Thoughts on Good Friday: I guess I just don't understand

So...I've been thinking about that freeloading rancher in Nevada who has inspired various gun nuts to show up and instigate a standoff with federal authorities. The deal is that the man had been grazing his cattle on federal lands - i.e., lands that belong to all of us - for about a quarter of a century and never paying any of the required, relatively minimal, fees. The Bureau of Land Management had finally decided to try to collect and confiscated his cattle on the lands. And that's when the rancher and his supporters decided to bring on the guns. (And why is it that the first impulse of people like him is always to wave their guns around?) The federal authorities, not wishing to start a bloodbath, stood down and will pursue remedies by other means.

And now this old white guy with his cowboy hat and his gun is the newest hero of the right-wingnut faction of American politics and their hysterical media outlet, Fox News, which has been giving the incident the 24-hour "news" coverage and doing its best to whip up the flames of insurrection.

Now, here's the part I don't understand. This man is a thief. He has been stealing from all of us for years. Overall, it amounts to thousands of dollars. And yet he is a hero to the right who believe that he should not be punished for his breach of the law and he should not even be made to pay his fees. (And, incidentally, I wonder how that makes all the thousands of law-abiding, patriotic ranchers in the West who regularly pay their legally-required fees feel?)

Let's consider a slightly different scenario.

An impoverished black family, say a mother and two children, receive food stamps. Through some sort of error or bureaucratic glitch or even because the mother had misstated her income, the family receives $10 more in food stamps than they were legally entitled to. What would be the right-wingnuts' response to that? Would they show up en masse to protect this family from the collectors?

The rancher says that the reason he doesn't have to pay the grazing fees is that he doesn't recognize the United States government, just as certain corporations say they don't have to comply with some laws because they don't agree with them. And the right-wingers just love that! But what if a left-wing commune somewhere in the heartland of America decided on its own that the federal government is not legitimate and they are not bound by any of its laws. Would Fox News trumpet their resistance and rally people to support them?

The response of Fox News and those who live and breathe by every word emanating from that network is very much predicated on the political philosophy of the person involved in the story. Conservative, good. Liberal or progressive, bad. Salon.com calls it the Clive Bundy Syndrome or why Christian Conservatives think they are above the law.

It's an interesting philosophy for a group of people who say that they follow the teachings of a man who said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." Just a thought for Good Friday.

  

Comments

  1. I'm sure you're going to get a ton of (not very nice) comments here.

    Bundy isn't a good guy, but there's more to the situation than it appears, there's a bigger picture here.

    Check out http://worldtruth.org (free uncensored social network) and you'll be able to get an idea of the full picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't mind comments, whether they agree with me or not. My readers are entitled to their opinions.

      I did check out the website you mentioned but I have to say I'm always a bit suspicious of sites - or people - who think they have a monopoly on "the truth." I also found some associations of this site with something called "White Pride, World Wide" and also "Stormfront," white power entities, which, frankly, makes me even more suspicious of their "truth." But I will look into it further.

      Delete
    2. Hello Dorothy,I think this post is a little harsh don't you think?
      freeloading Rancher???? have you ever rode a horse to move cattle????

      My feeling is you are a vegetarian, and you live in new york, and you were an immigrant to the US.YOU definitely don't live in Nevada.

      I have lived in Cancun Mexico for the last 20 years, I was born in California,my father may he rest in peace retired Captain in the Marines
      he fought for your right to be American, but if you help the government to take your rights and that of others I pity You and The US for what is coming :( Thank You Dorothy.

      http://worldtruth.org it is a vary good site.

      Delete
    3. Actually, I was born in Mississippi and have lived in Texas for the past 39 years - both well-known bastions of liberalism. And MY father fought for YOUR right to be an expatriate in Mexico and write disparaging remarks on my blog. And by the way, so did my husband and a number of my other relatives, some of whom gave their lives in the effort. I didn't and apparently neither did you.

      Delete
    4. Thank you Dorothy U are Right I am an expatriate, Like millions of other Americans, I was born in 1960 and didn't do any killing for my country, and my father and yours, are probably rolling over in their graves knowing what our government is doing to the people they fought and died for so we both can be free to live our life as we see fit within the constitution.

      But not anymore those dreams are long gone.

      When I lift the US Clinton was still running things ok, but after 911, I knew something was going wrong in the government and started to investigate like millions of Americans.

      And was astounded on what I have found, information on Cost of Chemtrail Program Put At $5 Billion a Year, what would feed a lot of lazy freeloaders.

      GMOs Are Killing the Bees, Butterflies, and Birds and . . . ?
      http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_29307.cfm

      Chemtrail Poisons Are Ruining Your Health From Above, And You May Not Know It.

      Why in the World are They Spraying Full Length Documentary HD
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGsi7JaV6gs

      Even the minimal use of aluminum deodorants and anti-perspirants can cause the back up of lymph nodes – fluids aren’t able to move through the body and cause breakouts along the temples and neck. Prolonged exposure to aluminum at high levels, such as those being sprayed across the sky, can also cause:
      - Brain degeneration
      - Impede the bodies ability to digest calcium,
      - Prevent bone growth and lessens bone density.
      - Cause aching muscles
      - Speech problems
      - Anemia
      - Digestive issues
      - Impaired liver function
      - Impaired kidney function
      - Colic in babies
      Barium is also a chemical being found in heavily sprayed areas. According to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, (CDC):


      And the militarization of US police forces is ongoing and escalating. Many cities and towns now own tanks, armed personnel carriers, even attack helicopters, and almost all are outfitted with military weapons not available to the general public.

