Jon Angell

Up front is a troubling story that talks to the heavy hand of government. I picked this article in no small part because it explains the unique details of ranching in the West. The details and the history are important. In the central and eastern United States, private land ownership is overwhelmingly the case, while in the West, government land ownership – mixed with leases and property rights – makes ranching an altogether different proposition.

One of the many lessons to be learned in the story of the Maudes ranching family is how quickly the crushing power of the federal government can be mis-applied. I don’t know the motivations or the bureaucrats that led to this kind of indictment, but in too many cases we find activists with their own agenda operating within the government bureaucracy. If this is the case, and I suspect it is given the details in the article, I believe someone, and possibly several, need to be fired! Firing a governmental employee is no small thing, and it shouldn’t be. Unfortunately, it is a nearly impossible thing, and it shouldn’t be that either.

Also, in this issue, I would like to point out the article on page 18. We were directed toward it from a reader who has been following the electrical transmission line/property rights issue. I thought the blogger’s writing was very readable on a pretty technical/legal subject.

Regardless of how you lean on the politics of the subject, I learned a lot from the article and hope many of you do as well.

For those of you that have missed my take on some of the election shenanigans and my rapidly growing distrust in election integrity, check out the Rep. Sam Graves column on the USPS and mail in voting. Absolutely everyone who has to deal with the postal service on a regular basis knows that they have some very significant problems in the service they provide.

The USPS insistence on funneling everything into major processing centers in large cities like St. Louis and Kansas City promised better, more efficient service. USPS, after closing smaller ones such as in Quincy and Columbia, resulted in poorer service and everyone knows it.

Rep. Graves suggests that the excuses need to stop and the USPS needs to be held responsible for their results. I’m all in favor. Did I happen to mention how hard it is to fire a government bureaucrat? Best wishes on the accountability idea. I have my doubts that things will change for the better anytime soon.

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Jon Angell
Publisher CA
PO Box C
Centralia MO 65240