Once again, the rest of us watch while a group uses the
battle cry of “States Rights” to excuse their behavior. If anyone else watching the latest showdown
in Nevada play out is in the same frame of mind as I am, the question must be
asked, “What the heck is going on here?”
The case in Nevada, in case you have missed the details, is
about a rancher who has been illegally grazing his cattle on government-controlled
lands, and not paying the “rent” for that service that you or I might have
assumed would be the cost of doing business.
When one has cattle but one does not have the land and/or resources to
keep them fed, then one must purchase or rent those resources from someone else. Isn’t that how it works? From their actions, it appears that this
rancher and his supporters do not view it that way.
On the surface, it would be easy to say, “Hey, nobody is
using that land. It is literally desert
so, what’s the harm?” As anyone who as
ever watched a Western could tell you, sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers have
done battle over this same question. The
point is, all land need to be protected from over-grazing or misuse or even
just the unfair advantage of one person benefitting from its existence over another. Additionally, in Nevada and California there
is nary an agricultural issue that does not include water, or more
specifically, the lack thereof.
In my mind, the cattle rancher is merely a tax cheat who is
trying to frame the debate to his advantage while ignoring the very real laws
he has broken. Moreover, he has broken
these same laws for over two decades. It
is neither right nor fair and it is not
actually about State’s Rights.
What this is really about is the continual push by the Right
Wing Conservative movement to dismantle the Federal Government, particularly
any regulatory bodies, which would allow the average person to be run over
those with more money. I know this is a
harsh accusation. Why am I making it?
For many years, those of us who pay attention to what is
going on in the blogosphere have heard all of the accusations and assertions of
the conservative movement. Catch phrases such as, “abolish the IRS,” “abolish
the Department of Education” and others of the same ilk. I call them sentiments rather than objectives
because I have yet to see any proposals for what, if anything, would replace
these agencies. Nor have I seen an argument
for the eradication of these bodies that would make sense to anyone that is not
a multi-millionaire.
There is also a movement coming from that direction in which
the “County Sheriff” is to be the law of the land. This effort is trying to impart an almost “imperial” level of authority to these
County Sheriffs by allowing them to choose which
Federal gun laws they would enforce. HUH? Those laws are currently in place to protect
the every day, unarmed guy and gal who walks down the street. I am in favor of more regulation on guns (although
I must admit, I like guns and like to shoot) and I do not fancy a lawman with
probable entitlement issues deciding
which laws to enforce. That is why we
have elections. To vote on new laws and elect
the people who frame those laws.
What seems to have escaped the attention of most people who
have bought into this “less is more” philosophy when it comes to our government
is that things are the way they are for a reason.
Initially, the United States did not have a strong Federal
Government. When our nation started out,
with her thirteen colonies, what we had was thirteen different little nations. We also had thirteen different currencies,
thirteen different sets of trade laws, etc.
There was actually an occasion (at least one notable occasion)
where a militia tried to take over a military installation in Massachusetts,
only to be barely driven away by the Massachusetts Militia. It was after that instance that
representatives from the colonies met and came to the decision to change our
government to what it is today. All of
this thought and planning was codified by the Constitution, and we as a society
have proudly continued along a path geared towards perfecting the Union.
There was a time when, those considered patriotic, touted
our government as the best in the world.
Now, however, a relatively small segment of our society has decided that
the United States is a failed experiment.
What else would you call it when one advocates for its destruction? I have found that, those who feel this way
fail to answer one, large central question.
Where would the United States of America be, today, without
the existence of the Federal Government?
Let's look at that. Do you like
your car? If so, then how about the
roads on which you drive? You certainly
would not have the highway system without the Feds. How about our national security without a
national army? Would you rather rely on
many disparate militias instead? How
about those militias with the "pick and choose" County Sheriffs being
put in charge of our national security?
Would that make one feel safer than the current model?
Clean water, garbage disposal and consumer protections,
while important do not seem to register in this vision of our country in the
future. If this wish, the dismantling of
the federal government, were to take place, one question would have to be
explored. Where would the infrastructure of the United States be without the
Federal Government?
One future easily envisioned in the absence of the Federal
Government would be one with an even greater cultural divide between rich and
poor. Could you imagine what it would be
like to purchase a car (if you could after the minimum wage and benefits were
abolished along with the Labor Department), and you have to decide without
benefit of standards enforced upon the industry, which car would protect your
family from harm in case of an accident?
Additionally, who would be engineering these automobiles and making them
safe if there were no department of Education ensuring that schools were free
and available to all students?
One other point I must make.
The Right Wing Conservative movement supports “Stand Your Ground” laws. These laws have been a jumping off point for
a heightened murder rate in those states that have it. Yet, there was Fox News giving press to those who showed up to this “media event” with
weapons to interfere between Law Enforcement and a man who has been stealing
from each one of us.
As the GOPTP Congress and Senate of enforced greater cuts to
each agency, the predominance of the cuts to many agencies has been in their
compliance departments. In other words,
it has become very difficult for the IRS to collect from those who do not pay
their taxes, which in turn, takes away from each of us that does. Yet, when the violation is egregious enough
that the expense is worthwhile, an armed group shows up to quite literally,
defend a deadbeat. During the TV
coverage of this one of the rallying cries made by Mike Huckabee was about “those
government employees out there aiming guns at citizens.” It makes no difference to Mr. Huckabee that
those citizens showed up to a matter in which they have no standing, armed and
ready to do battle.
These are but a few examples of how the destruction of our
country would come about if these shortsighted reactionaries were to get their
way. While they ache to dismantle the federal
government and her agencies, which are there to protect the land, air, water
and people of this country, they have yet to propose how we would fill that
very large void. Have they thought this through or is this just another case of
propaganda by the rich, working?
