Clive Bundy: Patriot Or Thief?

[Tim Smith]

I almost posted this in the adjoining thread about destruction of public property, but maybe it fits better in its own space.

Clive Bundy, 20 years in arrears for his grazing fees on BLM land (that's US government land...land to which you and I currently have access), recently managed to stave off an attempt at enforcement of his grazing fees. Mr. Bundy is still at large and unaccountable not only for his use of public lands without payment, but also for his role in fostering the subsequent armed uprising...which included two participants recently killed during a terrorist assault on Nevada police officers during which they are reported to have shouted "This is the beginning of the revolution!".

I suppose there are those out there who could find more sympathetic ways to represent Mr. Bundy's position, but I am certainly not among them. To be perfectly honest, it is hard for me to find terms dark enough to portray this man's actions. I see him not only as a thief of public land, but as the plain spoken representative for a group of people who have decided they do not answer to society at all. Mr. Bundy is the unraveled thread, the thin wedge of destruction already driven well into the wood of public life.

In him it is as if the adolescent "A" for anarchy has stepped out of the graffiti of the bridge abutments and settled itself into the national news. Not only do they intend to deface public property, they intend...and in this case already have...to grab it outright. Using an impenetrably stupid argument that their ancestors "owned" the land (a fact not borne out in repeated court cases or any non-intoxicated reading of history) they have set aside their public responsibility, invented "rights" (to OUR land) that they do not possess and put their individual interests ahead of the public interest and the law.

I suppose if there is even the barest hint of a fig leaf available to defend his actions, it would be that he feels his grazing fees are too high and that fee increase was related to the listing of an endangered tortoise that lives on "his" (actually, yours and my) property. I am sure there is someone out there who is sympathetic to Mr. Bundy's views. If you'd care to defend him...with something other than a gun and a meth addled sense of neo-Nazi indignation...I'd dearly love to see how that's possible....

What do you say, OAF? Are we ready to start giving up public lands to anyone who has enough fire power to intimidate the authorities?

[Mitch f]

At first I thought he might have had a point, then I kind of dismissed him after he made those clearly racist comments. I wish I knew the real history of the grazing for free thing....that might unlock some new thought.

[Feathers and Fins]

I initially supported him based off media reports that the land in question was his ancestral / family property and it was the 1934 taylor act and the formation of the BLM that forced him to pay for what should have been grandfathered in to his family.

After researching it for myself I found that neither of those were accurate in this case and that his family ranch was only 160 acres AND there was no legitimate claim to the BLM land by ancestry and that he should have been paying the fees all along.

Grazing, Logging and many other actions occur on BLM land daily and I have no problem with it or the fees for doing it when it’s a for profit business using the public’s resource. I also use to hunt and fish on BLM land and was very glad it was there and open for the public. To me this case simply boils down to a guy who is wanting to graze his cattle on public land for free and nothing more. He should pay his fines and fees or face the consequences of his illegal actions

[Quillback]

What F&F said. It's BLM land, ranchers pay a fee to graze it.

[ness]

I haven't studied all the facts and law surrounding this, so this is all speculation and generalization on my part. (No surprise, huh?)

Bundy fought and won a public relations war against the feds, enabled by our mile-wide and inch-deep media. Fortunately for him, the Duchess of York hadn't encountered any dress-lifting winds, the Beyonce/Jay-Z story hadn't broken, and Babba Wawa hadn't announced her big news -- so there was about 23:55 of cable news to fill each day. His 'government picking on the little guy' story sounded good enough that it whipped folks into a frenzy, especially paranoid people with guns and nothing better to do with their time.

I don't fault him for the crimes of the people that showed up, but I do think he needs to pay up or get out. If not, get the USDA out there and mention there might be a mad cow outbreak.

[Terrierman]

Thief and rabble rouser. And rabble is the word that fits for his supporters. No use whatsoever for his type in my world.

[Smalliebigs]

yep you lost me with your oh sooo typical liberal name calling BS. I do support darn near any political movement other than anything to with Democrats and Republicans and I have no need for the Federal Government, they are all corrupt and lie about anything to further either their cause or jobs ......I really don't care about Clive Bundy, I'm more concerned with keeping my job and providing for my family in this lame butt economy.

[Tim Smith]

yep you lost me with your oh sooo typical liberal name calling BS. I do support darn near any political movement other than anything to with Democrats and Republicans and I have no need for the Federal Government, they are all corrupt and lie about anything to further either their cause or jobs ......I really don't care about Clive Bundy, I'm more concerned with keeping my job and providing for my family in this lame butt economy.

Name calling yes. But SINCERE and ACCURATE name calling....and if I'd really lost ya, you wouldn't have posted would ya.

Sounds like people are ready to call a spade a spade overall. Thanks for restoring a tiny bit of faith in the world at large, folks. Really.

[Guest]

deleted

[Flysmallie]

This isn't a republican or democratic issue. He's an a$$hole no matter your political affiliation.

Agreed