[xzins]

Indeed, there can no longer be any doubt that militarized police officers, the end product of the government—federal, local and state—and law enforcement agencies having merged, have become a “standing” or permanent army, composed of full-time professional soldiers who do not disband. Yet these permanent armies are exactly what those who drafted the U.S. Constitution feared as tools used by despotic governments to wage war against its citizens.

[xzins]

Nor is it a question of whether the Nevada rancher is illegally grazing his cattle on federal land or whether that land should rightfully belong to the government. Nor is it even a question of who’s winning the showdown— the government with its arsenal of SWAT teams, firepower and assault vehicles, or Bundy’s militia supporters with their assortment of weapons—because if such altercations end in bloodshed, everyone loses.

I would caution Mr Whitehead that this is the direction that the government media immediately took the Bundy standoff.

He was unjustly targeted, but he was a tax and/or fee dodger when EVERYONE else pays their fees/taxes.

These outlets used this approach to send the message: "this guy isn't worth standing up for." Why would they want that message to dominate? In order to undercut any national reconstructionist movement gaining headway.