In the first days—as right-wing politicians and pundits added rhetorical fuel—the armed confrontation seemed headed for a body count competition for Hannity vs. O'Reilly. Or it might have led to adding the past count for both, plus Bernard Goldberg's enemies list, along with the run of the mill and constant incitements to murder by right-wing punditry in general.
The armed "patriots" have gallant traditional values, indeed. TPM quotes "former Arizona sheriff" Richard Mack—
"We were actually strategizing to put all the women up at the front... If they are going to start shooting, it's going to be women that are going to be televised all across the world getting shot by these rogue federal officers."From the start, the Bundy story was one more example of an incoherent and lunatic "sovereign citizen" in action. Yet there were interested parties who sure wanted this guy in public view.
Among te usual suspects: ALEC, and its "model legislation." The outfit has renewed its past "sagebrush rebellion" strategy of riling up credible rubes willing to threaten BLM agents with weapons. ALEC's aim is to undermine the legitimacy of federal control of public lands, and through legislation at state levels, to move control where it will most benefit oil, gas, and coal corporations.
And did someone mention the combination of extractive industries and right-wing lunatics? The Kochs are a rather interested party here. Happy to take on BLM, but—eyes on the prize of their long-range objective—really viewing this as "a proxy for the war they'd like to mount against the EPA."
Also to be expected: that the media had no particular worry over being burned by publicizing Bundy so heavily—or by the manufactured legitimacy of presenting him as "one side of a controversy," armed threats being equivalent to enforcing laws. Never mind the inevitability of what the guy would sound like when one microphone too many was pointed at him.
Because who ever could have predicted someone with Bundy's worldview would believe "the Negro" is in sad shape, being no longer free to pick cotton? Or that Bundy believes the real victim of racism is himself: he can't say "'black boy,'or 'slave,' without them being offensive"—and it's all the fault of Martin Luther King Jr. [Even if the Think Progress transcript of this makes the (liberal) mistake of hearing Bundy's remarks as more logical English than they actually were.]
Roy Edroso runs down reaction: "Cliven Bundy Betrays Rightbloggers, Forcing Them to Denounce (Some of) His Crazy Ideas," concluding—
We suppose the next time a posse comitatus nut summons shooters to a confrontation with ZOG, he will first have been briefed by a public relations team.Edroso is careful to add that media attention to unpolished racism—of the kind too unsophisticated to know about using GOP-tested dog whistle—helps obscure the neo-confederate agenda of Bundy and his backers.
The attention to Bundy's input from MLK Jr. also overlooks other messages Bundy is receiving—from God.
And Bundy's followers apparently receive messages from their dental fillings. Not that this prevents the irrational from being heavily armed—and for opportunists to see a very big militia recruiting opportunity.
But why would there be a problem? These are heavily armed white wingnuts, after all; it's not as if they should be treated as the threat that [peaceful] Occupy protestors have been. (Digby here, on the different standard of treatment).
Meanwhile, the doings of Bundy and patriotic chums continue. Utah workers have been warned to be on the alert after a death threat made when the driver of a marked BLM truck was stopped by "two men wearing hoods," and driving a truck with license covered by duct tape. As digby observes of this latest, "Something terrible is happening in any culture where the only protestors who get any respect from authorities are those who are carrying deadly weapons."
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