The standoff last spring at the Nevada ranch of deadbeat wingnut Cliven "Hoof" Bundy and his small but heavily armed brigade of right-wing, anti-Government militia wasn't a spontaneous, organic rallying of like-minded radicals. According to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the anti-Government standoff was well-coordinated and executed by a network of right-wing militia groups in the western U.S. These groups have a noticeable presence of former military and police veterans, who apply the tactics they learned in service to opposing Federal agents enforcing the law.
The report counts 17 instances of shootings involving violent, right-wing anti-Government types and law enforcement in the past four years, the most recent stemming directly from the stand-off at the Bundy ranch involving the fatal shooting in Las Vegas of two police officers and another person by a deranged wingnut couple who had been at the Bundy ranch earlier.
As the report notes, however, the mainstream media hasn't delved into the growing threat of heavily armed, anti-Government organizations, whether out of fear, cynicism, or just plain laziness. The next time such a confrontation occurs, they'll likely treat it as an isolated incident -- another "shiny object" that they've just noticed -- without the context of the "much larger and more dangerous movement" that grows daily.
(photo: KLAS-TV, Las Vegas. Militia loons gather at Bundy Ranch)
