Right-wing media hyping confrontation between Nevada rancher and federal government

[Cali_Democrat]

April 10, 2014 2:35 PM EDT ››› TIMOTHY JOHNSON & BRIAN POWELL

Right-wing media are fanning the flames of a conflict between a federal agency and their new hero -- a scofflaw Nevada rancher who's threatening a violent range war against the federal government.

Cliven Bundy, a cattle rancher in Nevada, has been fighting the government over grazing rights on public land for nearly a quarter century. In 1993, Bundy began refusing to pay government fees required to allow his cattle to exploit public lands. In 1998, the government issued a court order telling Bundy to remove his cows from the land, as part of an effort to protect the endangered desert tortoise located there. And in July 2013, a federal court ordered Bundy to get his cattle off public land within 45 days or they would be confiscated. The confiscation began this month, and the cattle will be sold to pay off the $1 million in fees and trespassing fines Bundy owes.

Conservative media have held the confiscation out as a big government invasion of private property rights and have repeatedly hyped the rancher and his family as victims being intimidated by a heavily armed force of federal agents who are escalating the situation into the realm of notorious and deadly standoffs like Ruby Ridge and Waco.

Fox News hosted the rancher on the April 9 edition of Hannity, where Sean Hannity sympathized with Bundy's claims against the government and argued that allowing Bundy's cattle to graze on public lands "keeps the price of meat down for every American consumer."

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/10/right-wing-media-are-throwing-gas-on-a-ranchers/198841

[struggle4progress]

1. "I can ignore a court order" is a popular view among wackos, like the so-called sovereign citizens,

this fruitcake rancher, or roger shuler

[maddezmom]

2. And Koch is helping as well

21. MediaMatters:"Feds Turn From Landlords To Warlords": Koch Groups Back Rancher Making Violent Threats

-snip-
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the conservative non-profit group, was founded by and has been largely funded by billionaires Charles and David Koch. The Center for Media and Democracy reported that in its previous incarnation as Citizens for a Sound Economy, AFP received $12 million of its $18 million in funding from the Koch Family Foundation.

During the 2012 election, AFP spent $122 million in an effort to defeat President Obama and Congressional Democrats. AFP has also sponsored and organized bus rallies and town hall meetings to promote conservative ideas, including deregulation, tax cuts, and opposition to health care reform.


AFP has been at the forefront of spending in the 2014 election, launching several ads attacking the Affordable Care Act which have come under fire for inaccuracy by independent fact checkers. As of March, AFP had aired a reported 17,000 television ads.

More:http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/11/feds-turn-from-landlords-to-warlords-koch-group/198857

[blm]

16. Except Koch Industries fracking firms have GOP governors FORCING landowners to allow fracking

on their lands despite their wishes.

This is happening in every state run by GOP legislatures and governors.

So how is it that they DEMAND private landowners accept their fracking but that non landowners using public lands can refuse fracking?

I'm against all tracking on public and private lands, but, someone has to force the RWers and Koch Brothers to confront their incredible hypocrisy on this.

[sakabatou]

3. Of course they would

[struggle4progress]

4. ... The U.S. government is rounding up Bundy's cattle that it says have been grazing illegally

on public lands in Clark County for more than 20 years, according to the land-management bureau and the National Park Service. Between Saturday and Wednesday, contracted wranglers impounded a total of 352 cattle, federal officials said. Bundy says he owns 500 of the more than 900 cattle that federal officials are planning to confiscate for illegal grazing, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported ... On Wednesday, a bureau truck driven by a civilian employee assisting in the roundup "was struck by a protester on an ATV and the truck's exit from the area was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle," the agencies' statement said ... "Cattle have been grazing in trespass on public lands in Southern Nevada for more than two decades," the National Park Service said. "The BLM and NPS have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially. Impoundment of cattle illegally grazing on public lands is an option of last resort" ...

Showdown on the range: Nevada rancher, feds face off over cattle grazing rights
By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 8:17 AM EDT, Fri April 11, 2014

[struggle4progress]

5. ... The incident on State Route 170 followed the arrest Sunday of another Bundy son, Dave Bundy.

