Bullying - Part 2

             So, following up from last week, I wanted to look at this whole idea of bullying a bit more.

I’ll get right to my basic concern. From everything I can determine ours is a government that has taken on the role of bully in leading the American people. Like many of you I have watched this encroachment taking place for many years. The rule of Eminent Domain, for instance, had the original intent of allowing the government to legally acquire personal property from private citizens. By definition, it is “the power the government has to obtain the property of an individual even without the person's full consent. In most countries, including the U.S., the land owner will be compensated for the land at fair market value. This power allows the government to seize land to be used in public enterprises such as roads, schools, or utilities installations. Eminent domain is generally found in some form in most common law nations.”

The trouble with eminent domain is it has morphed into something abhorrent where bureaucrats and other elected officials have routinely abused and bullied private citizens. These American citizens are ousted from their homes only to have the property be used for something not covered under the intent of the Constitution. The Institute for Justice web site has this to say about the overreach of eminent domain. “For half a century, unrestrained local and state governments have taken private property not for ‘public uses’—such as for bridges or public buildings—as permitted by the Constitution, but for private businesses in the name of ‘economic development.’ Private homes and businesses have been bulldozed, replaced by newer businesses and homes owned not by the public, but by private, politically powerful individuals and corporations.” Most of us don’t pay much attention to the eminent domain problem because it flies under the radar of news reporting.

However, there are other ongoing efforts to bully the American people that should be getting a lot of attention. The first is a Congress that could not be any more out of touch with the American people than they are right now. Our federal government for several decades has been flexing the bully muscle any time it chooses. The fiasco at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas is a classic example. Why did the government determine it was necessary to send in armored vehicles and armed officers with sophisticated weaponry against a group of Americans, who were following a religious nut job? Was this the only way to deal with these folks? A total of 54 adults and 28 children were dead as a result of the raid by federal forces.

More recently we have been subjected to an overreach by Congress, particularly the U.S. Senate, and specifically Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Mr. Reid has decided that a certain rancher, one Cliven Bundy in Nevada, is a “domestic terrorist.” Why? Because of some dispute over land Mr. Bundy and his family have been raising cattle on for a century or more. Now, I don’t know anything about the legalities of Mr. Bundy and his claims to the land he’s using, nor his ill-advised use of the English language in the past few days that has cast an unfortunate pall over this whole mess. However, none of that excuses the dreadful behavior by Senator Reid personally insulting American citizens as well as encouraging the Bureau of land Management (BLM) to forcefully confiscate some of Mr. Bundy’s livestock. This is frightening when you consider that armed officers of the law rolled into Mr. Bundy’s ranch, forcing a dangerous confrontation that nearly turned into a gun battle between American citizens and government agents fully armed. Senator Reid is an embarrassment and should have the decency to remove himself from Congress.

The final bullying that is immensely troubling is, once again, courtesy of our federal government. You and I as American citizens are being forced to purchase, whether we like it or not, a medical plan provided by the government. This is another violation of the Constitution! The argument will continue over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, euphemistically dubbed, Obamacare. But regardless of how the Supreme Court has ruled, no one can convince me that I, or any American, should be forced to buy something we do not want. This is an outrageous abuse of power perpetrated on the American people by a government run amuck.

Such abuse by our own government must stop! Unfortunately, I do not believe our elected representatives will police themselves. So, it rests with you and me as private American citizens to use the peaceful power of the election box to rid ourselves of power-hungry politicians who have lost respect for the American people which they were elected to represent.

However, inaction on the part of the American citizenry should not be misinterpreted by those holding power in Washington as a sign of weakness. The power-brokers in our nation’s capital would do well to remember that we are not chattel – we are Americans. Enough of your bullying!