Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing his cattle on government land for years. As far back as 1998, the federal government obtained court orders asking him to remove his cattle from government land. He refused. Multiple court orders were issued, and multiple times he refused.
So last week, they started rounding up his cattle. As all kinds of guys with guns came to the aid of the rancher, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decided they didn’t need another Waco on their hands, so they backed down, gave his cattle back, and left. For now or forever, I have no idea.
Mr. Bundy says that he will “abide by all of Nevada state laws” yet he adds “I don’t recognize the United States government as even existing.”
As far as I can tell, he rejects the idea that the federal government can own land. While I’m no constitutional scholar, multiple times the courts have rejected his claim. And even if he disagrees, I DO know that that the constitution created courts, and as long as he’s living in this country, he has to abide by them, or face the consequences.
I’m not sure about all the legal mumbo jumbo. I've seen all kinds of stuff on line, and it confuses me. Maybe the government’s wrong here, I really have no idea. But I do know this. He owns 150 acres, yet he grazes his cattle on land that does not belong to him. In my mind, that doesn't make him a patriot. It makes him a freeloader. In my world, if I use something that belongs to someone else, then I should pay them for that use. That’s only common decency, whether the law states it or not. Heck, if a friend helps me with a project, I at least buy him beer! But Bundy apparently, somehow in the name of the constitution, feels he should be able to use someone else’s land for free.
Somehow, he has become the darling of the extreme right. Yes, the extreme right, the ones who say a man should earn what he gets. The ones who say we should heed constitutional authority, of which federal courts are a part. The ones who say we shouldn't have government handouts… like free land for grazing.
Maybe I’m missing something here. But really, I just don’t get it.
