While Barack Obama is trying to ensure that everyone who purchases a gun in the United States undergoes a background check, another kind of melodrama is playing out in Oregon. Michael Harris writes:
The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was taken over by a band of armed men led by Ammon Bundy on January 2. They have occupied public buildings, destroyed government property, and seized government heavy equipment and trucks, claiming they are now the property of the people. They call themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. They are about 25-strong, give or take a firearm or two.
Bundy, a former rancher, says God told him to occupy the government facility. It is not known if God had earlier advised his father, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, not to pay fees for grazing his cattle on federal land.
Bundy and his followers see themselves as latter day Davy Crocketts and Jim Bowies making their last stand against tyranny. And Obama knows with whom and what he is dealing:
The last thing the outgoing president wants before the November presidential elections is a replay of Waco, Texas on his watch. Eighty-two members of the Branch-Davidians religious sect died there after a 51-day standoff with federal authorities back in 1993.
Ruby Ridge might also be on Obama’s mind. Back in northern Idaho in 1992, there was a deadly standoff between Randy Weaver and federal authorities at Ruby Ridge. When the shooting was over, Weaver’s son, Sammy, and wife Vicki were dead, along with Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan. A Ruby Ridge task force subsequently found serious flaws in the use of deadly force by law enforcement, and a Senate subcommittee called for reforms to prevent a repeat of the shoot-out in Idaho.
Some Republican presidential candidates are lending their tacit support to Bundy:
The protesters also enjoy the support of Republican presidential candidates, though it is usually expressed with a token criticism of the armed takeover. The bottom line is that people like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio support the militia movement in the United States. Even presidential candidate Ben Carson has said that the “ranchers” have “legitimate grievances.”
Those of us who live north of the 49th parallel are asking, "What has happened to the United States?"
11 comments:
"The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was taken over by a band of armed men led by Mohammed Bundy on January 2. They have occupied public buildings, destroyed government property, and seized government heavy equipment and trucks, claiming they are now the property of the people. They call themselves Citizens for Sharia Freedom. They are about 25-strong, give or take a firearm or two."
Something tells me we'd be having a different conversation by now...
The problem with religious certitude, Anon, is that it assumes omniscience.
Lie South Africa or Zibmambe when the truth and reality collide, guns make rules.
It appears that people have returned to the law of the frontier, Steve.
.. take a look at references to 'Under The Banner Of Heaven' by Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air) and how it seems the USA has given up on trying to control Mormon violations of American Laws in the States they have permeated. Keep in mind also, who ran against Obama and lost.
People like Jefferson and Madison worked very hard to keep religion out of American politics, salamander. But, throughout American history, there have always been those who have insisted that the Highway To Heaven runs through Washington.
What is happening?
Y'all Qeada is happening, aka the militia movement and the GOP pandering to it as they did in the 70s-80s to the moral majority religious right movement, and given where we saw that end up...be afraid, be VERY afraid!
When fundamentalists butt heads, Scotian, we should all be worried.
At the risk of being overly earth Owen...
No Shit!!!
I have to wonder how much this rebellion is driven not only by religious fervor, but also by the same perception that had led to Donald Trump having become such a serious candidate for the Presidency. Much of Mr.Trump's appeal is to Americans who feel their government neither represents them nor has their interests at heart, while it clearly serves the interests of the small number of Americans who control that nation's wealth.
Chris Hedges believes that's exactly what has happened, Anon. Right wing populists are as angry at their government as left wing populists are.
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