Bundy's rebellion, saga or fiasco? part four
or, why protests by groups of guys with guns are almost never a good idea.
Some key components of the Bundy occupation
How the response to the occupation may affect the future
Anyone who reads the news will agree that domestic terror, most often perpetrated by right-wing, pro-gun evangelical Christians, is on the rise. And it's like to get worse before it's better, particularly if, as John Kerr at the Daily Kos posits, federal law enforcement doesn't come up with decisive response to end the occupation.
The Bundy siege is a wake-up call: American extremists are getting desperate — and dangerous (Salon)
Consider this. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the US has seen
a dramatic spike in attempted domestic terrorism since Barack Obama
began his campaign for the White House. Perhaps America was not ready
for a black president after all.
Second amendment *trigger alert: bias*
For many, the frustrating thing about the ubiquitous use of the Second Amendment by pro-gun people to justify owning their arsenals is that the amendment specifically refers to a well-regulated militia. In no way can the Bundy group be considered well-regulated, or even a militia, for that matter.
But . . . if Bundy and his followers truly, seriously, believe that the federal government is tyrannical and oppressive, isn't that the sort of situation the writer(s) of the amendment were referring to? Put your biases aside for just one second and think about how rebels in the thirteen colonies felt about King George III's government. Bundy, right or wrong, may be feeling the same thing. And true believers are the most dangeroud people in any conflict.
Siege
It is obvious that the Bundy group is entrenched for the long haul. Although it has been widely mocked, the choice of location, for instance, is telling. The Malheur Wildlife Refuge is a half-hour drive from the nearest town, with clear sight lines in each direction and a road that is easily blocked — ideal for weathering an extended, armed siege. Ammon Bundy told the Oregonian: “We’re planning on staying here for years, absolutely. This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.”
Cliven Bundy, speaking to media from his home in Nevada and on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page, said the group has a substantial stockpile of supplies. While reports in papers like the Guardian refer to a storeroom of supplies, pleas on social media for "supplies and snacks" indicates that might not be the case.
On January 9, Ammon Bundy's mother Carol sent an email to supporters asking them to send the group supplies from a list of more than 80 items, everything from bed sheets to tampons to French Vanilla coffee creamer. That list has gone viral and is the subject to much derision on social media sites (more in part five.)
Martyrdom?
Despite Ammon Bundy's mostly passive rhetoric, he and his followers may be prepared to die for their cause. Ryan Bundy told the Oregonian that many of the men at the refuge are willing to fight and die to protect the “rights of states, counties and individuals to manage local lands.” He told reporter Ian Kullgren that they are “willing to kill and be killed if necessary.”
On December 31, Jon Ritzheimer, a former US Marine whose anti-Muslim comments raised alarms with the FBI in November, posted an emotional video on YouTube that seemed to be a goodbye to his family. “I am 100 per cent willing to lay my life down,” he says. “No matter what happens, just know that I stood for something.”
Oregon journalist and prodiucer Amanda Preacher quotes a group member calling himself “Captain Moroni" as saying: "I didn't come here to shoot I came here to die." We can assume Moroni is in reference to the Mormon roots of many in the group.
During a livestream of the first day's actions, one of Bundy’s sons said, “We have the potential for a slaughter of about 100 patriots.”
Ammon Bundy himself
What is possibly the most disturbing thing of all is Ammon Bundy's calm demeanor and seeming sincerity. This is not a racial epithet-spewing, Confederate flag-waving gun nut. When facing the media and in videos posted to his and the Bundy Ranch's Facebook pages, Bundy is remarkably soft-spoken. In fact, he seems entirely reasonable until he says he's on a mission from God. In one video describing the Hammonds, Bundy is reduced to what seem to be genuine tears.
In a post on his Facebook page, Bundy said he had prayed and "clearly understood that the Lord was not pleased with what was happening to the Hammonds."
"I did exactly what the Lord asked me to do," Bundy said in a video appeal to other “patriots” to join him in Oregon.
The Mormon church does not support Bundy. In a statement issued January 10, Mormon leaders said the Oregon land dispute "is not a church matter," but they condemned the seizure and and were "deeply troubled" by reports that suggest the armed group is acting "based on scriptural principles."
Part five: The media. Mainstream media fears the word "terrorist" while social media goes to town on the Bundys.
