As a Californian who has watched the Feds turn our Central Valley, one of the nation’s most productive tracts of farmland, into a dustbowl using a bait fish as an excuse, I thought I couldn’t be shocked anymore by the politically-driven depredations out of Washington.
I was wrong
The City of Tombstone is squaring off against the U.S. Forest Service over water rights in a fight to rescue “The Town Too Tough to Die.” Citing the Wilderness Act, the Forest Service is refusing to allow the city to repair its waterlines to mountain springs it has owned for nearly seventy years – and which date back to the 1880s. This refusal is threatening residents, private property and public safety with the risk of a total loss of fire protection and safe drinking water. […]
Between May and July 2011, the Monument Fire engulfed a large part of the eastern portion of the Huachuca Mountains. Record-breaking monsoon rains followed. With no vegetation to absorb the runoff, huge mudslides forced boulders to tumble down the mountain sides, crushing Tombstone’s mountain spring waterlines, destroying reservoirs and shutting off Tombstone’s main source of water. In some areas, Tombstone’s pipeline is under 12 feet of mud, rocks and other debris; while in other places, it is hanging in mid-air due to the ground being washed out from under it. In response, federal bureaucrats are refusing to allow Tombstone to unearth its springs and restore its waterlines unless they jump through a lengthy permitting process that will require the city to use horses and hand tools to remove boulders the size of Volkswagens.
Horses and hand tools. Even wheelbarrows are consider “too mechanized” to be allowed.
There is no wildlife in the burn area — a fire started by illegal aliens that the Feds refuse to protect Western states from.
Yes, I want these people in charge of my healthcare. So if the Feds feel pissy towards any state that doesn’t lick their ankles, they can cut coverage down to bandages and leeches.
h/t All American Blogger via geoffb
UPDATE More from CNN. Worth reading, especially the parts of the arrogance of Fed rangers toward the “inbred” people of Tombstone who have the audacity (and a papertrail) to claim ownership of the city’s water.
Tombstone’s newly found documents are kept in a climate-controlled room in a building a block from City Hall. Sosa wears blue surgical gloves when she handles them.
When Tombstone goes to court, she sits up front with the lawyers, assisting them with the nitty-gritty details.
“Who is that?” someone from the opposing side asked a friend during a bathroom break at the courthouse.
“Oh, she’s from Tombstone,” the friend replied, unaware that Sosa could overhear them from a stall. “They’re all ignorant and inbred.”
aren’t these the same people what keep re-electing cowardly eco-whore John McCain?
It’s going to take a governor eventually sending out the national guard or militia to repair one of these and keep the feds from destroying/turning off the water again.
That, or getting rid of the EPA entirely.
Reapply the old drug war motto,”just say no”. When the feds use government agencies to act against the interests of the states, for political or any reasons, it is time to force a confrontation.
Proceed with the needed work, and tell the feds, “it’s your move”.
And where is McCain on this?
it’s not the EPA this time Mr. GMan it’s the “Forest Service”
Mr. 59 I googled and Mr. Straight Talk Express has not exactly seized on this issue
I’m not surprised, HF.
Probably hasn’t found anything worth stretching across the aisle for, yet.
Don’t you mean “bending”…?
oh hey this is cool one of the wells they are using is arsenic laden
just like in third world countries!
The governor doesn’t have to “send” anyone. Just put the word out that no state resources will be used to enforce the law or to investigate any alleged crimes against those acting to deprive civil rights under color of it. I suspect Tombstone has people who know how to shoot.
Jessica the wellness baby
McGehee;
I stand corrected, sir.
This is the part where they need to do what they need to do with the Sheriff standing by to arrest anyone who tries tho stop them.
Mr. buttons!
good morning to you
If the GOP was serious, this is a multi-faceted front to make a lot of noise, and a big stink, against this admin’s abuses of power.
“Here’s what they are doing in Tombstone, folks. Just like the Central Valley. And this problem is rooted in their refusal to deal with our illegal immigration problems.” Etc, etc.
It would be nice for folks like Rush and Levin to bang the drum, also.
Yes, Pablo.
It’s long past time We The People directed phrases like, “Go to Hell” and “Come and make me” toward Our Presumptive Masters from Castle Potomac.
