Posted on 04/15/2014 8:15:19 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
1. First, I just have to say that with regards to the Bundy Ranch situation, the PAIUTE INDIANS have been unavailable for comment. Just had to get that out there. Someone had to say it.
2. The best source I have yet seen on the whole mess is the Brietbart piece that includes all of the legal filings and really even-handed explanations of the issues. Nobody’s clean in this.
3. I was happy to see Karl Denninger chime in. The comment thread (as is often the case at Market-Ticker.org) is quite informative as well. KD confirms that he has received THREATS from loons over this, and he hasn’t really said much at all about it. While I haven’t received any explicit threats of violence from pro-Bundy people, I have received a veritable mountain of hate mail and the usual accusations of being a lesbian, a JOOOO and of being on the FEDGOV payroll – simply for not falling IMMEDIATELY and WITHOUT QUESTION into line and elevating Bundy to instant hero status. Yeah, no red flags there.
4. Even more troubling is the large volume of hate mail that conveys a profound DISAPPOINTMENT that blood was not shed. Attention to all of you guys and ladies who are genuinely a part of the “first responder” or “minuteman” community: There are a hell of a lot of people who view what is going on and what WILL eventually happen in the former U.S. as a big reality show or form of entertainment. And guess what? Y’all are the “entertainers”. I have alluded to this in terms of the sports and entertainment culture, as well as the general societal disconnect from and inability to grasp REALITY many times before. Before you get drawn into a theater, much less a hot engagement, just remember that a bunch of those commenters hiding behind handles are loons who just want to see a bunch of people get their heads blown off. Are you ready for your close-up?
5. Which leads to my next point. TRUST YOUR GUT. Intuition is a gift from God, but we have all been conditioned by the “culture of nice” to ignore it and even be racked with guilt about it. If your stink-o-meter is pegged, HONOR THAT. Let me run through some of the things that pegged my stink-o-meter:
A.) Alex Jones pushing the narrative. Alex Jones is an INSTANT massive warning that much, much more information is needed, because his outfit is every bit as unreliable as CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and FOX. If Alex Jones said, “two plus two equals four”, dude, I’d reach for my calculator JUST TO BE SURE. His target audience is people with mental illnesses who will believe any looney-tunes conspiracy theory that they hear. It’s sick.
B.) Early emails coming in from drooling, frothing anti-semites, contrail nutters, Planet X nutters, you name it. People who want to “finish what Hitler started” are an extremely reliable counter-indicator. ‘Nuff said.
C.) Bundy is one of those “sovereign citizen” nutters. You know, the people who think that birth certificates are legal incorporation documents and all that. I ran across several of those types over the course of my career and it was always indicative of either mental instability, or a need to deflect personal responsibility for either failures or sleazy behavior. Either way, homie don’t play dat.
D.) Another lesson I learned in the cattle business was that the guys who were always talking about being screwed were the guys who could be trusted the least. You never, ever did a handshake deal with the guy who was constantly claiming that he was being screwed.
6. What I find especially scary is the inability of people to grasp that BOTH parties in a conflict may be unsavory. Again, I attribute this to the modern mindless “sports culture” in which everything is either Team A or Team B. Furthermore, YOUR team never commits a foul. YOUR team never travels. YOUR team never double-dribbles. YOUR team never camps in the lane. And that is simply dishonest, but that “dishonesty in the name of team loyalty” is considered a cardinal virtue. We all agree that the Obama regime and the FEDGOV of the Iniquitous Gutter Republic are bad, bad, bad. But is it really wise to then say that ANYONE or ANYTHING on the “other side” of the Obama regime is therefore “good, good, good” and worthy of life and limb? This extremely shallow thinking, devoid of any real prudence or nuance, is why “conservative” people are swooning over the KGB tyrant and neo-Soviet dictator Putin. Well, if he’s against Obama, he MUST be teh awesome, right? Only if your thermostat and IQ read the same. Remember, in a relatively recent macro context, Patton was assassinated for having a thorough and nuanced grasp of the Germany-Soviet Union dynamic, namely that Uncle Joe was every bit the enemy that Hitler had been, if not more.
7. Finally, I hope that when the time comes, that leaders of men who show prudence and an insistence on assaying counterparties, gathering intel, and NOT sending men (and probably women) at the drop of a hat to lose life and limb based on sketchy sources and “herd think” are not instantly fragged. Based upon this episode, which near-miraculously came to a bloodless, albeit temporary, impasse, I worry tremendously about the ability to establish any sort of respected chain of command, and equally marvel at the ability of men in times and civilizations past to come together, establish and recognize command structures, and then to obey orders. Throughout history guys would muster, be ranked and sorted into outfits, and then go do (or NOT do) what they were told. Can you imagine that happening in today’s world? I gotta tell you – I struggle to envisage it. I hope I’m wrong.
EPILOGUE:
While this was all going on last week, my bank account was swept again. Within 48 hours of the legal case against me that I told you about regarding the Home Owner’s Association at my old office/condo in Lone Tree, CO and the fines for having the Epiphany Blessing in 1.5 inch chalk letters above my front door, a garnishment and seizure of the balance of my bank account was executed. Less than 48 hours. For chalk symbols that could have been wiped off with a wet sponge. They didn’t get anything close to the haul the IRS got, but they got a little as the last remaining bills that I have to pay all hit between the 10th and 17th of the month, so I had a little money sitting in the account to pay bills – and call me crazy, but I still believe in paying bills and staying as square as I possibly can. (Getting totally off the grid is almost impossible.) Apropos indeed to the topic above, zeroes and ones on computer servers simply cannot be defended. I look forward to all of the “Ha-ha, you deserved it!” emails. Sigh. Of course. Because ten 1.5 inch chalk letters over a door invoking God’s blessing and protection of a domicile is exactly the same thing as 20 years of grazing hundreds and hundreds of cow/calf pairs. Exactly the same. No difference at all. Ah, well. All is well in Riverville. As I was washing the dishes last night, I was able to quietly bask in a profound contentment. I reckon if washing the dishes inspires a keen awareness of one’s own beatitude, then one just might be moving in the right general direction. I hope so, anyway.
