Take Back the First Amendment, Showed BLM Who's Right!
After trying not to absorb all the opinionated "B.S". and I do not mean Bachelor of Science regarding the Bundy Cattle Siege, I came across a post that brought the issue some clarity. I have condensed the words from Richard Rowe, April 11, 2014, In Breaking News Grab the Gun Control Debate .
In 1848 Mexico ceded Nevada to the United States. The U.S. then was the title holder to these lands, unless said lands were purchased from the government. Some time around 1850, Cliven Bundy’s family bought a small ranch in the area, and began grazing cattle on the nearby public lands. They did not OWN the lands, never purchased them from the government and did not have squatter’s rights because no taxes were paid. However, they were permitted to graze cattle on them.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was formed in 1948 in order to monitor the land thus preventing illegal fencing or over-grazing. To regulate usage, 10-year leases were issued for cattle grazing. The owners of the Bundy Ranch paid the lease fees up until 1993. At this time, Cliven Bundy believed that he did not have to pay because he had a right to use the land since his ancestors had always grazed there.
In 1998, a section of Nevada lands in Clark County was designated as a habitat for the federally protected endangered desert tortoises, which included the public land where Bundy's cattle were grazing.
The other ranchers in the area complied but not Bundy, he continued to claim his right to the lands under preemption. The following 15 years, he continued to allow his 400 head of cattle to illegally graze on the 600,000 acres of protected land.
Over the decade, the courts tried to work with him, giving him plenty of warning but he refused to pay the leasing fees. Finally after all these years of negotiating without result, the government came to enforce the law and remove the cattle that were illegally grazing on a federally protected habitat.
So now Bundy has a call for arms to come forward and protect the First Amendment for life, liberty and property. As he stated: "The loss of freedom happens slowly, so slowly that we often do not recognize the loss right away, not until we need to use that freedom that is no longer there but can’t. In this case the federal government is not recognizing that the State of Nevada is even a state. It is being treated as though it was a territory, and its people are not being afforded their Constitutional rights. Will you be next?"
I find it so amazing as I ponder how many people have rushed in to side with a rancher who is abusing the First Amendment to leverage his right not to abide by the law and to get by without paying federal fees. As long as he waves the flag threatening loss of freedom, people will jump in to defend him without knowing all the facts or caring whether he has violated the law.
I ponder how many Americans realize or even care what our taxes and fees are used for? You want smaller government and to be your own militia! That seems real reasonable to me, let's go back to the days of lynching and mob rule. Let's just take what we can get by force and call this freedom.
http://aattp.org/right-wing-terrorists-poised-to-spark-2nd-american-revolution-video/
