I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

The company line from the arch-conservatives is that Cliven Bundy won a battle against tyranny when he called in the militia to repel Big Gubmint from his land.  The truth is quite different.  Bundy broke the law, and when things didn’t go his way, he called in a bunch of armed thugs to avoid the consequences.

Here’s a memo to the Alex Jones fanclub: you have all been duped.  Using force (or the threat of force) to coerce others is the very antithesis of a free society.  You’ve been shown all too willing to use the tools of fascism under the guise of fighting it.

Take a good look at the patch on Captain Brillo Beard’s chest.  In case you’ve forgotten Roman history, the Praetorian Guard served emperors.  Occasionally, they killed the very emperors they served if it suited them.  You might remember Caligula, but Pertinax, Aurelian, and Caracalla (there’s probably a whole list somewhere) all fell to their own guards in the name of political expediency or simply for money.

Emperors and their cronies have no place in a nation built on the principles of democracy.

If this had turned into another Ruby Ridge, it would have been on the heads of the Oathkeepers, the Minutemen, and all the other reprobates who confuse waving a gun with real civic action.   I can tell you I’d be none too happy to have their armchair snipers muzzling me from an overpass.  I’m far less afraid of the BLM than I am of that guy’s trigger finger getting too twitchy.

There might come a time when Americans are compelled to take up arms against a tyrannical government.  This isn’t it.  The people out there just waiting for the slightest excuse to start shooting aren’t a response to a threat; they are the threat.

(Addendum: Anyone who thinks this is a secret conspiracy between Harry Reid and the Red Chinese would be advised to spend less time on Infowars and more time on Snopes.)