I would NEVER join a HOA. You give all your rights to some nameless fool!
Interesting piece, but methinks Ann is missing one HUGE point. The Bundy family cannot jail me, fine me, wipe my bank accounts, nor send a tax subsidized SWAT team to my house. The Federal Government can.
Therefore, the Bundy’s are the good guys, even if they are not good guys. Ann, dear, how did you miss this?????
“) Alex Jones pushing the narrative. Alex Jones is an INSTANT massive warning that much, much more information is needed, because his outfit is every bit as unreliable as CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and FOX. If Alex Jones said, two plus two equals four, dude, Id reach for my calculator ...”
This is true.
That early posts on this mainly linked to Jones sites made me skeptical.
Yet, as actual info comes out, most aspects fall in support of Bundy one way or the other.
Hear, hear!
Didn’t Ann refuse to pay her taxes, and is that not something very similar to what the Bundy people were doing, at least in terms of violating a well-established federal law?
I'm not sure we should be in the habit trusting the analysis of events to folks who put forth conjecture as if it were fact. I'm not saying it is not possible, it is an interesting theory; but it certainly isn't proven to be the case.
I love you Anne and thank you for educating me previously so many times. This one, I am not so sure. As I have posted, “If this ain’t the hill to die on, pick another but don’t wait for the ‘virgin bride raped at wedding’ level of honor to be offended.” That day won’t come until we are disarmed and herded into catle cars.
Ann is hella smart for a dingbat. Bundy may not be a saint but the feds already ran off the good guys that obeyed all the kings edicts.
I am on “bundys side” because the other side is abominable
1of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
2of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
3of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
Heres one that shows why the Sheriff of Clark County is duty bound to keep the BLM and all Federal agents from arresting Cliven Bundy.
Steven Pratt, Bound by Oath to Support THIS Constitution,/a>
Well this could have all been avoided if you had followed the rules/sarc. Why are you a good person when you don't follow stupid rules; but the Bundy’s are the bad guys for not following stupid rules?
Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, or in this case maybe it was a desert tortoise.
Agree with all of that ..
1of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
2of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
3of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
Here's one that shows why the Sheriff of Clark County is duty bound to keep the BLM and all Federal agents from arresting Cliven Bundy.
Steven Pratt, Bound by Oath to Support THIS Constitution,/a>
bookmark
But I do know that he is an American, and as such he has the right to live his life on his family's land free from depredation.
I also know that (according the the NV governor) he has paid Nevada in full for the use of his grazing land (although he shouldn't have to pay anyone for land his family has tended for over a century).
And I sure as hell know that the government is no friend to Americans, and would strip every citizen of all constitutional rights at the first opportunity- manufactured or otherwise.
Those three things that I know are enough to convince me that standing with the Bundys is the right thing to do.
Re: #4, yes, Anne, I am “ready for my close up”. I met Jesus a while back. He assured me that defending my family, home, and community with violence was not only something he expected but demanded. To allow oneself to be murdered is conspiring to commit murder. To allow one’s unborn grandchildren to be robbed by the gummint is to conspire to commit theft. To do nothing in the face of evil IS evil.
The last line of Checks and Balances defense for We, the People was the Republican Leadership in the US House of Representatives until late 2014.
When Reid and Obama shut down part of the US Federal Government last Autumn, that same Republican Leadership in the US House caved in to Stonewall Reid, and No Negotiation Obama, leaving We, the People with no Federal protection from the well documented, arrogant tyranny of the Obama Administration, and the Godless Democrat Party.
Now We, the People are given a rare gifted opportunity to change our failed Republican Leadership in the US House and Senate, as we stand witness to the tyrannical brute force of the most powerful Nation that the World has ever known being leveled against an aged and last Rancher in Clark County, Nevada.
Our patience with the cowardly Republican Members in the US House of Representatives is nearly gone, as we wait with dimming hope for them to quickly replace Boehner, McCarthy, Cantor, Issa, Rogers, King of NY, and Ryan with fire-in-the-belly Leaders such as Trey Gowdy, Wilson of SC, and Gomert of TEXAS.
____________________
The BFLM is currently a more accurate abbreviation of the BLM.
The BFLM is the abbreviation for the Bureau of FEUDAL Land Management.
Feudalism is what Europe was based on, and if it was good enough for Europe, then it is good enough for America!
Currently, the purpose of the BFLM is to provide land, free of charge, to the Commune-organized Obamanation to do with as the ruling Senate and Administration Feudal Lord Democrats see fit.
Predictions are that the cave-in Doormat Republican Leaders will, as usual, just huff and puff on TV, as required by the 2 year Congressional No Fight Deal that Ryan, Pelosi, Reid and Obama have forced them to sign.
Obama now knows in his smug arrogance that his Obamanation Transformation of the United States of America will continue unchallenged as long as Boehner and McConnell are kept in power as leaders in Congress.
All ye lowly, collateral-damaged, Feudal Serfs bow to thine arrogant Feudal Democrat Lords!
FORWARD!
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