Dave Carter, at Ricochet, saw in the the federal stand-off at the Bundy Ranch a near-miss repeat of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, and argues that burgeoning federal power and the militarization of police and federal agencies guarantees sooner-or-later the application of excessive and deadly force by government to American citizens.
Many in the governing class, in both parties, have made their choice and that is to govern against the consent of the governed. Many American citizens, awakening to the heavy hand of a government which now dictates almost everything they purchase, produce, or sell, taxing them into oblivion, telling them which doctors and health plans they may or may not keep, regulating the content of everything they consume, touch, wear, breathe or drive, and whose agents and enforcement officials are becoming increasingly belligerent and thuggish, are making their choices as well. It is time for those who wear the badge, those who wear the uniform, and those who are increasingly ordered to act against their own countrymen to make their choice and take a stand.
H. L. Mencken said that:
It is the invariable habit of bureaucracies, at all times and everywhere, to assume…that every citizen is a criminal. Their one apparent purpose, pursued with a relentless and furious diligence, is to convert the assumption into a fact. They hunt endlessly for proofs, and, when proofs are lacking, for mere suspicions. The moment they become aware of a definite citizen, John Doe, seeking what is his right under the law, they begin searching feverishly for an excuse for withholding it from him.
The question, for those who are ordered to aim a sniper’s rifle at a rancher, necessarily becomes one of whom to serve? The people or the directorate?
OMMAG
While it bothers me that the authorities consider the use deadly force to be a legitimate response to what is essentially a social protest, the fact is that in this case they diffused the situation.
sound awake
if it had to do with a federal government sniper aimed at an innocent civilian it was also an almost repeat of ruby ridge too
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.†― Mark Twain
Frisco Scooter Trash
“guarantees sooner-or-later the application of excessive and deadly force by government to American citizens. ”
Seriously?
Branch Davidian?
Ruby Ridge?
Kent State?
Wounded Knee?
Cops killing Americans literally every day?
Phil McKann
@OMMAG,
No. Not snipers, attack dogs, and drones.
Some introspection is in order. Your Overwhelming Force is Good for Everyone’s Safety argument is a a rationalization that my friends in law enforcement use all the time to justify their militarization.
Freedom takes courage. Put the Big Guns down.
OMMAG
@Phil McKann
I could have made that more clear. I am saying the same thing that you are. Yes … put away the big guns.
In spite of the overly militaristic response this situation was diffused. It could have turned out much worse.
Please Leave a Comment!