Collins also told Bushman that they should mind their “own (expletive) business.”
Tom Collins
Posted on 04/11/2014 10:46:50 AM PDT by Sopater
Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins fears the dispute at Cliven Bundy’s ranch that has drawn protesters from across state lines might turn violent.
So when Collins talked this week with a county commissioner in Utah who said others are coming so Southern Nevada to support the Bundys, he did what he usually does: He spoke his opinion without mincing words or worrying if he offended someone.
Those comments are now making the rounds on social media and have attracted criticism from people ranging from Utah ranchers to his colleagues on the County Commission.
It started when Darin Bushman, a Piute County, Utah, commissioner, called Collins about the Bureau of Land Management roundup of Bundy’s cattle in the Gold Butte area, about 80 miles east of Las Vegas. The cattle are being seized after Bundy failed to pay grazing fees over 20 years. When the conversation ended, Bushman posted on Facebook that Collins said Utahns are “inbred bastards” and if they come to Clark County to support Bundy they “better have funeral plans.”
Collins also told Bushman that they should mind their “own (expletive) business.”
“Now that’s some classy leadership for you,” Bushman wrote in his post.
On Tuesday, Clark County commissioners will discuss decorum of commissioners, which was sparked in part by concerns about Collins’ recent statements, said commission Chairman Steve Sisolak. Sisolak said Collins won’t be the sole focus of that discussion, which will examine the broader issue of decorum.
He said he’s uncertain of what the outcome might be or whether it would require anything formal such as a policy change.
Commissioner Mary Beth Scow welcomes the decorum discussion, too.
“I think commissioners can agree to disagree and make better decisions when they get a diversity of thoughts but I don’t believe it can ever be personal,” she said. “I think the phrase ‘agree to disagree’ works very well.”
In an interview, Collins downplayed Bushman’s elected office, noting his county has only about 1,500 people. Census data shows the tiny rural county has just 1,556 people.
“I’m trying to do everything I can to discourage anybody who tells me they’re coming here with loaded guns,” Collins said. “I’m going to tell them not to come.”
The issues at hand are complex and a protester who doesn’t understand rural Nevada fails to grasp the whole picture of the situation, Collins said.
In an email to the Review-Journal, he added: “This isn’t about Cliven’s cows nearly as much as it is about Public Lands access. We don’t need anyone toting guns to fix that.”
Collins said he’s been in touch with BLM officials about the issue and is closely following the situation.
“The Bundys want peace,” Collins said. “They don’t want any violence going on so all these gun-packing folks just need to go home.”
Bushman said he contacted Collins to discuss his views on jurisdictions of lands. He said the conversation for the most part was “civil and professional,” as he shared his understanding of how federal jurisdictions work.
Bushman said he told Collins he was heading to the protest and expected some people from his county to be there, as the issue has attracted the concerns of Utah ranchers.
“This guy was just off-the-hook weird,” Bushman said. “I’ve never ran into a fellow commissioner who treated me like that.”
At the Bundy ranch with protesters Monday, Bushman mentioned the exchange with someone who called Collins on a speakerphone and inquired about the conversation.
Again, Collins insulted Utahns, Bushman said, angering the Beehive State residents who were supporting the Bundys.
When asked if he had any regrets about what he told the county commissioner from Utah, Collins said: “I’ve got no regrets about what I said to that son of a bitch.”
So, when you threaten someone’s life, that’s called an “insult” and “offensive”?
Law enforcement via Facebook...
Dingy is their role model.
Besides this guy being a jackass, these articles don’t provide much in the way of illumination for both sides.
When the conversation ended, Bushman posted on Facebook that Collins said Utahns are “inbred bastards” and if they come to Clark County to support Bundy they “better have funeral plans.”
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Collins is an idiot. He seems to be itching for a fight. Well when TSHTF, HE is likely to be the first casualty.
If not by the Bundy supporters then by the FedGov agents who will open fire.
April 19, baby. It’ll be here soon. Very soon.
He kind of looks like a mix of gin and lemon juice.
(Just a low-brow comment, in keeping with the content of the article. Hard to resist, given the name.)
I don’t know much about all this. But for an elected official to be telling ANYONE they’d better be making funeral plans, my support falls on those aligned against him or her. No exceptions.
I watched about 10 minutes of a standoff between BLM personnel equipped with SUVs, K-9s, GUNS (not drawn), stun guns (drawn, brandished and USED) and the whole nine yards of desert apparel, leg holsters, vests, etc. They threw a 57 year old lady to the ground who like most of the unarmed opponents there were asking the BLMers what the backhoes were for (do you need backhoes to move cattle of BLM land, or do you need them to bury dead cattle you killed?).
These young men with government jobs and taking orders and going out to meet Americans in an adversarial situation had better realize the orders they’re following have a history. The history of Ruby Ridge, the history of Waco, Elian Gonzales, and if they asked their daddies, they might get a “the history of soldiers explaining why they burned those bodies in the ovens in Nazi Germany”.....
These functionaries have to be educated that ‘government’ is not God, and they don’t have to follow ‘government’ when it is WRONG.
No wonder he was named after that drink.
> Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins fears the dispute at Cliven Bundy’s ranch that has drawn protesters from across state lines might turn violent.
The federal gov’t already took care of that by starting the violence.
> It started when Darin Bushman, a Piute County, Utah, commissioner, called Collins about the Bureau of Land Management roundup of Bundy’s cattle in the Gold Butte area, about 80 miles east of Las Vegas. The cattle are being seized after Bundy failed to pay grazing fees over 20 years. When the conversation ended, Bushman posted on Facebook that Collins said Utahns are “inbred bastards” and if they come to Clark County to support Bundy they “better have funeral plans.”
He needs to be removed from office. Thanks Sopater.
Collins has outed himself as a hoplophobic. Anybody who uses the term “toting guns” is suspect in my book. “Pistol-packing” is another red flag.
That's an unveiled threat. If you or I said something like that on FB we'd get a vist from the local Police to be tased and have our dogs shot.
At this point, it doesn’t really matter what the original reason was for the feds to show up.
They’ve overstepped, overthugged, and they are in the wrong.
What’s right is that they should leave. But they won’t.
They can’t be seen as backing down anywhere or any time.
One good way to describe Mr Collins is as a loose cannon or as a keg of gun powder rolling around with a lit burning fuse daring someone to set him off. Let him keep it up and even more pissed off folks are bound to show up in his backyard armed and mad as hell since this issue has broad national ramifications.
He sounds charming, an absolute delight. /s
When these young men start mistreating women of any age, and wear all that cool desert gear and act tough and resolute against any reason, they risk the response from old men who have the ability to reach out and touch them.
Optics do a lot to make up for fading vision.
The sniper was asked “how’d you feel when you misted that guy?” “A slight recoil, sir.”
And probably you shot yourself when you opened the door.
(Collins said) “We don’t need anyone toting guns to fix that.”
Actually, with the government - at all levels - treating the people the way they have been, toting guns may be the ONLY way to fix that, crusty old bastards like Collins not withstanding.
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