Cliven Bundy Analysis

When the Left wants to distract America from the central point of a burning issue, they find (or manufacture) a "gotcha" moment and yell "RACISM!" So it is no surprise that embattled Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose struggle against the federal government's overreach has won widespread sympathy, has ended up as another victim of "race card" politics. Therefore any fair rendering of the above comment (and other similarly sympathetic remarks) would admit that Bundy was saying he's glad for the gains that racial minorities have made and he doesn't want to see them returned to the pre-1960s status. So, was he then saying in the next breath that he wants to see them go back to their status in the pre-1860s? Was he really saying they were better off under slavery, that he would have favored slavery back then, that they should have stayed in slavery, that he would like to see them in chattel slavery once again? Furthermore, much of what Bundy said closely parallels what even many black leaders, authors, and intellectuals--such as Professor Walter Williams, Rev. C.L. Bryant, Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, Bill Cosby, Alveda King, Star Parker, and Alan Keyes--have been saying. But Cliven Bundy's "sin" is that he is an elderly white man who is unschooled in traversing the minefield of
political correctness--and he was careless in failing to make important distinctions and clarifications. He "sinned" by failing to keep up with the constantly changing terminology for ethnic designations. He still uses the terms "Negro," "colored people," and "Mexican"--but then, race activists still argue amongst themselves concerning the "proper" ethnic label to apply to their group identity.
Cliven Bundy stopped paying his grazing fees 20 years ago. Bundy does not recognize federal authority over land where his ancestors first settled in the 1880s, which he claims belongs to the state of Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management disagreed and took him to federal court, which first ruled in favor of the BLM in 1998. After years of attempts at a negotiated settlement over the $1.2 million Bundy owes in fees failed, federal land agents began seizing hundreds of his cattle illegally grazing on public land last week.
But after footage of a BLM agent using a stun gun on Bundy's adult son went viral in far-right circles, hundreds of armed militia supporters from neighboring states flocked to Bundy's ranch to defend him from the BLM agents enforcing the court order. The states'-rights groups, in echoes of Ruby Ridge and Waco, came armed and prepared for violence. "I'm ready to pull the trigger if fired upon," one of the anti-government activists told Reuters. Not eager to spill blood over cattle, the BLM backed down Sunday and started returning the livestock it had confiscated. The agency says it won't drop the matter and will "continue to work to resolve the matter administratively and judicially."
On the 12 and 13th of April, 1,000 anti-government militia groups and supporters for Bundy converged on his ranch to defend him from the encroachment of federal agents and demand the return of his cattle.Early that morning somewhere around 10:00 am Saturday, Bundy issued an ultimatum to the Clark County sheriff: he had an hour to disarm all federal agents on his property.
Around 11:00am Bundy got on a megaphone and told his supporters to go get his cattle back. Local ranchers on horseback, militiamen in pickup trucks and others rode toward the corral where the cattle were being held. BLM agents, decked out in full riot gear, pointed guns at the anti-government group. The two sides
jostled.