“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves, whether they can have any property they can call their own, whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them…Let us therefore animate and encourage each other and show the whole world that a freeman contending for LIBERTY [sic] on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.” – General George Washington July 2, 1776. (emphasis added)
What prompted the BLM to act against the Bundys now? After all, their cattle had been grazing the area surrounding the ranch for generations. The desert tortoises hadn’t complained. Neither had any of the other protected wildlife or vegetation residing there. No, Cliven Bundy had not paid grazing fees to the BLM for twenty years, but he did make payments to Clark County, Nevada.
Mr. Bundy’s beliefs might seem a bit archaic (and a touch odd to some), but he is among the growing number of Americans who believe the federal government has a specific and limited purpose according to our Constitution. He is a firm believer in State’s rights. He does not believe managing property, or restricting tax paying citizens of the United States from accessing it, is one of the limited governmental functions. Truthfully, was he harming the land? The tortoises? Other people?
Oh, wait! Stupid me. He was in the way of Harry Greed increasing the thickness of his wallet. Even the tortoise knows you don’t screw with Harry’s wallet:
“Several observers have suggested that the fight between Bundy and the federal government revolves around an endangered tortoise. Although there’s some truth to this claim, it lacks important context.
Here’s a timeline of events:
- 1993: The Lake Mead National Recreation Area for the National Park Service reduce the number of cattle that could graze on the Bunkerville allotment “to 150 because of the emergency listing of the desert tortoise as an endangered species,” according to a formal agency official.
- 1993: Bundy “fires” the BLM.
- 1994: The Fish and Wildlife Service formally identifies Gold Butte as an area “critical to the long-term survival of the desert tortoise.”
- 1994: Federal officials revoke Bundy’s grazing permit for failure to pay and failure to reduce the number of his cattle. The Bunkerville allotment is closed to grazing.
- 1998: The Bureau of Land Management closes off the Gold Butte area to cattle.
- 2013: The Bureau of Land Management announces plans to euthanize “hundreds” of tortoises due to budget restrictions.
Gold Butte being turned into a cattle-free zone wasn’t exactly sudden. It was a few years in the making…” (The Blaze 4/13/2014)
Funny how Harry has been involved in several possible deals to either build solar energy plants with Chinese businessmen (ENN) or establish fracking operations in the area surrounding the Bundy Ranch. So far, none of them have come to fruition. This does not mean that there are not things in the works behind closed doors that could materialize in the future. Harry has a mercenary heart, in my opinion. He can be acquisitive, greedy, grasping, avaricious, covetous, gold-digging, moneygrubbing, and venal – all of these adjectives have applied at one time or another. He is an opportunistic liar. Just think back to his diatribe on the Senate floor accusing those who were (or are being) negatively affected by Obamacare of being liars (takes one to know one, huh Harry?), then denied ever saying it.
There is even a BLM publication http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/blm_library/tech_notes.Par.29872.File.dat/TN_444.pdf
that describes what needs to be done in order to prepare the land for a solar energy facility. This is from page 30: “The resource values found in the Gold Butte ACEC are threatened by: unauthorized activities, including off-road vehicle use, illegal dumping, and trespass livestock grazing; wildfire; and weed infestation. Existing burned areas, unauthorized roads and trails, and areas disturbed by other activities await funding for rehabilitation. Neutralizing these threats and restoring altered ecological systems are the focus of the regional mitigation proposed for this area.”
So, those who wish to cling to the belief that our government is altruistic and is only interested in maintaining the beauty of the land should refer to the title of this post. Those who insist the insanely heavy-handed way our government chose to deal with a man who owes money, in essence, for back rent was appropriate should refer to the title of this post. And, those who believe that we should all be sheeple and allow our government to run roughshod over us any time they so choose should refer to the title of this post. Those days are gone and the Bundy Ranch fiasco could quite possibly have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. You are right Harry, “It isn’t over yet.”
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