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By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: Ryan, Cruz, Trump and Tarp Man: The New Conservative Truth
LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, speaks to reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 5, 2016. Finicum would later cover himself in a blue tarp with a gun in preparation for an "altercation." (Jarod Opperman / The New York Times)
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34335-ryan-cruz-trump-and-tarp-man-the-new-conservative-truth
In December of 1995, NASA scientists aimed the Hubble Telescope at a tiny dark spot within Ursa Major, a pinprick amounting to one twenty-four-millionth of the entire sky, a grain of sand in the totality of space. The scientists focused the machine as deeply as it could go, and took pictures. The resulting images astonished the world: In that wee slice of infinity were almost 3,000 galaxies, each littered with millions of planets. Three thousand galaxies multiplied by 24 million inches of sky, and that's only as far as we can see.
Out of all the planets out there, and the infinite number of possibilities they represent, I'd wager my shoes, pants and left lung that none of them have a guy sitting outside a large birdhouse in a rocking chair under a blue tarp with an assault rifle across his lap. That's our pleasure alone. His name is LaVoy Finicum, a neighbor of Cliven Bundy with 11 children of his own, and he joined the silly Bundy cohort in Oregon to stand against tyranny by occupying a deserted bird sanctuary while freezing his ass off in the dead of winter with no supplies to speak of. Under a tarp.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Dispense with the elephant. I hereby nominate Mr. Finicum as the new avatar of the modern conservative movement: An angry white guy armed to the teeth with a bag over his head.
It's a perfect image, if you think about it given the action on Capitol Hill this week. Newly-minted House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and erstwhile GOP candidate for vice president, floated into his new position on a magic carpet weaved with promises of change, new ideas, real progress. His first act as speaker? Presiding over the 62nd vote to repeal Obamacare. It got through the Senate this time, and will actually hit the president's desk, where it will be swatted out of the building faster than a Serena Williams forehand. Oh, and they attached a rider to defund Planned Parenthood, too.
FULL story at link.
WILLIAM RIVERS PITT
William Rivers Pitt is Truthout's senior editor and lead columnist. He is also a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of three books: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know, The Greatest Sedition Is Silence and House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation. His fourth book, The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible, co-written with Dahr Jamail, is available now on Amazon. He lives and works in New Hampshire.
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Out of all the planets out there, and the infinite number of possibilities they represent, I'd wager my shoes, pants and left lung that none of them have a guy sitting outside a large birdhouse in a rocking chair under a blue tarp with an assault rifle across his lap.
