Without going into a line-by-line analysis, I will simply say that Ms. Barnhardt misses the entire point.
It's not about whether Mr. Bundy is in the right or not.
It's about the reality of the People's disgust, and the near-totally diminished reservoir of forbearance they still possess.
Thinking of the situation in Nevada as an aberration on the spectrum, rather than as a seamless continuum of it, is erroneous.
I agree with you and was going to say something along those lines. Mainly this - people are now frightened. Those in power and those who leach onto the power are very, very scared. They want to say things that it is all about cattle, this guy is loony tunes, the emails are from nut cases and racists.
I think they saw a lot of ordinary citizens come out, not only take up arms against the Feds, but willing to die for their belief. This scares the pundits. They know we - this nation - are very close to the spark that ignites the fire.
When it happens - and I think it will - they know what the upheavel will be and if history shows us, when society upheavel occurs, people use it as an excuse to get even, to account for past wrongs - real or imagined. Those who live in the cities are also concerned because deep down they know that if the flyover parts of this country shut down, they will not survive long.