Monday, January 4, 2016

The Bundy Boys are Back

The Bundy boys are back....and this time they mean business. Along with a hundred or so of their gun-toting supporters, they are holed up in a nature preserve owned and operated by the Federal Government, and have declared their intention to stay "as long as it takes."

I will not here wade into the tall grass of their alleged grievances, largely because it really doesn't matter. This sort of macho posturing seems to be a part of the Bundy family DNA. The long and short of it seems to be that the protesters resent the heavy handed presence of the Federal footprint out west. They believe that the Feds own too much land, place too many restrictions on ranchers, etc...

Ok, anyone who reads this blog knows my views on government, the less of it the better. My default position is that, generally speaking, much of what government touches ends up worse off. However...I am not an anarchist. Government has a vital role to play in a free Republic. If government oversteps its bounds avenues exist for us to bring legal challenge. Gathering together a hundred heavily armed malcontents and taking over a federal building isn't one of them.

Yes, I am aware that the building was not occupied and nobody was hurt and that presently nobody is in danger. And yes, I am aware that no property has been destroyed. But ask yourself this question...suppose the Bundy boys were Muslims? Better yet, what would be our collective reaction to events in Oregon if the protesters were part of #blacklivesmatter? I think it's fair to say that in either case, things would sound and look very different than it does this morning.

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