I thought this was going to blow over fast, turns out I was wrong. So here is a brief summary of my thoughts. It is a local issue to me, actually in Clark County Nevada same as Las Vegas, and so Las Vegas Metro Police Department does actually have [some] jurisdiction. Still, it’s kinda a hike from town.
- The Bundy Ranch issue was originally brought to my attention when the “standoff” started and a so-called “Free Speech Zone” was in place. Now, I am on the record as saying that Free Speech Zones are an affront to the First Amendment. Thankfully, somebody came to their senses and stopped that nonsense and they did it pretty quick.
- Half of “the West” and 81% of Nevada is owned by the Federal government and has been for over a century. This includes lands ceded to the Feds as part of our incorporation as a state. This is a fact, sure as “the sky is blue.”
- Bundy claims to have “ancestral rights” to graze his cattle despite the fact that a) his family hasn’t even owned it that long and b) people whose “ancestral rights” were guaranteed by freaking treaty don’t have them.
- Contrary to what The Governor of Texas thinks, Bundy does not own the land in question. He owns the land across the Interstate Highway. The issue is that Bundy is using resources that don’t belong to him, just as surely as if I started watering my lawn from the neighbor’s spigot. If I pulled that stunt, my neighbor would be justified in disconnecting my hose.
- There was a period of some years where Bundy did actually pay the Feds the required fees. I’m not sure anybody understands why he decided to stop.
- The desert tortoise is a red herring. Ok it’s a tortoise, but it’s irrelevant.
- The solar farm is just bad timing. Perhaps it made Bundy mad, but it certainly didn’t change BLM plans.
- Bundy has been in and out of court over this matter for years and lost every single time. If that’s not “due process of law,” I am unclear on the concept.
- If anybody else decided they weren’t going to pay the feds money they owed, they would be in deep doo-doo.
- If anybody else aimed weapons at the feds, there would be deeper doo-doo.
- Ok, sure, the “militia” is “well regulated.” Well done, thanks much. Now maybe you guys can go home to your jobs and families? Oh right, if you had a job you wouldn’t be able to go to Bundyfest.
- No, our local sheriff doesn’t have the authority to take guns away from the feds as Bundy wants. Otherwise, Commandant Arpaio would already have tried.
- I hope nobody is surprised that a nutcase who thinks the feds have no authority over federally owned land is also a racist.
- At this point, the thing is a full on Vegas festival of silliness, complete with a wedding.
I think the authorities are angling for a way to end this thing without causing an even bigger problem (and hey, glad the anniversaries of the Koresh incident and Oklahoma City bombing are past). And perhaps that’s why Bundy keeps letting this thing get more outlandish: more cameras means less odds of black helicopters or whatever he’s afraid of. Still, the best way to end this is to stop the media coverage.
In Closing: speaking of solar farms; easter [rotten] egg; like a Virgin; a competitor?; if you need a co-signer, you can’t afford it; and a bunch of items on the middle class, typical Americans.