Tuesday, January 19, 2016

TOW #13

Protesters in Oregon Seek to End Policy That Shaped West
Kirk Johnson and Jack Healy
The New York Times

            Usually when we hear about protesters and wildlife refuges they are in support of each other. However that is not the case in one small town in western Oregon. Here the Bundy family has occupied a federal wildlife refuge through the use of fire arms. They are fighting against the government’s protection of land that they think they should be allowed to graze their cattle on. The authors paint these radicals as extremely conservative republicans. Showing a picture of Cliven Bundy and Ammon Bundy the reader can see them with their cowboy hat and boots. If that isn’t enough to convince the reader they describe a “draw Muhammad” contest organized by Cliven Bundy in Phoenix. The protestors describe the protection of natural prairie land as “tyranny of law”. This shows just how ignorant these people are to think that the government is stealing this land from them. When in reality it is being preserved for the next generation. They can’t afford to buy their own grazing land so they think that they deserve the land that has been set aside for the planet. The stupidity in their plan is even more apparent when the reader reads the interviews with other townspeople of Burns. They do not support these rebels and want the police to take care of it quickly. Even extended family of the Bundy’s do not like what they are doing and do not believe in their cause. And like any uneducated American they take quotes directly from the constitution and interpret them how they like. This has been an American pastime as long as there has been a constitution. All in all it’s just a sad story about a sad situation that will hopefully be resolved without violence. One family member of the Bundy’s said it best “In my idea, he should pack his bags and come home”. 


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