      And, it is not just your hometown cops who are getting new boy-toys. The military itself is buying up weaponry not just for use in the current or next scheduled war, but to deal with the likes of you, citizens who don’t seem to understand that the Bill of Rights has been overruled, and that specifically includes, but is not limited to, the right to protest and engage in civil disobedience.

      The only freeloaders I see are the millions on welfare that’s why all the Mexicans come to the US, is to do the work that the lazy freeloaders won’t do. :(

      And thank U, hope to see U on WorldTruth.org
      Marcos :)


      http://www.worldtruth.org/video/20877/this-is-our-land-bundy-battle-statewide-movement-western-state-vs-fed-f-f/

      Delete
    5. Perhaps it would surprise you to know that most of those "freeloaders" on welfare are either employed in jobs, often more than one, that do not pay enough to support them and their families or they are disabled or children who are unable to work. Having worked in the field of social welfare for my entire career, I got to observe them and their struggles to make it in a hostile world up close and personal.

      But I would still maintain that a person who does not pay his legally required expenses - and that includes grazing fees for federal lands - is a freeloader.

      Delete
    6. The Bundy Ranch VS Native Americans :(

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1CHqXbxj9w

      Delete
    7. Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller's labeling of Bundy ranch advocates as "patriots"

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwt2nWOTVw

      Delete
    8. chemtrails killing birds bees :(

      When is the Government going to tell the truth about the Chemtrails?" "Why are the USA Army CIA Jets permitted to secretly fly over every Country and spray poisons, viruses, and heavy metals to destroy our health and wildlife and Birds by the millions?" :(

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0DNtFFdSHw

      Delete
    9. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    10. This is why they want the Bundy Ranch It ain't about Cows or Tax

      The $2.2 Billion Bird-Scorching Solar Project At California’s Ivanpah Plant :(

      http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/02/13/the-2-2-billion-bird-scorching-solar-project-at-californias-ivanpah-plant/

      Delete
    11. “Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”
      ― Walter Cronkite



      “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
      ― Martin Luther King Jr.


      “Confidence is ignorance. If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.”
      ― Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl



      “Living is Easy with Eyes Closed.”
      ― John Lennon



      “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
      ― Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself



      “There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.”
      ― G.K. Chesterton



      “Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”
      ― G.K. Chesterton


      “There are people who are generic. They make generic responses and they expect generic answers. They live inside a box and they think people who don't fit into their box are weird. But I'll tell you what; generic people are the weird people. They are like genetically-manipulated plants growing inside a laboratory, like indistinguishable faces, like droids. Like ignorance.”
      ― C. JoyBell C.

      Delete
  2. Kind of funny how easy it is to distract a person, we were discussing Bundy not the site! :)
    But to address your points
    1, we don't have a monopoly on the 'truth', nor have we ever claimed to, we're just a social network that doesn't censor like Facebook does, another name might have been better but that's the one we've got
    2, that association is unfortunate but is from when we very first started and we don't have any hate on our site (check the dates!)
    Anyway back to Bundy
    Nevada technically owns the land not the Fed, the BLM are acting illegally, because the director of BLM is Harry Reid and he's trying to sell the land to the Chinese so he has to clear the land out

    They've got a better take on it,
    http://www.infowars.com/breaking-sen-harry-reid-behind-blm-land-grab-of-bundy-ranch/
    I only mention this because your blog post shows you're concerned, but it also shows that you weren't aware of the full picture of what was going on

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The director of the BLM is Neil Kornze, a former aide to Senator Reid. Harry Reid is a senator from Nevada, one among one hundred in the United States Senate. And actually, Bundy was grazing his cattle on federal land that the BLM is responsible for, not state land.

      Delete
  3. Hello Dorothy,
    If you would look around the site the poster above me mentioned, Im sure you will find people from all walks of life. There are people from around the world, different cultures, races, religions. Everyone there is interested in the truth. There are a few who I would not associate with in the real world, but like the other poster stated it is uncensored, free & adults only. There are options to block users you don't agree with or have issues with, you will never have to see anything they post again. There is a lot of freedom on that site, a lot more than you will find anywhere else on the net where social sites are concerned.

    I would almost guarantee if you spent one week looking around you would be hooked. Cant hurt right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "There are options to block users you don't agree with or have issues with, you will never have to see anything they post again."

      That doesn't exactly sound like the site is uncensored and free if you can block the ideas of anyone you don't agree with. But you are right - it can't hurt to look around and I can assure you that I will. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  4. 'I have to say I'm always a bit suspicious of sites - or people - who think they have a monopoly on "the truth."' Well said, Ms. Borders. We should all be that perspicacious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's mostly a matter of common sense, I think. No one has a monopoly on the truth. Happy weekend!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C.J. Box - A review