Posted on 01/27/2007 1:36:11 PM PST by tpaine
By Vin Suprynowicz
For years, Garry Watson, 49, of little Bunker, Mo., (population 390) had been squabbling with town officials over the sewage line easement which ran across his property to the adjoining, town-operated sewage lagoon.
Residents say officials grew dissatisfied with their existing easement, and announced they were going to excavate a new sewer line across the landowner's property. Capt. Chris Ricks of the Missouri Highway Patrol reports Watson's wife, Linda, was served with "easement right-of-way papers" on Sept. 6. She gave the papers to Watson when he got home at 5 a.m. the next morning from his job at a car battery recycling plant northeast of Bunker. Watson reportedly went to bed for a short time, but arose about 7 a.m. when the city work crew arrived.
"He told them 'If you come on my land, I'll kill you,' " Bunker resident Gregg Tivnan told me last week. "Then the three city workers showed up with a backhoe, plus a police officer. They'd sent along a cop in a cop car to guard the workers, because they were afraid there might be trouble. Watson had gone inside for a little while, but then he came out and pulled his SKS (semi-automatic rifle) out of his truck, steadied it against the truck, and he shot them."
Killed in the September 7 incident, from a range of about 85 yards, were Rocky B. Gordon, 34, a city maintenance man, and David Thompson, 44, an alderman who supervised public works. City maintenance worker Delmar Eugene Dunn, 51, remained in serious but stable condition the following weekend.
Bunker police Officer Steve Stoops, who drove away from the scene after being shot, was treated and released from a hospital for a bullet wound to his arm and a graze to the neck.
Watson thereupon kissed his wife goodbye, took his rifle, and disappeared into the woods, where his body was found two days later -- dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Following such incidents, the local papers are inevitably filled with well-meaning but mawkish doggerel about the townsfolk "pulling together" and attempting to "heal" following the "tragedy." There are endless expressions of frustration, pretending to ask how such an otherwise peaceful member of the community could "just snap like that."
In fact, the supposedly elusive explanation is right before our eyes.
"He was pushed," Clarence Rosemann -- manager of the local Bunker convenience store, who'd done some excavation work for Watson -- told the big-city reporters from St. Louis. Another area resident, who didn't want to be identified, told the visiting newsmen, "Most people are understanding why Garry Watson was upset. They are wishing he didn't do it, but they are understanding why he did it."
You see, to most of the people who work in government and the media these days -- especially in our urban centers -- "private property" is a concept out of some dusty, 18th century history book. Oh, sure, "property owners" are allowed to live on their land, so long as they pay rent to the state in the form of "property taxes."
But an actual "right" to be let alone on our land to do whatever we please -- always providing we don't actually endanger the lives or health of our neighbors?
Heavens! If we allowed that, how would we enforce all our wonderful new "environmental protection" laws, or the "zoning codes," or the laws against growing hemp or tobacco or distilling whisky without a license, or any of the endless parade of other malum prohibitum decrees which have multiplied like swarms of flying ants in this nation over the past 87 years?
What does it mean to say we have any "rights" or "freedoms" at all, if we cannot peacefully enjoy that property which we buy with the fruits of our labors?
In his 1985 book "Takings," University of Chicago Law Professor Richard Epstein wrote that, "Private property gives the right to exclude others without the need for any justification.
Indeed, it is the ability to act at will and without need for justification within some domain which is the essence of freedom, be it of speech or of property."
"Unfortunately," replies James Bovard, author of the book "Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen," "federal law enforcement agents and prosecutors are making private property much less private. ...
Park Forest, Ill. in 1994 enacted an ordinance that authorizes warrantless searches of every single-family rental home by a city inspector or police officer, who are authorized to invade rental units 'at all reasonable times.' ... Federal Judge Joan Gottschall struck down the searches as unconstitutional in 1998, but her decision will have little or no effect on the numerous other localities that authorize similar invasions of privacy."
We are now involved in a war in this nation, a last-ditch struggle in which the other side contends only the king's men are allowed to use force or the threat of force to push their way in wherever they please, and that any peasant finally rendered so desperate as to employ the same kind of force routinely employed by our oppressors must surely be a "lone madman" who "snapped for no reason." No, we should not and do not endorse or approve the individual choices of folks like Garry Watson. But we are still obliged to honor their memories and the personal courage it takes to fight and die for a principle, even as we lament both their desperate, misguided actions ... and the systematic erosion of our liberties which gave them rise.
--The question of whether or not a contract employee has to abide by his owner/employer's claims of "protected rights" has already been settled.--
We are not talking slavery here. We are discussing whether the owner may or may not restrict who is coming onto his property.
In what way?
Are you saying that you actually do not know what the do with it? Oh Oh...
The brown stuff is processed and sold back to you so that you can spread it on your front lawn. It makes the lawn greener. The clear liquid is pumped down into the ground for later delivery to you in the form of drinking water. Other than saving you a few pennies every month, I do not know what the advantage to that might be.
Sorry to be the bearer of this news to you but, that's the way life is.
Semper Fi
An Old Man
They had been working with him for years.
When they came for my recyclables, I did not care because I am not a bottle, can or plastic container.
When they came for my leaves in the fall, I did not care because I am not from a tree.
Then they came for my raw sewage.
I hope the leaky hose you describe does not turn into a soaker hose. If it does, all hell is going to break loose.
Semper Fi
An Old Man
"This is indeed a tragedy, and I wish it had not come to this. However, I do believe it is going to take some good people doing some very bad things to make our government listen to us."
