AKA: Sinners, the time of judgement is upon you!
Now that Cliven Bundy has shown some of his true colors, many of the very Republicans were so eager to shove their noses up his butt suddenly are even more desperate to declare they have nothing to do with him. Reports indicate that many of the "militiamen" who came rushing to his defense came specifically because they heard about the situation from Sean Hannity of FOXNews. He and Fox and the rest of the seditious party organs of the GOP actively aided in recruiting these thugs who came charging in and rescue the poor "patriotic" Bundy.
Long ago Jane Fonda took a visit to North Vietnam, an incredibly stupid thing to do in the middle of a war, and then famously was shown sitting in an antiaircraft gun wishing that she could shoot down some American airman. From then on she was known as Hanoi Jane. It took her years to finally apologize for it. To tell you the simple truth, I have never forgiven her. I hated the Vietnam war and was always a bitter opponent of it. But I never blamed the troops were doing their duty to their country. I blamed our feckless government and the dimwitted Americans who kept electing that government into office. Never the troops.
As far as I'm concerned, I must grudgingly accept Fonda's apology because it seems sincere, but I can never let it go completely. She will always be Hanoi Jane to me. From that time on I have never paid money to see one of her movies. It is a point of honor, and I still live by it.
Right wing extremist? Left wing extremist? I condemn you both! Conservative or liberal, you extremists are my political, intellectual, and philosophic enemies. I don't care which side you are coming from, you all look alike in my eyes. Students for a Democratic Society, Militiamen Patriots, inner-city rappers and Crips and Bloods, all advocating armed resistance to the police in the name of liberty and freedom. You are all the same to me.
So now we can add to the list. The word Hanoi may seem way out of date but it has emotional power for me and is perfectly applicable in my opinion. Hanoi Hannity has joined Hanoi Jane. Hanoi News formerly known as Fox News has joined her as well. So has Hanoi Rand Paul and the Tea Party, along with most of the GOP.
I will not forget this. And I don't think the rest of America should forget it either.
How bad did it get? Consider the following:
Kevin Williamson of the National Review Online stated that he believes that rancher Bundy is the equivalent of Gandhi and George Washington because they were British subjects who believed that the legal situation was "something deeper and more meaningful". There are two problems with this, Mr. Williamson, both of which relate to the same issue -- you need to learn a few facts about history.
George Washington and his fellow patriots (the real ones) did everything they could to make peace with the king. Anyone who knows any early American history knows that at the beginning the revolutionaries weren't revolutionary. They respectfully, even obsequiously, requested that their beloved sovereign make peace with them. I haven't noticed Bundy or anyone on the right wing attempting that with our government.
And Gandhi… Gandhi!? The nonviolent, passive resistance leader who abhorred and utterly rejected violence is like Bundy in what way? Bundy has said he will engage in armed resistance if law-enforcement or military personnel are deployed against it. Armed resistance? You mean fighting the U S Army and killing law enforcement officers and American soldiers if you fell the need in order to protect your "rights" to steal public land. Gandhi was a totally non-violent individual. There is no relationship between Gandhi and Mr. Bundy other than the fact they are both human.
And how does Williamson respond to the latest disgusting behavior on his great hero's part? He continues to excuse it! He wrote: "I very strongly suspect that most of the men who died at the Alamo held a great many views that I would find repugnant; we remember them for other reasons."
And, "On April 15, Williamson wrote in defense of Bundy for National Review Online: "Of course the law is against Cliven Bundy. How could it be otherwise? The law was against Mohandas Gandhi, too, when he was tried for sedition."
And as far as Washington goes…I've already put it on record but I guess it bears repetition. During the whiskey rebellion when similar sorts of complaints were raised by citizens who called themselves a patriot militia, Pres. Washington became the first and only US president to personally lead the army into combat-- combat to crush the rebellion. If Washington were here today, Mr. Bundy would be facing George Washington's sword and the army behind it.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Democratic Congressman Stephen Horsford, who represents the Nevada congressional district in which Bundy resides says, "...many people in...the surrounding area... feel terrorized by these armed militia groups. They are not from our community. They are not from Nevada. They're coming here and they actually have set up kind of a military police state where individuals who live in the community have to go to their checkpoint in order to get to their house.
The militia groups have set up their own checkpoints and so the people who live there actually have to go to those checkpoints to get to their home.
We have people I met with yesterday who told me that their kids can't walk around the corner from their house to their school because there are armed militia in the hills. They tried to go to church on Sunday and there were armed militia in and around the church because Cliven Bundy was there. They want them to leave so that our community can go back to normal.
... What we need first is for these armed militia to leave our state! We need them to leave Nevada, so that we can solve our own land use issues ourselves! He is a lawbreaker. He is not a hero!"
Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie said, "He knew very well from my position that I felt that the federal government was within their bounds to do what they were doing in regards to the grazing area. As I explained to Mr. Bundy over two years ago: there's a federal court order. He lost in court…"
So all you people who think Bundy is such a great American patriot who is bravely resisting the federal government's evil actions, let me repeat a few things that have turned out to be happening back there at the wonderful patriotic Bundy Ranch.
Outside gunmen have come into the town and established an armed military outpost.
Local residents are forced to pass through illegal checkpoints in the presence of armed gunmen in order to get to their own homes.
Parents are afraid to let their children walk to school or play outside because of their fears of the armed militiamen wandering the hills.
When people go to church they are met with armed patriots. That really makes for a wonderful religious experience, doesn't it?
The only thing that surprises me about all of this is that it is been allowed to go so far. Anyone who knows anything about these militiamen and these patriots knows exactly what these people stand for. It amazes me that Americans who say they support our troops also support these groups who actively arm themselves in order to kill our troops if they dare to perform their sworn duty.
So the next time you meet a Republican who says he supports our troops, ask him if he supports Bundy. Because if a Republican supports Bundy and supports our troops, then he supports our troops, all the way to the bottom of their graves!
