Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

A Sagebrush Rebellion

26 Comments

OK, so as far as I can tell, the federal government has been violating the First Amendment by setting up “First Amendment zones” (like the idiotic “free speech zones on campuses) and is about to have a violent confrontation in eastern Clark County, Nevada, on non-federal land, over an “endangered” species that is so endangered that the same federal government has been euthanizing them by the hundreds as a result of their proliferation in that region. Do I have that right?

26 thoughts on “A Sagebrush Rebellion”

  1. The BLM has dismantled the “First Amendment Zones,” after actually reading the First Amendment.

  2. The problem is human nature. The feds will want to put this guy down to send a message. Meanwhile, the yahoo militia types will flock to the cause to get their message out. That in turn will give the feds justification to escalate the situation and no one will be able to back down. Beyond a certain point, the real facts of the matter won’t matter much. This is Waco and Ruby Ridge all over again.

  3. This guy hasn’t been complying with federal law for twenty years. What justifies this circus now? Looking at it, I wonder if the magic trigger was his fines going over one million dollars.

    Second, it does look to me like a possible trigger, like Waco and Ruby Ridge for restarting the drama that ended with September 11, 2001.

    1. Hmm, I see an accusation that a Chinese company was planning to build a solar power plant nearby and needed to use the BLM land in question as an environmental offset (which it apparently couldn’t do with “trespass cattle” on the land). Senator Reid is allegedly expediting their efforts.

        1. Apparently, the claim is that there was a legislative change, sponsored by Reid, to “rezone” (I don’ t have a good term for it) the contested land in question to desert tortoise habitat and free the other land from this particular regulation. So it’d take another legislative act to come up with a new shuffling.

          1. that may be the case, usually this is done by regulatory action.
            However given the issue has been festering since 1992, I kind
            of doubt this had much to do with a solar farm.

    2. The trigger was that after 20 years of losing in the courts this rancher finally ran out of options for further legal appeals to keep free loading his cattle on public. This isn’t any first amendment issue, its just a case of somebody refusing to pay rent for grazing his cattle on federal land. Its no different than a landlord evicting a tenant who stops paying his rent.

      But being a rancher he is wrapping himself in the Constitution and Flag just to get out of paying his fees. And all the idiot anti-government groups are buying his story about being the victim when he caused this himself by refusing to pay his rent.

      1. “This isn’t any first amendment issue,”

        The first amendment came into play when the feds shut down people filming what was going on and saying witnesses were in a no free speech zone. No one is saying his cattle grazing were an expression of the first amendment.

    3. Except that Waco and Ruby Ridge occurred in a country that was very different from today. Since the “fundamental transformation of America”, more and more people recognize that government tyranny must be resisted with force at some point.

      Waco and Ruby Ridge did not bring out hundreds of supporters to oppose the Feds. This has a whiff of August 1914 about it.

      1. Waco did; I organized most of the protests.
        I won’t be organizing any this time, though, because I think that this guy’s a corporate welfare bum.
        (Ironically, there turned out to be plenty of welfare fraud going on amongst the Branch Davidians, for which they could have been arrested and prosecuted years earlier.)

        1. Seems like this guy had a sweet deal and his family did for 120 years.
          When the Landlord raised the rent, he got petulant and decided to
          pitch a fit.

          2. dn-guy said; Seems like this guy had a sweet deal and his family did for 120 years.
            When the Landlord raised the rent, he got petulant and decided to
            pitch a fit.

            You’re wrong regarding “raised the rent”. The Bundy family had a grazing lease from Clark County. The feds took over the land a few years ago, and decided not to offer any grazing leases. So, Bundy didn’t have the option of paying.

            Further, the way most cattle range ranches are set up, the rancher owns a hundred acres or so where the ranch buildings and facilities are, and then runs the cattle mainly on the *adjoining* range land. If they lose the ability to use the range land, not only does it mean they can’t be a cattle ranch anymore, but the value of the ranch itself (that they do own) plummets because it can no longer be used for its purpose.

            And by the way, Bundy has repeatedly offered to resume paying the grazing lease to Clark County.

      1. The BLM is entitled to change it’s mind.

        Whatever was Policy in the 19th Century does not have to dominate policy in the 21st century.

        2. The BLM is entitled to change it’s mind.

          Absurd. They aren’t allowed to change policy. That’s a congressional prerogative.

          Whatever was Policy in the 19th Century does not have to dominate policy in the 21st century.

          So if I get into power, it’s ok to just send you to the glue factory as an “undesirable”? 19th Century policy doesn’t have to dominate 21st Century policy after all.

  4. Slow-roasted Desert Tortoise a la Reid, Anyone?

    Those tortoises better like the heat, because their current abode is about to be turned into a giant solar power plant, which a Chinese firm (actually government run) is going to build on the disputed land, which is coincidentally just east of Nellis AFB. Roast tortoise, anyone? (Is cooking them an EPA-approved way to preserve them?)

    The company involved in a Chinese solar equipment producer. Their representative in the US is Rory Reid. HArry Reid’s son.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/31/us-usa-china-reid-solar-idUSBRE87U06D20120831
    What a coincidence!

    The head of the BLM is a former senior adviser to Harry Reid.
    What a coincidence!

    The BLM had the solar project on its website, along with a list of “complaints” against the rancher (Bundy) whose family has used this land for over a century, which include a heck of a lot of claims of environmental impact, which is kind of awkward considering their solar plant will have vastly more impact. But, it vanished yesterday. (Still in google cache though http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jlCNhTqjyBMJ:www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/more/trespass_cattle/cattle_trespass_impacts.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a)
    What a coincidence!

    The solar project will receive federal funding, and has been pushed through by Harry Reid.
    What a coincidence!

    Yep, a whole heck of a lot of coincidences, plus a load of bovine excrement far larger and fouler than anything cattle could ever produce.

    2. Which may explain why the Feds are backing down. A blood bath in defense of “law and order” is one thing. A blood bath to make Harry Reid’s son a little richer is another.

      1. Did you hear that Hillary Clinton got a shoe thrown at her in Vegas the other day?

        The woman who threw it was arrested, and she’s going to be prosecuted. I’m shocked…. why prosecute her? She threw a shoe… so to quote Hillary on Benghazi, what difference, at this point, does it make?

        1. Well, it is assault even when done on a Clinton. As you say, Hillary Clinton is very fortunate that law enforcement cares a bit more than she does about what difference it makes.

  6. All sides are looking to make a point, but step back and look at the broader picture in the USSA. There is a growing perception that FedGov has way overstepped it’s bounds, and there will be a trigger somewhere, sometime that will trigger a wide reaction to FedGov’s behavior.

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