The Ballad of Cliven Bundy

There once was a guy named Cliven
He probably hated Alinsky and Piven
He thought that the Federal Government owed him a livin'
But he...


Oh wait, this has gone far enough.  Back to the story:

So there is this right wing rancher guy and all around asshole, named Cliven Bundy.  No relation to Ted, as far as I know.  He's been grazing his cattle on Federal land for twenty years, and for twenty years he's been refusing to pay the grazing fees, because, well...you know, Freedom or something.

"Two federal court orders issued within the past year called for the rancher’s livestock to be impounded from a vast swath of mountains and desert. That roundup began Saturday on almost 600,000 acres closed to the public during the operation."

Bundy doesn't agree with that:

"Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights,” he asserted, explaining to TheBlaze that this includes the right to forage, too.
Furthermore, Bundy has argued that it is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nev., land, not he..."Since 1993, Cliven Bundy has been battling the agency, as well as the National Park Service, the Center for Biological Diversity and the courts, to graze his cattle on 150 square miles of Gold Butte scrub land in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. He stopped paying his grazing fees back then, saying he “fired” the Bureau of Land Management as land manager."

Anyone familiar with the phenomenon will recognize the similarity of his "views" to Sovereign Citizen doctrine, with equally meaningless legal cant used to justify not holding up his end of the social contract.  Although, to be fair, so far I haven't seen any direct link between him and the Sovereign Citizen movement.  Anyway, it's not exactly the Sovereign Citizens he's mixing with now:


"Militias ‘mobilizing’ to support embattled Clark County rancher in clash with federal rangers

 From near and wide, armed men are trickling toward Cliven Bundy’s ranch, where the rancher’s fight with the federal government has become a rallying cry for militia groups across the United States.

On Wednesday, that dispute teetered at the edge of deadly ...By late Wednesday, three militia members — two from Montana and one from Utah — had arrived at the ranch 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Other militia groups have inundated the Bundy household with calls and pledges to muster at the site. Their stated goal: to protect the Bundys from tyranny.

They say they are prepared for armed confrontation...Ryan Payne and Jim Lardy, members of the West Mountain Rangers, made the 12-hour drive from western Montana on Tuesday night. Payne is also a coordinator with Operation Mutual Aid, a national association that describes itself as a coalition of state militias.

“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” Payne said.

“We need to be the barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants,” he said. “Expect to see a band of soldiers.

Well, this is the sort of thing the militia guys have been begging for over the last couple of decades.  I'm not suggesting that this is the start of a holy war or anything, but I have been writing for a long time about my fear that one day one of these incidents, deliberately fomented by hate-filled, ignorant, armed maniacs is going to explode.  The constant incitement of these people, by a host of fringe characters and now the political leaders of the Republican party, is inevitably going to lead to something that, a couple of decades ago, we could not even imagine in this country.  And that will not be the end of it.  Then the Limbaughs and the Ted Cruzes and the Sarah Palins will come out of the woodwork, praising these evil jackasses as true patriots, and who knows how many people they will induce to fulfill their sick revenge fantasies.  We could see a wave of violence that few even today could imagine; violence that could destroy the little that seems to be left of our social fabric.  And as the economy gradually improves despite the sabotage of the right, as Obamacare does not fulfill their doomsday predictions, as Obama's term moves toward an end, they are going to become more and more desperate to have their colossal tantrum.

I know that the great majority of those who happens to read these words will write them off as grossly paranoid delusions.  I can only say to them that I have fairly consistently predicted our country's "progress" to this point, and I see little to make me doubt that much, much worse is coming.

Comments

Infidel753 said…
They do seem kind of worked up about something.

Still, it sounds like only three militia guys are actually on the scene, a rather Klaymanesque turnout. Even if they do get violent, these confrontations seem to happen periodically -- Ruby Ridge, the Branch Davidians -- and fail to trigger anything broader beyond a lot of superheated rhetoric. So there's ground for hope that this one won't either.
ez said…
He's a moocher and a taker and has been for years.. Sad, but not unexpected, to say FAUX News is doing it's best to elevate him to the Out Law Hero status
30 years ago I lived near (in Kansas) an old farmer like this, part of posse comitatus he claimed. Well after a few years of that crap the government auctioned off his farm for back taxes. He spent the rest of his life showing up at PTA meetings yammering about the width of roads and streets being a few feet to much, a land grab by the government, a foot here a foot there, they had stolen thousands of acres. What a mess these guys are, and the publicity machine profiting from them is partially to blame.
Green Eagle said…
A note: Anonymous thinks he can weasel his way back in here by posting semi-rational (although still piggish) comments, and then return to his normal sickening behavior. He's wrong.
Anonymous said…
My mother in law is packing up 'er guns and camera to stand WITH Bundy. I'm terrified for her safety, but she got the "Oath Keepers" call and they are FLOCKING to stand with this guy. It's more than 3 militia. Picture Mrs. Clause with an 30-06 and AR-15...... that's my mother in law. I hope this blows over before she can make the drive.
Marla Hughes said…
I'd just like to say as part of the Tea Party movement and a life long conservative that Mr. Bundy is not a conservative. He sounds like he's entitled to the cheap rent he gets on the backs of US tax payers. That he reaps the benefits of lower costs of operation so has a leg up on the local ranchers who have to purchase and/or lease their land from private entities seems to have escaped his attention in his determination to declare the US government illegitimate. He should have paid that $1.50 a head per year and counted his continued blessings.
btw, I strongly support law enforcement and am appalled by so called 'sovereign citizens' who think they can blow away a local sheriff merely for having the temerity of stopping them for a broken tail light. If I were the BLM I'd have my agents armed with tanks, flame throwers and have snipers on every hill. Those people scare me and are NOT on my side. I'm on the side of the rule of law and a republican form of government.
Green Eagle said…
Maria,

Can it. We don't appreciate liars on this blog. Bundy's public statements clearly place him in the camp of the "Patriot" movement and the Sovereign Citizens. That makes him a classic hard line Conservative. You can't just walk away from him when he shows signs of carrying out the violence you all have been fomenting for years now- at least not around here, where we specialize in remembering the origins of this kind of behavior.

Creatures like Bundy were created by Conservatives like you, and you own them now. This is the consequence of the greed and hatred the Conservative movement has deliberately fomented for decades now. If you call yourself a Conservative, you own Bundy.
USMarine said…
More Eagle Poop falling on the US Constitution that is being used to line the bottom of the government cage that everyone here seems to love so much.! How special!
Unknown said…
I am terrified that you sure correct in your reading if the situation. People like Mr. Bundy are completely self-centered and egotistic. They truly care nothing for the country they claim to love.
Green Eagle said…
USMarine, I have been meaning to write a post for a while about the imaginary "Constitution" that Conservatives have carefully crafted over the last several decades. It's a complicated subject because their deliberate misconstrual of what the Constitution says is so multifaceted, and I am now preparing to leave town for another location film, so I won't get to it for a while. I hope you will have a chance to read it when I finally finish it, as I'd like to hear what you have to say.
joseph said…
A little late to the party, but...
It is clear that this country's progressives cannot win until we adopt the rights strategy...violence. We on the left have forgotten to bring guns to our movement. Clearly, if occupy would turn to guns, we could get what we want.
Big Bizob said…
I don't think your delusional at all. it sure looks like we're heading for a very dark period in American history

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