From Cole's blog:
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s long-running feud with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management came to a head last week after BLM agents squared off against Bundy and an armed gaggle of self-identifying “patriot” militia-types. After decades of argument and lost court cases, Bundy still refuses to acknowledge the federal government’s claim to vast tracts of Western lands and pay the grazing fees for his cattle. More detail can be found here.
The feds were correct in standing down last week. The situation was spiraling out of hand and the risk of bloodshed was real. Any show of significant force likely would do nothing more than turn Bundy and his supporting militia into martyrs of the far right, which already has concocted a witch’s brew of conspiracy theories for the standoff involving Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, his sons, a Chinese solar company, the BLM and perhaps even the Trilateral Commission.
"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large
groups." -- John Kenneth Galbraith
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