Mr. Lenhart's Neighborhood Hi there Boys & Girls! Today
we're going to talk about Infighting & Organization in our neighborhood. Can
you say that? "Infighting" & "Organization"? I knew you
could!
Fight the good fight - Not the wrong one Being the diverse group that we are, there's little chance
that we will ever agree 100% on everything. It just ain't gonna happen.
Sometimes the wants / needs / desires of a 4x4 enthusiast will conflict with
those of an equestrian & vise versa. While this isn't the only example
available, I use it to illustrate a point. The point is that if I in my 4x4 and
John on his horse spend our time, money, and other resource battling over which
of us has access to what, the only winner will be the environmental
extremists....when John, his horse & I are banned from an area where we once
both had access. Recently this issue became even more apparent when a
debate rose over the relevance of politics on a land use list. The subject
pertained to Clinton & Gore, but could have been applied to any other
politicians in power. While to me, it's evident that our fearless leaders are a
major part of our land use problem, others disagreed quite strongly. For purposes of this article, it's irrelevant who is right
or wrong. What matters is that while we argue amongst ourselves over details, we
aren't doing ourselves or our sport any favors. "Divide & Conquer"
is a highly effective method that has long been employed by environmentalists to
sidetrack the progress of outdoor recreationalists, land use / property rights
activists, & the voting public at large. When we are bogged down in the
details, we loose sight of the "big picture". When we lose sight of
the big picture, "environmental artists" are hard at work painting a
new one that better suits their agenda. When we finally remove our collective
head from an equally collective dark place, we find that "the big
picture" is not quite the same as it was before. So what do we do? Why we
dive back into arguing over a wholly new set of details of course, and once
again the process repeats. Example? While we debated the finer points of 5.7 million
acres of Utah wilderness, our collective head emerged to discover that somehow
the figure had more than doubled. Adapt & Overcome What we "couldda'" done and what we "shouldda'"
done are now irrelevant. What we do from this point on is what's relevant. We
can either return (yet again) to the dark place, or get our act together, united
and strong, and actually work together to stop both the process from
repeating.... and the Utah wilderness from suddenly becoming larger than the
state of Utah itself! A United front requires a set of goals and a doggedly
determined agenda. Before we can move as a group, we must think, and act like
one. We must define the parameters of who we are, what we represent, and what
it's going to take to accomplish our mission. History and metallurgy tell us that a chain is only as
strong as it's weakest link. Unfortunately, our weakest link has long ago been
identified by the environmental hate groups, and they wasted no time in bringing
their full brunt against it in an attempt to render us impotent to act.
Regardless of any Viagra used, that link is our lack of organization. Even more
unfortunate is the fact that they have jerked our chain till it broke, time
& time & time & time & time again. The largest fear that any group has is to face an
organized opponent, for with organization comes power. Power to think, power to
act, and power to affect the course of change. Look no further than the GAGs
(Green Advocacy Groups) that are hard at work every day in Washington. The
Sierra Club works closely with the EPA, who in turn work closely with the BLM,
who receive advice and "information" from the "environmental
scientists", who receive grant monies from Pew Charitable Trusts (a major
GAG money font), who take the recommendations of the Sierra Club on how their
money should be spent...... If you notice a circular pattern here, you aren't alone.
The pattern repeats itself daily in Washington, and furthers the environmental
agenda because those involved have learned that there's strength in numbers ,
and that strength comes from organization. As I've often said, there are MANY
more of "us", than there are of "them", and yes this is very
much an "us vs. them" issue. When we finally quit squabbling over
minutia like that and pull together into a cohesive, purposeful & effective
unit, "we" will outnumber "them" by well over 100 to one.
Those are numbers no politician can or will ignore. To put in Vulcan terms, "The needs of the many
outweigh the needs of the few...or the one". Or think of it this
way..."We are the many, our needs are few, and once united, the battle will
be WON!" Offensive Offence & Secret Weapons Let's clear the air out here, address the issue once &
for all, and put it behind us. No matter what we do, what we say,
or who we say it to, we're going to offend somebody and that's ok in this
neighborhood! Why? Because contrary to the mandates of politically correct
thought, none of us have the right to live out our lives free from exposure to
things which may offend us! Nowhere in the Bill of Rights is there an article which
reads: Amendment #PC-1
"A citizen of the United States shall be at all times, free from exposure
thoughts, ideas, or philosophy with which he or she may disagree or find
offensive" Look it up if you must, but it just isn't there. On the
other hand, waaaaay up near the top, there is one that seems to have been
forgotten by those of us too afraid to voice our displeasure. It reads.... Amendment I"Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress
of grievances." Together, we can use the freedom of speech
that was given to us over 200 years ago by those guys in the funny looking wigs.
We can use it to shout down the doomsayers of the environmental apocalypse with
truth. We can use it to reintegrate those brainwashed by the environmental
agenda into reality. We can use it to educate the masses as to the true
intentions of the GAGs and what their policies really do when put into action. What we can't do is
make progress, much less win the war,
by fighting amongst ourselves in our neighborhood. "It's
Not Easy Being Green" - Article Index
Links to so called
"Environmental Organizations" The Sierra Club Homepage - http://www.sierraclub.org
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance - http://www.suwa.org/
Earth First! Homepage - http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/campaigns/ef/pubs/aulat.html | 
