2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting, if somewhat unbalanced perspective, August 27, 2004
The shoot-out at Medina which inspired this book is a fascinating study in both the rural tax protest mentality and the little Caesar enforcement federal mentality.
The author takes the perspective of Freud, who does a reasonable job of analyzing the former, while glossing over the later. Both deceased marshalls, an Arkansas sheriff and Gordon Kahl would be alive today (or pehaps dead of natural causes) had Kenneth Muir simply followed the advice of his predecessor that Kahl was a pipsqueak best ignored.
Yes, the marshalls were just doing their jobs, but no, the arrest of Kahl was not a high priority. We could fill our jails and our cemetaries in short order with every two-bit bigot and loudmouth, but Kahl grew into a legend only after the arrest attempt went awry.
A far more balance perspective of the incident can be read in the book "Its All About Power", from two local law enforcement officers who tried to do their job of preventing trouble rather than making a statement.
Sadly, a deputy marshall with a young family from Bismarck who was just doing his job ended up paying with his life by following the orders of a Little Caesar superior who refused to take the good advice of his predecessor Bud Warren, who has been unfairly maligned in the drama.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, September 16, 2009
This review is from: Bitter Harvest: The Birth of Paramilitary Terrorism in the Heartland (Paperback)
A very intense and well researched book. It shows a great insight to the dark side of America that too few of us do not realize is right here with us.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Great background, July 18, 2006
Make no mistake, Kahl is no hero. By his actions he disgraced his military record and the country he stood for. Corcoran certainly provides a thorough backgrand into what was happening to the rural communities in the eighties and how such times made farmers like Kahl ripe for recruitment by right-wing paramilitary zenophobes. Kahl and the Posse stem from the same roots that created homegrown terrorists like Tim McVeigh. For Kahl, a man who had served his country in WWII, the treatment of rural America in general and farmers in particular, must have been a bitter betrayal. While some have critized the local sheriff and federal agents for the way they handled the arrest, it is important to note that Kahl had a choice, to go peacefully or to take up arms. He chose violence, and in the end, there were no winners, only victims.
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