Bundy Ranch: The Takers Come Home To Roost

The most patriotic anti-American patriot ever.

...I probably should have made that a cattle reference. Still, Clive Bundy doesn't make much of any sense either.

A rancher in Nevada, Bundy has taken it upon himself to skip out on paying grazing fees for his cattle over the past 20 years. These fees were being paid by his neighbors as needed, and by any other rancher in the country.

It's a simple enough idea. You want additional grass and scrub for your cattle. So you can make a deal with a neighbor, to allow your cattle on their land for awhile to eat. As part of the deal you may agree about how long they can stay, or you can pay for the use of the land.

It seems very friendly and simple. It seems rather capitalistic.

But not to Bundy. He seems to have decided that since the land is owned by the government, he can use it at will for whatever reasons he decides. And when he's asked to pay his fees, he refuses. And when he goes to court looses, he still refuses. And when he looses again in court, he refuses...You see how this is going.

He's a cheat. He currently owes around one million dollars. (Imagine how nicely you'd be treated if you refused to pay that amount of money to the government.)




Now he's attempted to lay out an argument that he doesn't need to pay. He says he is descended from Mormon pioneers that have been in the Virginia Valley area since the 19th century. So he feels his people have certain rights to the land that are being infringed on.

So his claim is that he and his have been here longer than the Bureau of Land Management (the federal department he's picked a fight with). The trouble with that is that his parents moved to this area in 1948. And they weren't grazing cattle there until 1954.

Damn reality-based world. Keeps getting in the way.

But don't worry. Clive's got a plan B. He doesn't recognize the federal government...Yup. He's one of those guys. You know, the fanatic nut that does something and then starts screaming about how he doesn't aknowledge the power of the court, or the legitimacy of the government.

Sitting between these two flailing tent poles, you'd think Clive Bundy would be lonely, no one wanting to be connected to him. But this is 2014, and Right Wing America isn't interested in reality. As long as it's anti-gover...Is Obama still president? Okay...ment, they are eager to laud it up the wazoo.

So the militias came out for him. Nevada is full of militias. But they've also been coming from around the country. They are eager to defender the borders from what they deem as people attempting to violate United States law. For now, they are taking a break from that to help out a man who is violating United States law. Reality? What's that?

So yeah. They blocked up traffic on an interstate, to disrupt things and make a statement.

Some rode around on horses, playing at being cowboys.

And when the government arrived to enact the requirements under the repeated court decisions that Bundy lost, they put men around that trained automatic weapons of United States officials.







I'm sorry. Do they think they are heroes of some sort?

YES! They really think that.

As long as they refuse to allow the government to function. As long as they can force their opinions and wants on those around them. They seem themselves as heroes.

• These are the people who rage about the thought of someone on welfare buying a food item they deem too good.
• These are the people that like to think that black people are "lazy" because they "all" take government "handouts". (And we will be getting to that new news in the next post.)
• These are the people that like waving the American flag around, and then threaten to secede. 

Now, I have no problem with civil disobedience. But when you want to fight, it isn't civil anymore. And when you bring out guns...

These are the people that many elected Republicans are clamoring to be seen supporting. They each take turns calling them patriots. (At least until this morning.)

Reality? Reality, I guess, is what FOX News and the Koch Brothers make of it. And, yes, FOX News has rallied to Bundy as well. The criminal becomes a patriot. The shows that attack anyone who has or could misuse a federal program see the man who runs out on his bill as the protagonist of their narrative spin.

I am sure someone on FOX must have lamented what the Founding Fathers would've thought. What would they have done about this?

Washington would have lead the army in, and taken the cattle, and arrested anyone that didn't go home and stop being an unpatriotic dick.

Whiskey Rebellion - 1794 - Washington is done with your
B.S.

History and reality are such asses, right?

When the government attempted to gather up the cattle last week, the situation grew to become so dangerous that they decided to stop and release the hundreds of cattle they had corralled. The agitated crowds and gunmen made it a situation that was racing towards possible deaths.

Gunmen eagerly waiting to shoot down lawmen that cross them? Aren't these guys usually the villains in a Lone Ranger story?

These are the people who like to have the power, hence the need for those guns. It feels good to them. (Why does a visit to the library require a sidearm?) If you cross them, they can terrorize you.

And they do work themselves into a lather. Get excited about the idea of killing or dying for...what again?

They try and make it sound all noble. But what they hate and fear is the rest of the country. And by the rest of the country I mean people different from them. Blacks. Hispanics. Gays. Liberals. Jews. Whatever.

And they demand the right to takeover an interstate. Or get in the face of police, wave their gun at the police, and have the police apologize to them.

They get away with this, when just over in Arizona being Hispanic is an offense? That is the power they fight for.


And imagine, just imagine, if all these guys weren't white.

Imagine black people getting in the face of police like this. It'd be called a riot. FOX News would give round the clock coverage to the horror of the black culture was unleashing. And the police would have been less considerate.

Back in 1985, a black group called MOVE took over a building and rebuffed the police. The police ended up dropping a bomb on the building, killing 11. On most streets, black kids avoid contact with police, so they won't get hassled.

Imagine if they were Hispanic. It'd be declared a secret invasion force by Lou Dobbs and others.


But they are white. And it's their right.

Yet, they play up the idea that they are some perenniel victim of America. White people?

I think Chris Hayes did a good job of explaining. The Grievance Industry.

Poor white folk. They just never get a shot. Never get a break. Not even rich ranchers who ignore and fight the law for decades, with seeming impunity.