In the name of Allah we good people must do terrible things to keep the Zionist and infidels out of our lands so that the goverments will listen to us.
Boy, you're really off base if you are trying to draw any sort of parallel between what I said and the justifications put forth by billions of maniac-cultists who want to kill everyone who doesn't convert to Islam.
I'll have to read the comments later.
I probably need to hunt down the original threads again from when it happened years ago.
Congratulations! You must live in a very special place!
Around here you cannot go more that ten feet inside of the Federal Courthouse without going through a magnetometer and a search of your person and belongings.
The County Commissioners and the City Council not wanting to be left behind have installed similar accouterments in their lairs.
It is so bad here that the criminals are arraigned via closed circuit TV so that the judges will not be inconvenienced by meeting them in person.
When I had a need to contact the Assessor my only avenue was via the post office.
Maybe things will improve next year.
Semper Fi
An Old Man
Actually, it's you and the NRA asking for the government's assistance in violating property owner's rights.
You are trying to do it in businesses as well as in private homes.
You are trying to take the ability to control who enters my property from me, and you will go down in flames in Florida.
"many people, many states".
Does that mean ALL people in ALL states? No? So, if you are lucky enough to live in a state that passed those laws, then good for you? And if you live in a state where that decision is binding, then you just get screwed?
And this is going to go on, more and more rights stripped away. No rational person would say that we have as many property rights today as people had in the 1950's. Over the past 50 years, people like YOU have said "take it to the court", or "take it to your representative". And over 50 years, rights have been slowly stripped away.
Creeping Normalcy. And people like you allow it to go on.
They apply way more than your unschooled, unsubstantiated opinion.
Post the pertinent statutes.
"Find a health and safety law, that the concept of negligence doesn't apply, or that an employer can discriminate in hiring based on race, creed, or nationality. "
That has nothing to do with this issue as the employer is not discriminating based on physical characteristics or religious beliefs.
If you are going to continue discussing things that employers can't do, then you must post the specific law that backs up your statement.
Worse than no facts. What we have here is an opinion columnist, writing months after the fact, about an event which was not local to him, apparently relying on media reports to provide the facts. Based on his description of the shooting (Delmar Dunn's condition is not even resolved, though it would certainly be known by the time Suprynowicz got hold of the story).
All this story really is, is an even on which Vin Suprynowicz figures he can use to further his own agenda. Such articles and opinion pieces cannot be trusted as factual.
""Thanks for the additional details. Clearly, Watson was a nutcase.
And you are right, the piece by Suprynowicz is sloppy and deceptive.
Regards,
LH"""
I was glad to see you type this.
Those predisposed to hate gov't or any representative should be careful to gather the facts before jumping to assumptions or celebrating murder. Just as many here assign hidden motives to anything government there are those like the original author who have their own agenda. Gather the facts, step outside emotion, and see this for what it was..... inexcusable murder.
I don't agree with everything government does but I don't think killing a couple of civil servants over a sewage easement sends a message I want my son and daughter to follow.
If I purchased a piece of land with an existing easement (as the other linked story stated) I would expect intrusions on the property. If I disagree with that I should not have purchased the property in the first place.
Celebrating the death of these men as a blow for freedom (I believe others expressed this) does not represent America or what this nation stands for and it reflects very poorly on the poster and conservatives.
By the way, I believe the median income in this town was $19,000 a year so I think it's safe to say the sewer worker probably made less than 19K. When I worked for a municipality in the south I know our service workers made less than 19K.
Those who have better ideas in a democracy should not have to shoot people to promote them.
-- Over the past 50 years, people like YOU have said "take it to the court", or "take it to your representative". And over 50 years, rights have been slowly stripped away. Creeping Normalcy. And people like you allow it to go on.--
What have you done?
After telling me to not post to him any more, he came back later with that post. My Sunday was not a total waste.
Thanks for providing sanity on this thread.
Libertarian Anarchist - this sums up too many people on this board for comfort.
There are not too many threads involving a law or law enforcement on this board where the anarchist don't celebrate the death or injury of a cop.
Having worn a badge for 12 years now (and an Army uniform prior to that) I am starting to feel like an endangered species. I hope my wife does'nt get the call one day where she has to tell my children that Daddy is'nt coming home because some anarchist decided he did'nt like the law so bullets were the answer.
It amazes me that we live in a great country (I have travelled extensively in others) and so many hate, hate, hate, and hate our country. I wish I could tell them where they could move but I can't.... this place is the best thing going. I also wish things were simpler like they were when our nation was founded but we are a long way from homesteads today.
I don't always agree with our government but I am convinced anarchy is not the answer. If I am ever asked to do something I don't agree with I will not do it and find another line of work. I am not a mindless robot with a badge and gun and neither are my co-workers, my supervisors, or the courts I answer to.
It's good to see there are so many libertarian-anarchist posting here who have figured out the thousand shades of gray in the world I live in.
Sorry, I'm only 26, and I'm doing my part by joining the Air Force to serve my country. I'm sure you're a baby boomer how is saddling my generation with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security debts. I'm just getting to the prime of what I can do.
Just wait until I get out and seek public office. Then I'll get back to you.
--Sorry, I'm only 26, and I'm doing my part by joining the Air Force to serve my country. I'm sure you're a baby boomer how is saddling my generation with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security debts. --
For the boomer generation, by 26 a lot of us had already served our country and tens of thousands gove their lives. Twenty-six meant trying to blend back into the civilian life-style.
BTW, as for social security, I have calculated my ROE; it is about one percent.
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