Last week, we told you about signs of paranoid infighting among the militants at Bundy Ranch. Daily Kos diarist TeamSarah4Choice, who has been right on top of this story for the last few days, notes that one particular affinity group has been stoking resentment by accusing everyone else of being FBI infiltrators.
The Oath Keepers took to their website and accused Bundy’s top Security crew, Booda Bear, Ryan Paine & Jerry ‘somebody’ of being FBI infiltrators. This happened roughly 24 hours after Bundy’s top security crew, Booda Bear & his two underlings, Ryan & Jerry, kicked the Oath Keepers off the ranch and accused them of: “stealing’ being “deserters,” “traitors,” committing “treason of the highest order” and learning that Ryan Paine said, on video, that the Oath Keepers were “lucky [they’re] not getting shot in the back’ for deserting the Bundy battlefield.”
Said “desertion” turns out to be the Oath Keepers taking a field trip into town for hotel showers and restaurants, which explains why the residents of Bunkerville are complaining about armed men at their churches, schools, and businesses. According to Mr. Paine, “real patriots” enjoy a rough and dirty stand in the wilderness, eschewing urban luxuries such as hygiene and fresh food for weeks at a time, while “fake patriots” fight back with rumors and innuendo like children in middle school.
Who could have predicted that a gathering of right wing militant loonies would degenerate into a pissing match? Anyone who has ever paid any attention to the militia movement for five minutes, is who. Think of cult leader David Koresh having a shootout with his rival five years before the Branch Davidian disaster. Think of the constant schisms and splintering among neo-Nazi groups. Fratricidal division is in fact the normal state of affairs for this gun-toting, government-denying demographic. The Bundy Ranchers cooperated in solidarity against a common foe, but ever since the Bureau of Land Management halted its cattle roundup they have had no one to resent except one another. It is a wonder that gunfights have not broken out already.
Patriots my butt… they are terrorists and traitors . Every time one of them says “I’m a Patriot.” I laugh out loud … patriots are humble and want the best for their nation not just themselves.
I am reminded of a story I covered before this whole Breitbot thing, the Northwest Georgia Militia group that is bullying the people in a subdivision where they’ve purchased most of the property. Their leader, Bill Looman, was involved in a “guerrilla operation” across the state line into Tennessee some years ago to “liberate” a “patriot” who was facing charges on some Sovereign Citizen bullshit. When the cops showed up, Looman bravely left a wet, yellow trail back into Georgia. You may recall, he’s the guy with the “No Hiring Until Obama’s Gone” sign on his truck. Such a brave, brave warrior American.
Who would have thought that people inclined to point guns at federal agents might also annoy each other with type-A behavior? These folks have substituted firepower for empowerment, and their politics are ALL about power. They are afraid of power, so they claim to own the power. Then they show us all how to properly use power by seizing what they want and sorting us all out. Those checkpoints in the desert? That’s freedom, see. Only it’s their freedom, not yours, because THEY have the power now. See how that works?