Shootout at the No-Way Corral

Portrait of a federal employee: A man or woman, some of whom have sworn an oath to protect and defend the country and her citizens, some of whom have a particular area of academic expertise, and some that simply have specific skill sets and a job description that utilizes those skills. Men and women who raise families, live and love in local communities, and scrape out a living just like the rest of us, here in the United States of America.

These are not villains; they are our friends and neighbors, also known as: We The People.

I get it… this November are the mid-terms; election politics are in full swing and nothing can sink a campaign or party viability quite like the blood of Americans on home soil. But sometimes conflicts transcend votes, and require strict adherence to principle. Even of it requires a little bloodshed.

Nineteen years after the Oklahoma City bombing and twenty-one years after the 51 day stand-off against the Branch Davidians in Waco, politicos are afraid to confront sensitive situations with anything but sensitivity.

Lotta good that does us.

While we spend millions on security and surveillance of the Boston Marathon, we stand down to armed men in the Nevada desert to avoid a potentially violent confrontation. Our ideas of threat assessment seem selective and poll driven. We steel ourselves against the bogeyman of terror from without, while we surreptitiously downplay the demons who foment terror from within.

Cliven Bundy’s little war in Nevada has been going on since before the Clinton administration took office. And what I can’t understand, for the life of me, is why we let this type of thing escalate to this point, and when it does, why we handle it with kid gloves.

The federal government and Bureau of Land Management keep letting this situation get out of control. They have won ruling after ruling in federal courts, but keep trying to play Mr. Nice-Guy. Hemming and hawing, they go back and forth to court, constantly worry about the safety of their employees, and back down from confrontation. They’re getting bullied by a redneck.

In the latest stand-off with ranchers, Bundy and his gun totin’, rootin’ tootin’ “militia”, the BLM has stood down again, dropping their plan to legally seize this tax cheating miscreant’s cattle from federal land. All in an effort to “protect” federal authorities.

Election year or not, this is unacceptable.

The GOP calls itself the “Party of Lincoln”, but when did the Democrats become the “Party of Stuart Smalley” (no offense Senator Franken)? Instead of walking tall and carrying a big stick, we shuffle along wearing kneepads and a crash helmet.

For decades, an underground “movement” has been building in this country. Armed anti-government “patriots” who wrap themselves in the American flag and the Constitution, while they ignore the most basic tenets of both - E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one.

These “patriots” believe that the rights of the individual outweigh the rights of us all. And since the election of President Obama, these groups have exponentially increased in number, and exponentially increased their weapons stockpiles and firepower. These are not the actions of “patriots”.

Here’s the thing: when armed gunmen threaten violence against the government, that is armed insurrection and rebellion. This is spelled out quite clearly in the Constitution, and is not defiance, not protest, and not an exercise of the First Amendment. No my friends, the word we are looking for here is “Treason”.

The Constitution of the United States, Article III, Section 3: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”

Now, I have been a peacenik for my entire life. I have always questioned and confronted authority, and made myself be heard, or at least ignored en masse. I don’t generally advocate violence, but I am also a patriot, and I believe that the United States’ strength comes from our unity, even when we disagree. In a government of, for, and by the People, the government is us; all of us.

And armed rebellion is treason; period.

Clive Bundy’s little insurrection started long before President Obama came into Office, but today, it’s Obama’s watch, and the buck should stop with him.

I am a firm believer in the First Amendment and our right to peaceably redress grievances. This is what our courts are for, and what nonviolent resistance is about. Bundy has exercised these rights for decades. And repeatedly, he has lost.

That should be the end of his story; but it isn’t.

His answer today is to rally men to his side with guns to threaten and interfere with federal authorities legally charged with doing their jobs. He denies federal authority over public lands, citing the Constitution, the very embodiment of federal authority. He is willingly leading an insurrection.

When he considers his own liberty to evade taxation, trespass on federal land, and threaten federal workers to be superior to the federal government’s authority to tax, manage public lands, and do their jobs, he threatens We The People. That means every one of us; you, me, and anyone else who can call themselves an American.

The Constitution is not a weapon; it is a shield.

Forget the mid-terms Mr. President. Send in the BLM to legally seize Bundy’s cattle, have them supported by federal agents, and have the National Guard there to support them. Letting these armed insurrectionists dictate terms is surrender, and We The People lose. Let’s face it,… they aren’t going to vote for a Democrat anyway, so it certainly won’t cost any votes. But it just might restore law and order.

If they fire so much as a warning shot, send in overwhelming force to subdue these rebels; and rebels are exactly what they are. A federal employee may be threatened in the course of performing their duties, but allowing them to be threatened is unacceptable. Go in and make arrests when you can and leave bodies when you can’t.

President Washington put down the Whiskey Rebellion with a minimal loss of life. But the loss of life was necessary to preserve a way of life. The President takes an oath to defend the safety and security of the United States, and to protect our way of life. Turning the other cheek to armed insurrectionists violates that oath.

I am a firm believer in protest and dissent, but this is neither protest or dissent. Adhering to the First Amendment does not always lead to a win. But adhering to the Second Amendment when you don’t win, should and must lead to a loss.

It’s time to take off the gloves and roll up our sleeves. Armed insurrection cannot be sanctioned or quietly endorsed, publicly or privately, in this great nation. Allowing this behavior emboldens these rebels and threatens us all. They view the government as the enemy, and the government is us; and that makes us their enemy.

It’s time to face down Bundy’s Bovine Brigade and force them to pull up their steaks, or turn them into hamburger.