My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

Cliven Bundy
[courtesy Google Images]

If the BLM comes after Bundy again, they’ll do a blitzkrieg and come so fast there won’t be time for the public to rally around Bundy. They BLM will probably start by cutting off the surrounding cellphone towers so no one will be able to call for help or broadcast live images of the raid and government brutality.  If the government kills anyone or burns their home to the ground, cutting off those cellphone towers (or otherwise seizing or disabling cell phones) will be evidence of government’s intent to commit murder–1st degree, cold-blooded, premeditated murder–without leaving any telltale digital evidence of their crime.

Nevertheless, for now, it’s time for the Bundys and all of their supporters to celebrate–and pray.

•  And it’s time for America to celebrate and pray, too, because in a nation of 317 million, a thousand (more or less) “Minutemen” stood up against the government–and the government backed down.

There’s a great lesson (and danger) in that victory.  See how few armed Americans it took to cause the gov-co to retreat?  But did you also see how few actually showed up to fight?

Those who fear the onset of martial law can see that martial law is nowhere near as scary as public indifference.  The threat of martial law could be eliminated across the entire nation if just 500,000 Americans (about 1 man–or woman–in 500) were willing to stand up with firearms and openly defy government thugs.  On the other hand, if not even 1 man in 500 were willing to fight, martial law could be easily established.

Government teaches us to praise the government soldiers who “fight for our freedoms” in foreign countries.  That’s largely a bunch of self-serving crap.  Government soldiers haven’t fought for any of our freedoms in my lifetime.  Did the Koreans threaten American freedoms?  How ’bout the North Vietnamese?  Iraqi’s?  Afghans?  Libyans?  I’m not here to praise any of those regimes, but not one of them ever threatened any legitimate “freedoms” of the American people.

Not one of those foreign governments has even threatened our freedom of speech, freedom of travel, or right to keep and bear arms.  Only our own government threatens our rights and freedoms–and it does so every single day.

If you want to thank someone for “fighting for your freedoms,” you ought to thank Cliven Bundy and the people who stood with him for the past week.   They fought the real enemy:  our own government.  They’re the heroes.

•  And then there’s firearms.

Those who support the 2nd Amendment also have cause to celebrate.  We’ve just seen the 2nd Amendment in action.  As declared in the “Preamble to the Bill of Rights,” the purpose for the first ten amendments to the Constitution is to “prevent misconstruction or abuse” of the “powers” of the Constitution.

Well, that’s pretty much what happened at the Bundy standoff.  The government’s attack was a misconstruction and/or abuse of the federal government’s powers.  The BLM came to rustle Bundy’s cattle, and perhaps murder Bundy and some of his family.  Some of Bundy’s supporters threatened to exercise their right to keep and bear arms to prevent the misconstruction or abuse of alleged federal powers under the Constitution.  By exercising their Second Amendment rights, they thereby succeeded in preventing what might otherwise have been a massacre.  Not one shot was fired.  But the threat that shots might be fired at the government kneebreakers was enough to send the government running.

Imagine what the Bundy story would have been if government had previously succeeded in disarming Americans.

In the Bundy drama, we’re seeing the reason, need and potential power of the 2nd Amendment.

• There’s reason to celebrate courage, too.

Government has taught its kneebreakers that the most important thing is that they all “come home alive” after any confrontation.  That lesson inclines government thugs to kill people (even innocent people) as a rational act of self-preservation.  Guilt or innocence of the victim is irrelevant.  There’s a war goin’ on between the government and the people, so why take a chance?  Whoever they see, might be armed.  Whoever they see, might pose a threat to the government agents’ lives.  So, why not shoot any remotely conceivable threat and “let God sort ‘em out”?

Encouraged to value their own lives more highly than those of the people, Government agents can shoot anyone (regardless of whether the victim is young, old, armed or docile) under the pretext that the agents are afraid and get away with it.  The cops, the snipers, the BLM et al are effectively “licensed to kill” innocent people in order to ensure that the government thugs “go home for dinner” unscathed.

On the one hand, it’s scary that government agents and employees are empowered commit premeditated murder against innocent “civilians” as an act of self-preservation.

On the other hand, there’s also a silver lining to the government’s objective of all going home each night for dinner:  the government is scared to risk their lives in anything like a “fair” fight.

Oh, sure, they’ll kill the innocent and even those who are armed when government has overwhelming forces available.   But if the government is faced with an equivalent force of armed men in open terrain where government can’t easily hide, and there’s a genuine risk that government agents, employees, and hit men might be shot, they’ll follow their training and run like Hell to make sure they “get home for dinner tonight”.

We saw much the same thing happen in the A.D. 1992 Los Angeles riots.  Faced with widespread rioting, the cops cut and ran home for dinner.  They left the rioters in control of parts of the city.  Rather than “serve and protect,” they let the city burn.

There’s another big lesson here.  The cops aren’t as dumb as some people think.  They know they’re hugely outnumbered by the public.  They know that they can’t win if even one man in 500 rises up with a rifle.  They know that the only thing that maintains their perceived power is public apathy and fear.  They know that if the public begins to wake up and stand up, the cops (and FBI, BLM etc.) are toast.  Given their determination to “get home for dinner” each night, there’s no guarantee, but there’s a high probability that government kneebreakers faced with organized resistance will again cut and run.

We aren’t being overpowered by the police state.  We’re being intimidated by an illusion of government power into surrendering our liberties to a virtual handful of thugs.  In the end, we won’t lose our Liberty because we’re weak in a technical or numerical sense.  If we lose, it’ll be because we’re cowards.  And, insofar as we’re cowards, we’ll deserve to lose.  A few heroes might save us.  No heroes at all will seal our national fate.

