I think the only good thing that came out of this farce was the fact that they finally arrested Cliven Bundy and his sons. These jerks pretended to be fighting for their rights (which is something I can respect) but they just turned out to be some rich entitled yahoos who felt that being allowed to graze their cattle for almost nothing wasn’t a sweet enough deal for them. They give all protestors, even those with legitimate grievances, a bad name.
So they took over a historic and important wildlife refuge (Malheur was instrumental in saving many Egrets and Herons from extinction, after they were slaughtered for their lovely feathers to make fancy rich-people hats). They claimed to be protesting some ranchers who were convicted of arson, but the supposed beneficiaries of their protest didn’t want to have anything to do with them. The locals also didn’t want them there at all. Most of them came from out of state and had no idea of the importance of that refuge. Instead, they wanted to turn it over (for free) to local ranchers (who also wanted nothing to do with these yahoos).
In the end, they destroyed property, endangered the local residents, and made fools of themselves, and one idiot even got himself killed. All while snacking out on candy bars. What’s next? Will they mount a twinkie defense?
I hope they rot in jail.
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Don’t hold back … tell us how you really feel 🙂
I agree 100%
“This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me”
Not for just one family but for all of us, human and otherwise
Here’s about as good an article you’ll read about Malheur and the standoff yahoos (my term, not the author’s). From the mostly always exceptional High Country News. https://www.hcn.org/articles/malheur-occupation-oregon-ammon-bundy-public-lands-essay
Don, that is an excellent article. Thanks. I highly recommend everyone read it.
Cliven Bundy doesn’t pay “almost nothing” for grazing his cattle; that would be ranchers in The West who actually PAY their grazing fees… $2.11 per AUM when University of Nebraska says the average cost is really $22 per AUM.
So BLM rates are already less than 10% of Market rates.
Bundy, meanwhile, has paid NO grazing fees, NONE, since at least 1993.