Bundy's fight with the Federal Government (the Bureau of Land Management specifically) goes back to ‘93 when the BLM eliminated livestock grazing in the area, citing the protection of an endangered tortoise species. That was when Bundy decided to stop paying grazing fees. Now, the agency says he owes more than $1.2 million. A federal judge first ruled in 1998 that Bundy was trespassing on federal land. Last year, a federal judge ruled the agency could remove the cattle. When the BLM started the process of removing the cattle, Bundy and his family took up arms against the BLM; shortly after that the BLM, in order to defuse tensions, returned the cattle to Mr. Bundy. However, the machinery was in motion and even after the returning of the cattle hundreds (some reports say thousands) of people who sympathize or identify with Bundy’s position have flocked to the area North East of Las Vegas where all this drama has been unfolding… These people call themselves many names amongst which are ‘Patriots’, ‘Constitutionalists’, ‘ Militias’…
Politicians and other public figures have either supported or condemned his stance and/or actions… He’s been called everything from ‘hero’ to ‘terrorist’ and many have already brought out references to, and comparisons with, Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, ID. Whether you agree with his position or not, he deserves the credit for taking a stand on it. This level of civility, however, may soon change and here’s why: in an interview with the New York Times, he referred to black folks and ‘the negro’ (a pre-Civil Rights term, also used by people who consider black people inferior) and then proceeded to say of them “And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children; they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.” Now folks, that kind of statement really changes the discourse landscape, since he seems to suggest that (a) all black people behave the same; and (b) they seem to be better suited to be slaves and not free people… Now he’s gone from a Randy Weaver like-thinker to a pro-slavery sympathizer (maybe he’s also throwing his hat in the ring as a candidate for Grand Wizard of the KKK!) He’s also gone from the voice a citizen airing a grievance, to somebody with questionable credibility since he seems to be a practitioner of egregious double standard: on one hand he complains about ‘the negro’ being subsidized by the government and on the other hand he is claiming as a right the subsidy he’s been getting from the US Government for decades by letting him graze his cattle on land that is not his, paying a pittance, and then he even refuses to pay the fees demanding that he should have the grazing rights for free (from subsidy to full ‘gift’ from the Feds!).
Now you see the likes of Rand Paul - the Junior Senator for Kentucky - going from “There is a legitimate constitutional question here about whether the state should be in charge of endangered species or whether the federal government should be” to “His remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him” and Dean Heller – the junior US Senator for Nevada - from “Bundy and his supporter are Patriots” to “Senator Heller completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy’s appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way" via a spokesperson… Now it is time to backpedal, my friends, now that Mr. Bundy is showing his hand... This was truly an “Oh shit” moment for many politicians and people in the media… It is time to put some dirt between them and this whack job, at least publicly, because he is ‘radioactive’!
Now, I have not seen much in the ‘mainstream’ media about this issue; I have no idea what the staff of the ‘Fair and Balanced’ are saying now (although I heard that many of them are also running for the hills), or other radio personalities are spewing out; I read that Beck said something about it “being in danger of representing the ‘right’ version of occupy Wall Street” to which Bundy responded that Beck didn’t know what he was talking about! Last, but not least, bow-tie man Tucker Carlson has gone on record saying that, in fact, the land does not belong to the Bundy clan as they claim; for this, he will be excommunicated, his credentials revoked, and his rear end will be thrown out of Paradise!