•  Secrecy.

About four or five days into the standoff, senior Senator Harry Reid, Democrat, from Nevada was implicated as possible instigator behind the BLM raid.  It was rumored by some that Senator Reid’s son (Rory Reid) was involved in a deal with a Red Chinese corporation that was supposed to build a solar energy farm in the vicinity of the Bundy ranch and that therefore Bundy had to be removed.  It was suspected that Senator Reid was causing Bundy to be removed in order to help enrich his son, Rory.

Whether that rumor is true or false is unknown to me.  However, according to the Washington Times (“Nevada ranch standoff could leave dirt on Harry Reid’s reputation”),

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said little as federal agents seized and then released cattle last week from the Bundy ranch, but there is little doubt that the highly charged episode was threatening to become a political headache for the Nevada Democrat.

“The Bureau of Land Management is headed by former longtime Reid aide Neil Kornze, who was confirmed by the Senate as BLM director on Tuesday, just as federal authorities descended on the cattle ranch outside Mesquite, Nev.”

 Therefore, it’s certain that Senator Reid is at least peripherally implicated in the Bundy standoff.

Some people believe that, even though Sen. Reid will not be running for reelection until A.D. 2016, he nevertheless ordered the BLM to retreat in order to avoid adversely affecting other Democrat candidates in next November’s election.  That explanation is plausible.

However, I suspect that if Sen. Reid is genuinely complicit, he must’ve started this confrontation with the expectation that his involvement would remain hidden to the public.  If so, Reid must’ve forgotten that this is the “Internet Age” and virtually no one’s secrets are safe from public exposure.  A paper trail follows each of us about (even Senators).  In most instances, no one bothers to look at our paper trails because the vast majority of us are insignificant to the “system” .  But, once any one of us attracts enough attention, our personal paper trail will be found, dissected and exposed to the public.

If Sen. Reid is party to the Bundy standoff (and even if he’s not) his paper trails to Nevada, his son, the BLM and/or the Chinese solar power corporation will be exposed and Reid’s power might be compromised.  The only way to take the light off of Sen. Reid may be to take the heat off of Bundy.  If so, that might also explain the BLM’s retreat.

•  Cliven Bundy.

He and his wife have fourteen children and forty-eight grandchildren.  I saw a video of Mr. Bundy standing with his arm around his wife and it was obvious that he was still in love with her.

Cliven Bundy is ten times the man that any of the BLM’s thugs could ever hope to be.  (Probably ten times the man that I am, too.)  He works for a living.  He has real family.  He’s a cowboy, for gosh-sakes.   He’s done more for American freedom than any tank Division in the Iraqi war.  I can only envy and admire the life he’s had and the legacy he’ll leave.

I’ll bet that Cliven can tell you stories about his daddy’s and granddaddy’s courage that would not only inspire you, but also set an example for Cliven to follow and live up to.  And now, Cliven has set an example for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be inspired by and to live up to.  Whatever happens from here on in, it’ll be hard to be a descendant of Cliven Bundy and not be proud.

•  Finally, Public relations and political sensitivity

I remember Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and John Wayne.  I remember sheriff Will Kane, the Magnificent Seven, High Noon and True Grit.  None of those men were real heroes.  All of their stories were fictional.  Still, their fictional stories inspired and taught us valuable as lessons on heroism.   Cliven Bundy’s name and story belong in the ranks of those myths because he’s a genuine hero and his story not only offers us some valuable lessons and examples–it’s true.

Somebody at the BLM should be fired for being dumb enough to threaten Bundy with armed thugs.  Gonna rob a man with 14 children?  Gonna kill a man with 48 grandchildren?  Gonna murder a genuine cowboy?!

Cowboys are American icons.  Bundy is what this country was all about and was intended to be.  He’s Rooster Cogburn, the Marlboro man and sheriff Will Kane all rolled into one.  More, he’s the real deal.  He’s an honest-to-God American willing to stand up and risk his life to fight for his own freedom.

But the BLM proposed to at least rustle his cattle, and probably kill him . . . ?

How could the government be so effing stupid?   Goin’ after Bundy makes about as much sense trying to shoot down Santa Claus for invading American air space.  The government’s attack on Bundy was a public relations nightmare. From the beginning, there was no way that government could come out of this confrontation without wearing the black hats of genuine villains and possible cold-blooded killers.

Bundy, on the other hand, was guaranteed a “white hat”.  Bundy has become an American icon.  If he survives until next November, he could run for Congress on a write-in vote and have decent chance of winning.

•  Next?

Bundy’s confrontation isn’t necessarily over.  The federal cattle rustlers may still sneak back after the dust settles.   If they come back (and Sheriff Richard Mack says they’re already planning to do so), they should come back with great, implacable fury.  They will almost certainly kill or jail Bundy and most of those who stand with him.  But they won’t deprive this country of the example Bundy has set or the memory of what can be achieved by one courageous man, his family, neighbors and few “Minute Men”.

As much as we need them, we don’t see many heroes these days.  So, I’m grateful for having seen Cliven Bundy.  I’m grateful for the price he’s paid and perhaps even for the price that he may yet pay.  You should be, too.

One thousand people stopped the gov-co in this last confrontation.  I don’t think that’ll be enough if there’s another raid.  Next time, it may take 3,000.  Maybe even 5,000.

If I recall correctly, Thomas Jefferson once observed that “The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”  I think that tree is still thirsty.

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