Ending a Potential Armed Dispute without Violence Is NOT Failure [View all]

[MineralMan]

Lots of people are second-guessing the confrontation in Nevada today. In my opinion, it had the potential of becoming a big tragic mistake. The government did not have adequate presence to use intimidation as a tool in this instance, I think. It did, however, have a bunch of armed morons challenging the BLM to poop or get off the toilet.

This is purely a federal jurisdictional issue, and the local county and state are not parties to the dispute. There are court cases and judgments in place, and the federal government has the law enforcement agencies, personnel and equipment needed for enforcement in this case. Those were not in place yesterday, and could not have been brought there in a timely manner.

So, a decision was made to defer action at that time. This is about cattle and money, along with federal jurisdiction over lands under its control. Here's what will happen next:

The armed morons will drift away from the scene. The cattle owner will go about his business. The federal law enforcement people will re-plan their course of action. This is not an emergency situation. It is an ongoing issue with a long history. At some point, action will be taken to enforce the court judgments and the applicable laws.

There is absolutely no reason for a violent confrontation in this matter. Whoever made the decision yesterday to stand down and defuse the situation made an excellent decision. This can wait until a more opportune time.

In my opinion, the BLM made a wise decision in this case.