“Oh, she’s from Tombstone,” the friend replied, unaware that Sosa could overhear them from a stall. “They’re all ignorant and inbred.”
Really? This is what passes for cogent argument? I guess the woman who made this remark can suss out one’s parentage just by looking or learning where one is from. Maybe she can shed more light on the Elizabeth “Spreading Bull” Warren story.
No matter how many buckets of confetti the Harlem Globetrotters threw at the Wicked Witch, she wouldn’t die
A corollary to don’t tread on me.
Were I the mayor of Tombstone, I’d send crews out to repair the lines and bring in armed guards to protect the work crews. And I’m not talking about standing around looking tough guards. I mean loaded for bear guards who know how to do their job.
Someone needs to take a stand and this looks like a great place to start.
The Land of the Decree and the Home of the Slave
No matter how many buckets of confetti the Harlem Globetrotters threw at the Wicked Witch, she wouldn’t die
And the Washington Generals (aka the DC Republicans) are never going to save us from the statists.
The President sets the example for all the Federal agency employees to emulate.
Is it just me, or does it really seem like this administration is trying to provoke
someany kind of armed confrontation, anywhere and everywhere?Funny how there suddenly were “Mexican Owl” sightings…its almost as if the Tree Police were looking for a pretext or something.
I sometimes wonder if your average progressive voter even realizes that they also need water to survive.
Ernst, the only way to deal with bullies is through a show of force. I predict it will not matter what the courts decide in this case, because the Obama administration has made it very clear it only cares about the rule of law when the administration benefits.
Rule of law has almost ceased to exist in the USA. Until government officials start respecting American citizens again, we’re in for a rough time.
Yes, Ernst, I have no doubt that the feds believe there would be benefits to any such confrontation.
As to the “Mexican Owls”- deport their asses.
It occurs to me that this is an opportunity for a heck of a party. Anyone with a horse and some tools and a screw you mindset, take your horses to Tombstone. Should be a simple and awesome job to raise a little money for the cause. Cowboy up!
And bring water!
If you need some water, you can buy it in plastic bottles at the store. Don’t you inbred people know anything?
/progressive idiot (but I repeat myself)
The statists may believe a confrontation is in their best interests, but it is not.
Eventually, someone will get angry enough to pull the trigger. Then, all hell will break loose.
I have friends in that area (Sierra Vista), and during the time I lived in Arizona, made many trips there alone or with groups.
I will be watching closely. If this is allowed to become hurtful to the people there and destructive to the town without much more than a ‘what can we do ?’ shrug from the locals, then never again will I want to hear Americans in any region of the country described as “freedom loving, salt of the earth” types, or compared to our forefathers in any way.
We will be officially dead and done as a nation and a people.
Whadjuwant something like this:
Feels a little like the first stirrings of the border Minute Men .
We’ll see. At some point, someone somewhere is going to have to say “enough is enough”.
My personal experience with bullies is immediate confrontation. See how much they really want to fight.
The Land of the Decree and the Home of the Slave
That is just about correct. Don’t feel like a slave yet? It’s only because you don’t live in a place like Tombstone. Their masters literally want to deprive them of water.
Anyone think a Mitt Romney will do a single thing about this if elected? Certainly this brings a twinkle to Obama’s jaundiced eye. However, can we find evidence that the Republican Party has anything other than lip service to offer regarding the tyranny of unelected bureaucracy?
Nixon gave us the EPA. Bush 43 gave us DHS. What new bureaucratic bauble will Mittens devise, in a gauzy reverie, now that he might be elected chief warlord? All in the interests of Repeal and Replace, of course. You have two choices this fall. A man devoted to transforming the titanic cogs of the State Moloch into a more efficient machine, to grind the citizen grist more cheaply and quickly, or Barack Obama, who prefers a little more misery and blood, if less efficiency.
I’ll take door #3, George.
This looks like a good spot for a few thoughts by Neal Peart:
There’s no bread–Let them eat cake/
There’s no end to what they’ll take/
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth/
Wash the salt into the earth…
If one were looking for an opportunity to demonstrate states’ rights, one could hardly find a better scenario. It makes one think.
Not me of course. The Forest Service is clearly acting for the greater good.