However, all of these prominent politicians and other personalities were – seemingly - ‘asleep at the switch’… Anybody worth their salt could have recognized the true sentiments underneath this Bundy character’s rhetoric… When you hear someone with the argument that they don't recognize the Federal Government, that they are Constitutionalists, that they believe in states’ sovereignty, it is usually a big and loud clue into (a) their allegiance to the 4th Article of the Constitution where it says that some persons are considered personal property (read slaves); (b) their disagreement with the Emancipation Proclamation and the fact that the civil war ended up being an anti-slavery war (regardless of what they choose to call it); and (c) they are against the 14th amendment, and having to consider all persons legally equal - as that amendment mandates - is against their very fiber. I wonder: were they really asleep at the switch? Or were they fully aware of Bundy’s core ideology and ran away from it when those beliefs became very apparent to all, and quite toxic – I may add - for certain political ambitions? Hmmmm…
There is a couple of points, at the very center of this story, which I think are worthy of further commentary: first, the issue of states being considered exempt from Federal oversight. The Pledge of Allegiance says “One Nation, Under God, with Liberty and Justice for all…”; it one does not say “50 States, Under God, with Liberty and Justice for all…” The Federalists Papers (#9-Hamilton and #10-Madison) address this issue with all the arguments for there to be an Union, a Federation of States acting as, and reaping the benefits of being, one Nation. And the second point is the misuse and hijacking of the term Patriot, and here’s why: a true Patriot does not pick and choose which parts of the Patria (Father Land) he or she will defend or support; a true Patriot does not choose which of the amendments to the Constitution they are willing to die for if necessary, and which ones they choose to ignore, depending on convenience; a true Patriot does not ask for (and much less demand to have) the right to pledge allegiance only to those parts of the nation they happen to like… Being a citizen is not like being in a restaurant where you can pick from the menu what you want to consume (i.e. what laws you want to follow or ignore): being a citizen or a patriot is all or nothing; the law applies to all equally; the rights are the same; the duties are also the same!…
Now you see the likes of Rand Paul - the Junior Senator for Kentucky - going from “There is a legitimate constitutional question here about whether the state should be in charge of endangered species or whether the federal government should be” to “His remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him” and Dean Heller – the junior US Senator for Nevada - from “Bundy and his supporter are Patriots” to “Senator Heller completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy’s appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way" via a spokesperson… Now it is time to backpedal, my friends, now that Mr. Bundy is showing his hand... This was truly an “Oh shit” moment for many politicians and people in the media… It is time to put some dirt between them and this whack job, at least publicly, because he is ‘radioactive’!
Now, I have not seen much in the ‘mainstream’ media about this issue; I have no idea what the staff of the ‘Fair and Balanced’ are saying now (although I heard that many of them are also running for the hills), or other radio personalities are spewing out; I read that Beck said something about it “being in danger of representing the ‘right’ version of occupy Wall Street” to which Bundy responded that Beck didn’t know what he was talking about! Last, but not least, bow-tie man Tucker Carlson has gone on record saying that, in fact, the land does not belong to the Bundy clan as they claim; for this, he will be excommunicated, his credentials revoked, and his rear end will be thrown out of Paradise!
However, all of these prominent politicians and other personalities were – seemingly - ‘asleep at the switch’… Anybody worth their salt could have recognized the true sentiments underneath this Bundy character’s rhetoric… When you hear someone with the argument that they don't recognize the Federal Government, that they are Constitutionalists, that they believe in states’ sovereignty, it is usually a big and loud clue into (a) their allegiance to the 4th Article of the Constitution where it says that some persons are considered personal property (read slaves); (b) their disagreement with the Emancipation Proclamation and the fact that the civil war ended up being an anti-slavery war (regardless of what they choose to call it); and (c) they are against the 14th amendment, and having to consider all persons legally equal - as that amendment mandates - is against their very fiber. I wonder: were they really asleep at the switch? Or were they fully aware of Bundy’s core ideology and ran away from it when those beliefs became very apparent to all, and quite toxic – I may add - for certain political ambitions? Hmmmm…
There is a couple of points, at the very center of this story, which I think are worthy of further commentary: first, the issue of states being considered exempt from Federal oversight. The Pledge of Allegiance says “One Nation, Under God, with Liberty and Justice for all…”; it one does not say “50 States, Under God, with Liberty and Justice for all…” The Federalists Papers (#9-Hamilton and #10-Madison) address this issue with all the arguments for there to be an Union, a Federation of States acting as, and reaping the benefits of being, one Nation. And the second point is the misuse and hijacking of the term Patriot, and here’s why: a true Patriot does not pick and choose which parts of the Patria (Father Land) he or she will defend or support; a true Patriot does not choose which of the amendments to the Constitution they are willing to die for if necessary, and which ones they choose to ignore, depending on convenience; a true Patriot does not ask for (and much less demand to have) the right to pledge allegiance only to those parts of the nation they happen to like… Being a citizen is not like being in a restaurant where you can pick from the menu what you want to consume (i.e. what laws you want to follow or ignore): being a citizen or a patriot is all or nothing; the law applies to all equally; the rights are the same; the duties are also the same!…
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