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.