I’m thinking we need to find the home addresses of these Forest Service and allied envirofascist people and report sudden sightings of the Extremely Rare Butterfly Species or Previously-thought Extinct Bird Species on those lots.
Alinsky, it’s what’s for dinner!
The opportunities for pushback are numerous.
I’m still waiting for a group, or people with a bully pulpit of some sort, to do so.
Mexican owls? So we’re having to put up with their illegal birds now too? Seriously Mexico, you’ve taken it too far.
I like your style, Darth.
OT. but somebody’s pissed in somebody’s cornflakes…
http://mobile.twitter.com/Shoq/status/202069868831444992
I’ma’gonna check my mailbox. There’ supposed to be a check ?
You’re not getting the checks? You had better contact the VRWC headquarters, then. I’m getting mine just fine.
Huachuca Mountains. Hmmm. Ft. Huachuca anywhere nearby? Rename it Ft. Sumter and turn it into a bully pulpit, MC4. Probably get some volunteers from within.
I’m such a dreamer.
Ft. Huachuca is at Sierra Vista, about a 20 minute drive from Tombstone.
It’s big, with excellent fields of fire for the defenders.
It would make an excellent bully pulpit.
“Armed Radicals Shoot Government Agents. Film at Eleven.”
OT, but this VDH piece is a must read. It has some great stuff to make proggs sputter.
Everything by VDH is a must read.
Anyone want to send them a “Molon Labe” flag or three?
I don’t know about the brand, but the folks down that way are pretty well stocked with that kind of gear.
You know who really needs to step up and lawfully protect Tombstone’s citizens?
This guy. If the feds are going to be confronted, the sheriffs are going to need to band together and tell’em to shove it. Get together with the surrounding county sheriffs, deputize a couple hundred men good and true, and escort the heavy equipment to the job. If any Forest Service pukes interfere, arrest their sorry asses.
Here is a good primer on the sheriffs office. Pretty interesting stuff. I’ll skip ahead…
Exactly correct, LBascom.
Now we watch the forces deploy, and the shaping of the battlefield, and see who’s who and what’s what.
Getting closer to being time to answer that age old- and one of my favorite- questions;
Is you is, or is you ain’t?
The 1964 Wilderness Act specifically states an area to be under its jurisdiction if it is ‘roadless’, which seems to be what’s being worked toward here. New Mexico won their battle against the leviathan.
http://www.truthistreason.net/new-mexico-law-and-local-sheriff-trump-the-feds-in-agenda-21-land-grab
RosalindJ, I hadn’t seen that story, but it’s exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s got to the point that we better forget about our state senators standing up for the people, and start lining up behind the local sheriff.
The good folks of Pima county are shit out of luck. Or did they get rid of that asshole in the sheriff’s office?
I forgot about the senators way back. The power was always meant to lean towards your congressman. The senate is a D.C. animal now. Hell, some senators don’t even reside in their states -hello/goodbye Dick Lugar- and are more interested in special interest groups and what goes on around the pork barrel than anything to do with their ‘constituents’.
“All politics is local’. Time to put meaning back into that phrase.
Rosalind; great catch.
Amazing what people who know their constitution and demand adherence to it can accomplish. Equally amazing is how quickly federal power grabbers back down in the face of it.
Honestly, the town of Tombstone needs to tell the feds to go fuck themselves. Pay them no heed whatsoever and get as many people with heavy equipment that will volunteer and just go to work. Fuck em. Force their hand. Force the police to pick sides and see how far that gets them.
At some point the honest citizens of this country need to take a stand against this kind of bureaucratic bullshit tyranny.
Over and under on when the firefight begins and who starts it?
The left will start the fight, the right will be blamed for it.
So will it be Waco or the Alamo?
What did Davy Crockett say upon leaving Tennessee? Something about “You all can go to hell; I’m going to Texas.”
No Alamos in AZ. No under-gunned cultists, either.
From the VDH piece:
” I would expect that should Obama keep harping about Romney’s tax returns, Romney will demand Obama’s transcripts and medical records at last to be released. If Obama’s surrogates keep writing about Mormonism, we will learn of new disclosures about Trinity Church.”
I guess VDH did not get the “Obama is a good man” Romney memo.
BOT
Is the high speed rail to California suppose to run past Tombstone?
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