Cliven Bundy and the myth of rural 'powerlessness'

Bundy and his comrades enjoy far more political power than the average urbanite

Cowboys, Texas
(Image credit: (Erich Schlegel/Corbis))

Over at National Review, David French has penned the latest in a series of conservative quasi-defenses of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who is in the midst of an armed standoff with federal authorities after Bundy refused to pay grazing fees for his cattle. While acknowledging that Bundy is on the wrong side of the law, French bemoans the "powerlessness" of Bundy and his ilk, arguing that the incident is further evidence that rural America is being trodden under the boot heel of Big Urbanism:

As government grows ever larger, majority rule becomes more consequential for minority populations. The regulatory state grows, and rural Americans are left with little recourse...

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.