‘Right-Wing Political Culture’ Wrong to Celebrate Gun-Toting, Anti-Gov’t Rancher

[gejohnston]

7. that may be so, but I didn't say he shouldn't

Last edited Fri Apr 18, 2014, 12:57 AM - Edit history (7)

I only said that the same people who are ranting about this guy while supporting Occupy when the actions were really the same. IOW, I pointed out a double standard, no more, no less.

If he's losing his business and home, it's his fault. if he'd kept his cattle off public lands, he wouldn't have any problem. i can't use my condo common areas as i see fit. no one can use public lands as they see fit,

Some how I think it is safe to assume that you never heard of the BLM or have any idea how land issues in the west work do you? This is some in a nutshell Actually, many ranchers in the west are dependent on grazing leases. 80 percent of Nevada is owned by the BLM. 50 percent of Wyoming is fed, 48 is owned by the State. There is very little private land. Had he complied 20 years ago, he would have lost his business and home then just like his neighbors.

if it is against the law.

The BLM has broad powers. In this case, they made a rule because an environmental group threatened to sue the agency claiming the cattle were a threat to desert tortises. The science was dubious at best. The BLM made it law. If Ted Nugent became head of BLM, he could legally make a rule that you had to be an NRA member to use federal public land, and it would have the force of law and enforced by federal courts.

occupy went to jail for a short term sit-in. how much jail time has bundy spent with his 20 year defiance

It was a lot more than a short term sit in. In NY, it became a sanitation and public health hazard that make the park unusable for the New Yorkers that actually paid taxes. Since the issue with Bundy is most likely a civil violation and not a criminal violation, he won't. Here is another difference: Occupy violated a city ordinance that was passed by an elected city council and elected mayor. Bundy violated a bureaucratic regulation based on dubious science.

and theft of our collective asset?

For example? There would be no grazing fees collected, the land is still open to dirt bikes, ATVs, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping etc, none of which have to pay BLM a dime. Nobody's cattle were interfering with them.

we live by the rule of law. breaking it has consequences. just ask occupy

So if the DEA started busting medical marijuana dispensaries and certain smoke shops in Colorado and Washington, you would have Holder's back right? They are still violating a federal law, passed congress and signed by FDR. Some of those shops, and the street in other states, come from growers that illegally grow on public and private land. They use chemical pesticides, dump their toxic waste in the rivers and streams, set booby traps, and open fire an anyone who stumbles on them, and they pay no taxes. They are the Kochs and worse with tattoos. When I was a kid, most game wardens in the west rarely carried guns, or if they did it stayed in the truck. Wyoming game wardens would stop hunters to inspect the tag and age of the deer. It always amazed me as a kid that a LE type would stop and approach a car unarmed, knowing that the occupants were armed. The pot growers and meth labs changed that. Now they have to carry guns. I carry when I back pack in some areas because of those assholes. God forbid some hiker or cowboy has to defend himself from one of these greedy sociopaths. Sociopath is really the correct word for anyone who will commit murder to protect their profits, be it a car company who calculates the cost/benefit of profits vs wrongful death suits and a drug dealer/grower who is willing to personally pull the trigger. That isn't to say that I agree with prohibition, simply showing one of the ugly sides of the industry that prohibition created.

How about jailing those who knownly employ undocumented workers? They are also violating the law.
How about the BLM who threatened to kill anyone who stepped outside the "first amendment zone" including those armed with only cameras?

I didn't say I believed in his cause, I actually don't know enough about it. Being from the rural west, I understand a lot of the issues more, but not enough facts of this specific case. Now that it has been political, I only know that I can count on Fox and MSNBC telling it like it isn't.