Monument by Dictatorship

Rogue Leadership

Monument by Dictatorship

Fake News

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            There was a lonely place where the trail ran up to the sky. It turned sharply left on the very point of a lofty promontory overlooking the long sweep of the valley below. Here the trail offered to the passerby a vision of this hour. Rosy-tipped peaks and distant purple mountains could be seen, beyond the far reach of the tall grass range.

            Upon the very lip of the rocky shelf sat a solitary horseman. He was a man tall in the saddle, astride a strangely marked horse. Its head was held high; its ears were pricked forward with attention riveted upon the valley, as though in tune with the thoughts of its rider- thoughts that said there lay a new country, with new dangers, new rewards, and new trails.

            Okay, now try this for impact.

            There was a lonely place where the vestige of an ancient trail must have carried painted warriors of the windswept plains. Here the trail offered a lofty promontory overlooking the long sweep of a plain where the spirit of ancients intermingled with the like minded dreamers of the modern world.

            Upon the very lip of the rocky shelf stood a solitary hiker. He was a man covered with sunscreen, his left shoelace undone from his Eddie Bauer sports boot, but the redundancy of its closures would assure ankle protection if it was called for. His hydrating pack was nearly empty as he took another, boost charged draft of scientifically formulated energy and electrolyte drink. He was now alone with his thoughts. This wilderness, with all its imagined dangers, self awarded benefits, and a blazed trail was all a caring citizen of this earth could possibly imagine, and, of course, protest for.

            The real question arises. Which of the foregoing is political make believe and which isn’t?

            Fake News

            Fake news is everywhere.

            As we watch with utter fascination the proprietary meltdown of the uber-liberalistas, we are beyond trying to speculate why we still read their newsprint. It is always couched in mission double speak, and it denigrates anything aside from its socialistic footnotes. There are no longer any boundaries or standards. The more bizarre the issue becomes the greater the fascination. Only the cause counts and only members of the cause are welcome.

            That was the exactly the case of the visit to the Las Cruces community by border congressman, Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) last week. He arrived on the representation of a national tour of protected sites on behalf of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. The stage was set complete with agenda and press coverage. The invited citizenry selected to speak of the glowing success of the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument had also been part of the similar chance visit of the outgoing Secretary of Interior when she dashed into town to give the loyal operatives a refresher on fifth column tactics to derail any alteration of the monstrosity for the public good.

            Eighteen residents were posed to speak about the wonders for Grijalva. According to the paper, they represented “outdoor enthusiasts, tourism entities, and some businesses”. Staff representatives of New Mexico’s senatorial duo were also there.

            What the paper didn’t question, however, was the absence of a single person who had an investment, duty, or responsibility on the lands. It didn’t mention that the congressman whose district the monument spanned, Steve Pearce (R-NM) was uninvited and that Congressman Grijalva was not only out of his district but out of his state.

            The emphasis only dealt with the superlative benefits as related by the invited, selected guests. There was not a single invitation to the 44 ranches and the 90 families that stand directly in the approaching avalanche of threatened losses. Neither were there welcomes to the influential off road affiliations, law enforcement, border patrol, utility providers, chamber of commerce, conservation districts, and local government that are charged with the economic well being of the community. If the latter were informed at all, they found out about the “educational event” within the hours before the event was staged.

            Why wouldn’t a newspaper emphasize that in its coverage?

A no borders, congressional far-leftist was in another colleague’s state and district, without his knowledge or input, and was leading a concealed protest refresher for the agendized promotion of monument’s special interest status. The whole event was a façade. It was an embarrassment even to the gathered partisan, biased leadership. It was blatant lapse of good manners (and probable misuse of federal funding) and the local newspaper supported the cause without challenge.

            Shame on them and shame on their perpetuation of fake news!     

            Monument by Dictatorship

             It has come to light that Thomas Jefferson added 530 million acres to United States territory. It wasn’t without conflict or objection. There was a fairly brisk dustup in congress in the approval of the action. Many in congress believed it was unconstitutional to obligate the nation to more debt.

            Not to be outdone the fellow that just vacated the White House added a whopping 553 million acres to the nation’s maritime and land based national monuments. The status of a surface mass the size of the Louisiana Purchase plus twenty three million more acres was changed without a single congressional vote being taken or a floor debate scheduled! There is something dreadfully wrong with that extra legal perversion and it must be fixed. The action to take is to dramatically role back the oppressive overreach. Two places to start are here in southern New Mexico where the border is most vulnerable and in Utah where representation actually cares for the well being of its productive citizenry. The combination will serve as a comprehensive modification of administrative overreach.

            Monument by dictatorship must end.

            Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “I want to know who on the National Resources Committee approved Grijalva’s community outreach on the monument issue.”

Just to reiterate Wilmeth's point, in my column in March of last year I wrote:

"Everybody is coming to me with their wish list," says Interior Secretary Sally Jewel.

 

You take your wish list to one person, who then takes it to one other person, who can grant you your wish.  Under this model, three people can determine how 640 million acres are managed.  No public hearings, no debate, no involvement of Congress. And this model is being heavily used by the current administration.

Is this model acceptable to anybody? We'll be watching the Republicans to see.