Bundy Ranch and Stupidity

There is this place in Nevada, it is owned by the Federal Government and it charges a fee for having your cows graze on it. That is a fact. There is a rancher who has failed to pay the fees for having his cows graze on the land and the federal government wants to take his cattle to pay for the $1 million in fees he owes. The rancher says that they are taking away his rights and that the federal government is not allowed to buy property for wildlife reserves or prevent his cows from grazing on them. There are many "militia" people who are siding with him and have gone out to block the government from taking his cows and there are ultra conservative talking heads who are also supporting him. He is claiming that his Constitutional rights are being taken away. This is the story of the Bundy Ranch.

Lets start with this, his Constitutional argument is stupid. Maybe he never heard of the Louisiana Purchase or how we bought Alaska from the Russians. Maybe he doesn't understand how Nevada became part of the United States. Maybe he doesn't understand that he has no rights and following his logic the land would still belong to the American Indians. I saw an interview with the man, he claimed that the lands were his ranch; but, he never bought these lands and neither did his ancestors. Land ownership is a funny thing. You cannot own land, you die and the land continues to exist.

This disagreement has become a icon for the Tea Party movement. Those on the right who resent how the nation is changing have made this case a rallying cry. One should pick their battles carefully rather than looking for opportunities to battle. I resent how the nation is changing; but, lets look at this situation. Mr. Bundy has been interviewed saying that he is protecting "his ranch", the world is not his ranch or he does not believe in private property.

Now as boring as I find this little controversy, the problem is that people are using this as an excuse to stand in front of federal forces with guns and attempt to have a showdown. What concerns me is the polarizing positions that the media is attempting to promote. The media actually talked about how people could be killed and that it could be the next Waco and the Drudge Report talked about how the government had "backed down", like this is all some sort of schoolyard fight and was gloating over who won, nobody won and this is far from over.