From a review of the available evidence, it appears that federal agents last week executed Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum (shown above with his wife and children) in Oregon in cold blood. It sounds like his colleagues kept their heads and made it out alive. It could have come out the other way. They are lucky. Although, if the execution is questioned in court, their lives will be in danger, as well.
The media assassination of Finicum, his family and and his colleagues is now underway. You have to kill his name if you want to kill him, get away with it and send the message that you can.
American leadership has a long history of sending people to execute other people. It often goes something like this: someone, typically a rich guy, makes a deal with someone else. Certain politicians carry the water on the deal and get cut in for a piece of the action. Often, they are transferring government resources at below market prices, so discretion is required.
Then, it turns out that the implementation of this transaction runs into road blocks. Other people have property rights. There are local regulatory processes. The local citizenry is upset by the lawlessness or the lousy economics of what is happening. But the problem is that contracts are now in place, so the hold-up costs money and attracts unnecessary attention. The hold-up also creates risks (including personal liabilities). People get frustrated. Falling commodities prices mean that cash flows are thin. Overhead is burning away.
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