Ammon Bundy, leader of the militia occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, does not understand our system of government or else he is simply denying reality and flouting the law.
He insists that the land belongs to "the people . . . . [It's] their land." Yes, the land belongs to the people. But it is the collective "We, the People of the United States," not the individuals who happen to live in the area. Do the people who live on Liberty Island own the Statue of Liberty?
By all legal measures, the wildlife preserve is federal land. Bundy and his cohorts demand that control of the land be given to local governments; or, at the least, that ranchers be given free use of the land for livestock grazing -- without having to pay a fee as they would on private property. So much for free enterprise, huh?
Further, he declares that the Federal Bureau of Investigation "was organized to investigate federal bureaus, not people" and thus has no jurisdiction in this matter. That is simply not true. The FBI is the agency that enforces federal laws.
Each day that this standoff goes on, it becomes more at risk for a shootout. Bundy's group is heavily armed and some of his people have declared their willingness to die for the cause. This may be harder than negotiating the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Ralph
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