates several hundred thousand dollars in unpaid grazing fees and penalties are due, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars the BLM and NPS have spent monitoring and addressing the ongoing problem of the trespass cattle. 

“From the standpoint of wildlife, the springs and riparian areas in Gold Butte are vital,” said Red Rock Audubon’s conservation chairman John Hiatt. “The most immediate result of the removal of the trespass cattle will be the recovery of the vegetation around these water sources which will benefit all wildlife species.”

Basically--he's a freeloader. He's grazing his cattle, for free, on government land and profiting off of them. What if everybody did the same thing? 

Well, that's just it. What if people just drilled oil wells wherever they wanted, panned gold, dynamited out coal mines, or whatever they wanted to do, regardless of legal claim of right?  You might as well have range war without end if there was no recognition of any law. The idea that the government could make and enforce laws about trade goes back to the Whiskey Rebellion, and frankly, the government just keeps winning. On account of being a lawful government, made up of laws, and all.

Anyway, after hearing about how the Oath Keepers and some militia-minded folks are calling in the corners around the Bundy folks, I really understand why armed Federal agents might be in the area. 

And while I am at it, can I just say, screw the Oath Keepers?  When I hear that a group kind of got started in 2009 (after what significant event, I wonder) by some dude who worked for Ron Paul, I kind of feel like here we have some people who are gun culture-adjacent (former military and law enforcement) who think it's okay to violate laws they don't think are Constitutional.  Huh. Well isn't that convenient? It's like there's no such thing as due process or legal representation, or that laws are not made by elected representatives of our government. If someone does not care for the law as such--here's a thought--petition the government for redress of grievances. That sometimes even works.

But just speaking as a person who lives in a city where several city blocks were set on fire and burned to the ground in a fucked up effort to show that defying the law doesn't get anyone too far? Really--our line in the sand against government overreach is some asshat who thinks he should basically feed his cattle for free where he isn't supposed to--this is the thing they want to rally around? When tomorrow, by these standards, oil companies are drilling on a kid-friendly beach near you? 

Or is it just a general "Wah-Wah" about government even existing to sometimes tell other people what to do on behalf of like, turtles, or, I dunno. Even other people with whom they have to share this country. 

Their simple, and potentially violent, version of "not getting it" makes it easier for people with real power, like energy companies who can hire "security" to basically occupy land wherever, to go ahead and do that right in your own backyard. Well, cheers. Yay--world where guns, not laws, rule, for some reason. Yay, version of legality that is arbitrary and involves showdowns with authorities who are kind of protecting everybody's rights because "some people's" rights are more equal than everyone else's. 

There's just no way this should be some kind of big to-do. Looks like it might be, though.