The Bundy Militia gets it wrong.

I am totally for Militia. Militia have two purposes: suppressing crime very locally when civil authorities cannot, and suppressing tyrannical Government on a scale up to National. With a HUGE stretch of the imagination, one might say that Bundy the Younger has the second mission in mind. That's all I am going to give him, because everything else about his occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge HQ buildings is a disaster.

First, he claims to lead a paramilitary force, a Militia. If you lead such a force, as Commander, you have many responsibilities, such as training and equipping your troops, and maintaing good order and discipline throughout all phases of operations. Bundy seems to have planned well enough as to logistics, but that is all we can see or know about his outfit. The biggest decision for any Militia leader is when to deploy on an operation. Sometimes this is obvious, such as against criminal gangs terrorizing your Militia operating area. Sometimes it is NOT obvious, like the Malheur operation.

Malheur is just another piece of territory controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. Oregon has many such pieces of land. Has Bundy declared war upon the BLM and by logical extension, the entire Federal Government? A case can be built that such is his actual operation, and if so, it deserves to fail, and I will now tell you why.

The Federal Government has too much power, uses that power in very ugly ways, and needs to be dialed back to a Constitutional level. Okay, now that we have THAT out in the open, how is that BEST done? Bundy has apparently decided that it is best done by Militia occupying land and buildings, and he had moved his Militia to do that. Here is why he will fail, and then I will list why his failure will set back the program to dial back the Federal Government's power by many, many years.

Just like the two previous Militia operations, Bundy Ranch and Sugar Pine Mine, the tactic of the Feds will be to do nothing but wait. After a month or so, if previous form is followed, the Militia will declare victory and go home. Their declaration of victory will be hollow, however. They will have achieved NOTHING permanent, and the Feds, on the other hand, will have more press-fodder with which to vilify the entire idea of Militia. In other words, the Malheur operation will be a failure, because the only advantage at the end will go to the Feds, not the Militia.

Okay, by now, you must be screaming at your computer monitor, "Hey Rivrdog, if YOU are so smart, how would YOU stop these abuses of Federal power." That would be a fair question to ask, and I would answer it by saying that Militia needs to be prepared, it needs to be openly prepared, it needs to be universally prepared, and when the fight finally comes, the Feds will lose, because they will be seen as having their jackbooted thugs killing ordinary Americans for merely exercising their right to defend themselves. I believe that the mere raising of Militias in an open manner will eventually provoke the Feds into an armed confrontation, and no deployment of Militia is necessary. We wait, they will come to us. Part of the Second Amendment EXPRESSLY permits formation and maintenance of Militia.

We are already at war with the Feds, and the Feds are fighting this war with Psychological Warfare strategies and tactics, and we are losing it so far, mostly because we have failed to prepare for the use of PsyWar. In other words, Bundy has oversimplified the PsyWar (if he sees the use of PsyWar at all, I'm not sure he does). He sees it as a local thing (he has already lost that skirmish, the locals hate his ops) and maybe as a national thing to try to galvanize the right-wing base. He DOES NOT see it as a fight which involves every American citizen, as it eventually must.

More simply put, the Feds and their sycophant allies in the MSM now have a huge public relations weapon with which to bash the Right. It will also be used to bash the Second Amendment and it will be used as the basis for MORE federal regulation of public lands, not LESS regulation.

Bundy has lost before he started, and every day he stays at Malheur, the loss gets worse.

Comments

[fred carter]

Richard
I admire your passion. Having read your posts I fail to see what the final objective is. What do you expect to gain? Is the gain worth death?
Fred

[Richard]

I see that I did not directly answer your question. What would I do? I would be very vocal in my support of the militia. I would consign myself to challenging every rumor, suspicion, conjecture, and thoughtless opinion. I would counter the same with factual timeline of events. I would query those opposed to the cause as to why they are opposed. I would press the question. Not to argue emotions but crafted reason. The front line is established. As the argument assumes they are in the wrong, the situation should not be exacerbated by the addition of other front line militia. There is the very important role of behind the scene supporters who are diligent in foisting fact upon the errant media and the willful ignorant (aka, statist). Simultaneously, prepare for the field because if and when it gets bloody we won't be caught unaware. But before then, a show of force (as at Bunkerville, NV) can also avoid the larger evolution of confrontation. The US has had great success in this strategy so why not borrow a page from the playbook?

[Richard]

"The Federal Government has too much power, uses that power in very ugly ways, and needs to be dialed back to a Constitutional level."

"We are already at war with the Feds..."

From your own words.... Therefore, it seems that your objection is the method. Well darn. File this under No Battle Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy. There is a time for talk and a time for action.

To them who criticize what is going on in OR because Bundy, et al, are harming the cause, I say, what have you done which is as effective? Yes, the word is effective because here we are talking about it. The whole nation is talking about it. So, as you imply, what now must be done is to direct those thousands of conversations going on in the media and in D.C. Some may think a militia action like this is doomed and harmful. But knowledge is power and the facts will act to suppress rumor and conjecture. Well, it's supposed to be that way except the media doesn't play along. So be a bug, don't let it drop. Be repetitive and insist upon the facts. In other words, be militant about the truth.

WE are doomed if we continue to lay about as we do not take action until a better plan is presented then proven. What is this about having to decide by committee of when, how, why, where to act? In the meanwhile, no action is taken. Words are not action.

Thank you for this opportunity. I reply only because your thoughts are provocative.

[fred carter]

I think you are correct. I see no value in occupying a building that is used by the local citizens. I fail to see the objective of the mission. This could be a repeat of the Alamo without the outrage the Alamo created.
Regardless it will be spun by zeros crew against the 2nd ammendment. This is not the hill to die on.
Always good to see your take on the situation.
Fred

[pigpen51]

I concur completely. this is at best a juvenile waste of time and at worst the biggest miscalculation since Chamberlin and his treaty with Hitler. I am afraid the results could be the same.