Clive Bundy: Patriot Or Thief?

[jdmidwest]

I see this one heading to the deep daark hole.

Don't know much about it except for an article I read in the Park Hills paper about the local MO Militia going out there to support him. The article was more about the Militia organization and what it does and very little about what is going on out there. That was a few weeks back and there was a stand off of some sort with the Feds and the ones supporting him. I guess I will have to do a little research.

[ness]

Wait...I thought this was about Ted Bundy. Never mind.

[Justin Spencer]

Thief

[Al Agnew]

He's part of the radical fringe of (mostly) Western ranchers who believe the land is theirs to do with as they wish and that the federal government has no legitimate claim on it...if it isn't private land now, it should be. And even if his claims had a shred of legitimacy, the precedent this sets is truly frightening. There is an awful lot of land out there that is owned by the federal government, and folks, that's you and me. WE have the right to use it for recreation, and most of it is multiple use land that also supports grazing, logging, and mining. Now, this pinhead has been able to make the federal enforcement people back off and basically concede, at this point, that the land is his, for all intents and purposes. I guarantee you, not only is he not paying the legitimate grazing fees, but he's treating the land as his own, and that probably includes controlling or denying public access to it, not to mention not paying any attention to the issue of the endangered species on it.

So...what's to stop all the other ranchers on that radical fringe from doing exactly the same thing? And if they succeed--and why wouldn't they, since they now know the formula of getting the nutjob militias to come out en masse and support them--what's to stop even the reasonable ranchers from saying, "Hey, they got away with it, what about us?" If this is allowed to stand, you can very possibly kiss most Western public lands goodbye...unless you have the money to pay those ranchers for access.

[jdmidwest]

Good point, the Feds never block public access to Federal Lands.

[Tim Smith]

Good point, the Feds never block public access to Federal Lands.

Seriously?

Half of Colorado is federal land and it's like the freaking Elysian Fields out here. I can walk straight up out of Denver in a hundred different places and go just about wherever I like. The east where private property is the rule...I'm never going back if I can help it....everything is locked up, private, inaccessible, chopped into tiny little pieces. Missouri has it pretty good with big chunks of national forest. Go to places like Texas and you are SOL for open natural areas...although it's not hard to find a ranch where you can pay to shoot a leopard in their parking lot.

Most of the states where people are the happiest are mostly owned by the Feds.

[Wayne SW/MO]

There have been reports that they wanted him off so that corporates could make use of the land. If that's true it should be a case for the media and the congress. I don't blame him for trying to hang onto the only source of income he knows, most of us would do the same thing.

The disturbing part of the whole affair was the armed militia that convened on the scene. That is something that is and always has been foreign to this country's squabbles. Even though they are a tiny minority, they make a big splash and infect far too many minds with their rhetoric. IMO.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Good point, the Feds never block public access to Federal Lands.

Without good reason.

[Quillback]

Well if he wasn't paying the rent, why is it surprising they wanted him off? If he was paid up and they were trying to run him off, he'd get my full sympathy.

[Feathers and Fins]

Here is something I have thought about for a while. I believe this country to be one spark from a civil war with how fed up people are with government intrusion in to their lives. Though I don't think this is the spark anymore what would have happened had the Fed taken this to a shooting conflict?

My gut tells me it could have been that spark early on and would have escalated beyond that small area. I don't think our government really understands how fed up the people are and just what could happen if a little gas is thrown on a spark.