He was released Monday with a citation accusing him of refusing to disperse and resisting arrest ... The government says the cows are trespassing on arid and fragile habitat of the endangered desert tortoise. They note that Bundy lost federal court cases challenging the roundup and that he was ordered by a federal judge last October not to interfere in any roundup ...
Stun gun used on rancher's son in cattle roundup
Associated Press
Updated: April 10, 2014 at 4:20 pm
Published: April 10, 2014

[Boomerproud]

6. RWers want another Waco and Ruby Ridge.

and what does this have to do with keeping the price of meat down "for every American consumer"? If Hannity is sympathetic to this guy that means he's in the wrong.

[struggle4progress]

10. ... Lardy came from Montana to join the protesters, and he says he is not afraid to shoot,

if necessary. "They have guns. We need guns to protect ourselves from the tyrannical government," Lardy said. He says other militia members are joining him. "There is many more coming," Lardy said ...
More protesters arriving in Bundy, BLM cattle dispute
Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2014 9:36 PM EDT
Updated: Friday, April 11, 2014 2:21 PM EDT
By Lauren Rozyla

[struggle4progress]

7. ... US Rep. Steven Horsford (D) of Las Vegas noted that BLM officials were enforcing

that Bundy remove his animals. The legal battle has been waged for decades. Kornze, the new BLM chief, is familiar with the area. He's a natural resource manager who grew up in Elko, Nev., and served previously as a senior adviser to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid aide Kristen Orthman said her boss "hopes the trespassing cattle are rounded up safely so the issue can be resolved" ...
Nevada cattle wars: Nevada senator sides with rancher against feds
Nevada cattle owner Cliven Bundy claims ancestral rights to graze his cattle on federal lands in Nevada. Federal officials say the cattle are trespassing on endangered tortoise habitat. The battle has waged in the courts for decades, and Bundy has disregarded several court orders to remove his animals.
By Ken Ritter, Associated Press / April 10, 2014

[struggle4progress]

8. ... Bundy maintains that his family's claim to the land predates the creation

of the federal agencies he's been battling. "I would pay my grazing fees to the proper government, which I would say is Clark County, Nevada," he told the Deseret News in a phone interview from his ranch near Bunkerville, Nev. "I don't believe I owe one penny to the United States government," Bundy added. "I don't have a contract with the United States government" ...
Lawmakers to BLM: Sending seized Nevada cattle to Utah 'imprudent and careless'
By Geoff Liesik, Deseret News
Published: Friday, April 11 2014 1:45 p.m. MDT

[struggle4progress]

9. ... Cliven Bundy, the last known rancher in Clark County, Nev., has been battling

the U.S. Bureau of Land Management since 1993, when he refused to pay fees for the right to graze on an area called Gold Butte around his farm, according to the AP ...
Nevada rancher has beef with feds over public lands
Jessica Durando
USA TODAY Network
12:39 p.m. EDT April 10, 2014

[struggle4progress]

11. ... Despite Bundy’s claim that the federal government has no right to charge fees to land

that is owned by the state of Nevada, BLM Public Affairs Specialist said that the U.S. government unequivocally owns public lands, and that Bundy is subject to two federal court orders to remove his cattle from said lands. She said that Bundy is in violation of both orders, and that he left the BLM no choice, but to confiscate the estimated 908 head of cattle. “The United States government owns and has broad authority to regulate federal lands in Nevada,” Cannon said. “In response to challenges of federal ownership of the lands in Nevada, the 9th circuit held that the federal government owned all federal lands in Nevada, and that those lands did not pass to the state upon statehood.” In addition, the government does manage those lands, for public benefit, they are your public lands, and Mr. Bundy has been in trespass on your public lands for more than twenty years,” she added ...
Heated Cattle Debates Spikes The Question: Who Really Owns The Land?
by Carin Miller
Published - 04/10/14 - 11:10 AM

[Old Codger]

12. Maybe he should

Get Al and kate and the kids to help...

[rumdude]

13. all the other ranchers pay the same 'fees'

F-ing crybaby is what he is...

[freshwest]

14. No kidding. What a bullshit artist. He don't wanna pay? Fine, give it back to the tribes!

Fuck Off, Republicans and Libertarians. We know what you want:

BERNIE SANDERS Uncovers 1980 Koch Agenda- "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024806298

Check out all the links. It's all there in B&W. We can't hide behind saying we don't know what's going on.

to kpete

And thanks for posting, Cali_Democrat

[Paladin]

15. Federal lands usage involves payment of federal fees. It's as simple as that.

I wonder what Mr. Bundy's neighbors, running cattle on federal acreage and paying the requisite money to do so, think of his actions?