"FACTS? We don't need no steenkin' FACTS!!"
Posted on 04/23/2014 11:14:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy is being portrayed by some as a man of principle, an iconoclast who should be admired for his willingness to stand up to the federal government. But in fact he's a petty scofflaw who seems to think that he has the right to pick and choose which rules must be obeyed.
Bundy is the cattleman who grazes his herd on federal land operated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, but unlike more than 15,000 other ranchers, he refuses to pay the associated grazing fees. After 20 years of disagreements and court battles, the U.S. government began rounding up his cattle this month. The rancher and a group of armed supporters confronted the federal authorities, leading to a standoff; the authorities withdrew.
Bundy justifies his stingy and illegal behavior with a variety of claims. One is that this is a states' rights issue and that he doesn't "recognize" the federal government. Another is that his family grazed the land long before it came under the jurisdiction of the BLM.
Actually, more than 70% of the land in Nevada is federally owned, including the land in question; the state Constitution recognized that ownership years before Bundy's ancestors arrived, despite his assertion otherwise. (Various reports also have cast serious doubt on whether his family was grazing cattle on the land as long ago as he claims.) For that matter, if prior use of land were all that was needed to avoid paying a landlord, the land would revert back not to Bundy but to the control of Native Americans, who were on the Nevada land long before any white settlement of the area...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The term you wanted is “conscientious objector”.
> “...he’s a petty scofflaw who seems to think that he has
> the right to pick and choose which rules must be obeyed...”
First, let me say that if this were true, then he would be held to a different standard than that of the POTUS, most Democrat governors, and virtually all Democrat mayors throughout the country who pick and choose what laws they will support, let alone enforce. Laws duly passed and signed, such as immigration laws and laws defining marriage, as well as laws limiting abortion practices, are observed far more often in the breach.
Now, as to the claim that Bundy is a “petty scofflaw”, again we see that the scofflaws are the agencies of the Federal Government.
Bundy’s family obtained grazing and water rights to that land back in the 1870s. The BLM was created in 1946. “Grazing Fees” were first imposed in 1976, thanks to a law passed by a Democrat dominated Congress and signed by Republican president Gerald Ford.
The “Grazing Fees” as applied to Bundy’s ranch, and in light of Bundy’s grazing and water RIGHTS are ILLEGAL, because they are in VIOLATION of the covenant given to Bundy’s family almost 150 years ago.
Once again, the Feral Government is the scofflaw here.
Furthermore, the Feral Government not only scoffs the law concerning Bundy’s grazing and water rights, but they also scoff the Constitution and the Posse Comitatus Act by sending feral jack-booted thugs in full battle array complete with automatic weapons, sniper rifles, armored vehicles, and air space domination.
Somebody needs to point these FACTS out to the LIEberal MSM!
Oh, and one more thing.
Did the Feral Gummint send jack-booted thugs in full-battle array to deal with the “petty scofflaws” of the “Occupy” movement that committed millions in property damage, damage to businesses by tying up traffic, pickpocketing, and even rapes and murders?
No, they did not.
This is clearly selective application gummint violence to punish a man for refusing to pay illegal fees imposed upon him, as he has DEEDED RIGHTS to the land and water.
They are going to kill Mr Bundy. I think he knows this, and has chosen this path. I do wonder how the Fedgov thinks they can do it without provoking some rather interesting legal maneuvers in the rest of the West.
Run up a million dollars in parking tickets and they may well.
Like Barack Obama and Eric Holder?
I arrived at that conclusion early on.
It really doesn’t matter who is in the right over the grazing fees.
The heavy handed federal response REQUIRED resistance.
The LA Times talking about ‘principle’. That’s a laugh...
But he also said that the BLM has never had that sort of armed response. Even when they find massive grow operations on federal parks (which are typically left undisturbed).
Once again, the MSM fail to comprehend the real story!
Let's assume for a nanosecond (for you liberals with a public education, that's not very long) that everything they say about Bundy is true. How does that justify the BLM bringing in 200 armed thugs, aiming their weapons at American citizens, and killing several of Bundy's cattle??
Bundy's supporters aren't saying he's innocent - they're reacting to the over-the-top, totalitarian display by the BLM!!
That's the real story the MSM (and Harry Reid) choose to ignore!!!
"FACTS? We don't need no steenkin' FACTS!!"
” • The Timesʼ total average paid Sunday circulation is 1,019,388 and Monday-Friday circulation is 723,181.” http://www.latimes.com/about/mediagroup/latimes/circulation/#ixzz2zoKt0Gcq
Can you say irrelevant...
“The message to the would-be Bundys of the nation must be that willful violation of laws passed by Congress and the state of Nevada and upheld by the courts will not be tolerated.”
More like, “Only Obama & the Democrats are allowed to ignore laws they don’t like. Only Obama can harass those who try to enforce the immigration laws he ignores, and only Obama can re-write ObamaCare by deciding various provisions are no longer in effect.”
A paper that wants to give citizenship to millions who are trespassing in the US shouldn’t get so worked up over some trespassing cattle.
Sounds like said liberal needs a dose of this:
“So, you advocate the confiscation of my property against my will,
to give to someone else you feel needs it more,
based solely on your own opinion and sense of righteousness,
and if I object, you further authorize someone to imprison or shoot me,
and to top it off, you feel good about yourself for supporting this situation.
Sure, liberalism is the “moral choice”, is it not?”
The nexus of the problem. The fact that crusty old-fashioned Cliven is not an attractive character has nothing to do with it. Perhaps the sheeple would be more interested if he were more like Walter Brennan or Gabby Hayes.
The Left will definitely turn this into ad hominem case, much as they did with the dunderhead Zimmerman. The politically incorrect, not to mention the unattractive have rights, too.
That’s what I thought until I saw how we the people were treated at Nat’l parks during the gov’t shutdown.
The lack of common sense education is on glaring display in this editorial of the L A Times..
They weren’t a good newspaper when I moved there in 1964, and they haven’t learned a thing.
Perhaps learning some of the basic information about grazing rights, water rights, and how the BLM is systematically pushing ranchers & farmers off public lands would be of interest to their readers, but the editors cannot find it within themselves to do such.
While pretending to reduce the numbers of cows to ‘save the derest turtles, the BLM drove over burrows with turtle eggs, and destroyed the water tanks which are for the cattle and are used by all the wildlife & also the turtles!!! Surprise!!
IF one of us DROVE OVER a turtle nest, we would be in big trouble. The BLM gets away with whatever they want—and those lands are OUR lands.
I realize that most in Los Angeles don’t have a clue what is going on more than 1 mile from where they live. I was there for over 29 years, and they are clueless about what it takes to feed them—they don’t know & they don’t care.
When there is no more beef in their diet, perhaps some will remember this incident with a single rancher.
In some states, it is still against the LAAAAAAWW to have sex with anyone your are NOT married to!!!
Ask him how that fits his lifestyle!!
And we allowed it? Shame on us.If we are not willing to fight for our freedoms, we don’t deserve it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.