An Uprising from Oregon to Tennessee

Bruce Vanwyngarden, an opinion writer for the Memphis Flyer, in his article "Making Tennessee Great Again!"(Jan. 7th, 2016), claims that he will holdup the Big Hill Pond State Park in response to his disgust with the Tennessee Politicians. He supports this assertion by satirically setting up parallels between his holdup and the Oregon Militia Standoff. His main goal is to create a fictional situation of him holding up a state park in order to shed light on how absurd the Oregon Militia Standoff is. He creates an entertaining relationship with audience who are probably just as outraged and amused at his actions and the actions of the Oregon Militia.

The Oregon Militia Standoff at first comes off as amusing. Here we have a bunch of cattle ranchers holding up a bird watching house, screaming for justice and freedom. Do they actually think they can make a difference? Does anyone care that a bird watching center is being occupied? In truth, their motives are important. They are standing up for the injustice felt by the Hammond family. Two of their family members are being charged for terrorism, but in fact, they only set crops on fire to stop a massive wildfire. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management have been after this family for a while. On top of that, they have harmed many ranchers in the area as well. Ammon Bundy, the leader of the militia, deemed the incitement of the Hammond family as the last straw. Although his methods look radical, he is receiving attention, which is the main goal. It doesn't really matter where he occupies, as long as he is getting media coverage. The government and people need to be aware of the unfair treatment. These ranchers have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the FWS and BLM. They have every right to rebel, and I don't think this situation should be taken lightly.