Cliven Bundy on ‘the Negro’: Why his words aren’t a huge surprise


Unedited Version

0424-Rancher-clive-bundy_full_380The Nevada rancher who took on the BLM now posits that ‘the Negro’ may be better off as slaves. The link between racially offensive views and a certain strain of far-right politics seen at the Cliven Bundy ranch is well established, analysts say.

The “Battle of Bunkerville” – the ongoing grazing standoff between old-school Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal Bureau of Land Management – was, of course, never just about cattle grazing. But it has now taken a turn that, at first glance, seems bizarrely unrelated: “the Negro.”

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” Mr. Bundy, who with help from armed supporters won a standoff with the BLM last week over cattle grazing rights, told admirers and a New York Times reporter at a press conference Wednesday. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Conservatives who had framed Bundy’s fight with the BLM as an act of patriotism are now backing off their support in light of his comments, which Sen. Dean Heller (R) of Nevada, who had previously lauded Bundy, called “appalling and racist.”

Yet the connection between racially offensive views and a certain strain of tea party politics at the Bundy ranch is not all that surprising, some political analysts argue. Race and segregation have, after all, long been defended in the context of the 10th Amendment’s state sovereignty guarantees.

Read more at Christian Science Monitor

From Bunker Hill to Bunkerville – Americans Fight Back!

Opinion by Lyle Rapacki

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When the call arrived that Bureau Land Management (BLM) agents intended to begin a “Dynamic Raid” on the Bundy Ranch in Clark County, Nevada, I responded because of several responsibilities: I am an Oath Keeper, as well as a member of Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and the presidents of both organizations asked for assistance. I also was responding to the call, as I coordinated the movement of several Arizona Legislators who, on their own and with their personal funds, made their way to the Bundy Ranch at Bunkerville. There were many citizens from across the western United States who also answered the call, and there were citizens and Oath Keepers and former military who came from the East Coast! U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar from Arizona also arrived. Besides Arizona Legislators, legislators from four other western states also heeded the call to Bunkerville, Nevada. Two County Supervisors/Commissioners from Arizona went, as did a couple more from other states; a couple of former state legislators from western states, a land commissioner, along with state coordinators of several patriot and Tea Party groups, at least a half dozen pastors including Chuck Baldwin, a dozen or more long-time (100-years+) ranchers, and a goodly number of teenagers from various states…we all met in a dry, windy, dusty, and hot place named Bunkerville, Nevada.

What drove us all there…what possessed thousands of people from across the country to forge their way to this remote part of the west? The reason as I see it is rather simple and eloquent; FREEDOM RISING! The Freedom Movement for this generation began in earnest a week ago at the Bundy Ranch. The Freedom Movement answered the call to stand firm against tyranny by a centralized federal government our Forefathers feared could raise its’ diabolical head if not kept in check, and it has not been kept in check by WE THE PEOPLE, who, are the true government of this exceptional Nation! Somehow, someway, WE THE PEOPLE became lazy and content being able to go to Starbucks and McDonald’s at will, and leave the governing to, well, government! The results are obvious to all who stood post at Bunkerville. The Federal Government of the United States has become mean spirited, vindictive, corrupt beyond belief, vile in its’ hatred of free speech and citizens challenging its’ authority. The Federal Government of the United States has worked diligently to become all-powerful, all-knowing, all-dictatorial, and all-militarized against its’ own citizens who dare to question the decisions and behaviors by its’ agents and representatives. The Federal Government of our country has chosen a hidden agenda to be implemented that goes directly against the values and principles by which our country was founded, and directly against the good for the people.

Read more at The Olive Branch Report

Militiamen make presence felt in protest of BLM’s livestock grab

0410BLMProtest02_t653BUNKERVILLE — The militiamen rolled in to draw a line in the dirt.

About 70 miles northeast of Las Vegas, they set up camp on a sun-baked patch of land next to a bend in the Virgin River, keeping supplies — like rucksacks and sleeping bags — in neat piles under the roof of an abandoned shack.

Gruff and largely unshaven, dressed in camouflage fatigues and cut-off shirts, the men kept their intentions quiet, telling news reporters the reason they pulled their trucks into this rural desert town — on one of the hottest days of the year — is simple enough: “We’re here to camp,” said one man who would not share his name.

The group even had a sign, posted for arriving members: Militia Sign In.

But they were really here to protect one of their own from the perceived enemies: a band of federal agents recently dispatched to the scrub desert to seize the cattle of embattled rancher Cliven Bundy.

“They’re here to protect Cliven’s family and home,” said Lynn Brown, one of Bundy’s daughters.

Read more at Las Vegas Sun