Bundy Ranch: the “truth” shall make you . . . ?

The reports, such as they are, from the Bundy Ranch have been confusing. The Feds have contributed to the dearth of verifiable information, suggesting that there are things it would be inconvenient for us to know.

I don’t know what’s happening at the Bundy Ranch because, aside from conservative bloggers and occasionally Fox News, there is very little information, verifiable or otherwise. According to Mr. Bundy, on Friday he

barely recognized the land during an airplane flyover earlier in the day.

“I flew down along the river here, and I’d seen a little herd of cows,” he told a gathering of supporters. “Baby cows. They was grazing on their meadow and they was really quite happy.

“I then flew up the river here up to Flat Top Mason, and all of a sudden, there’s an army up there. A compound. Probably close to a hundred vehicles and gates all around and vehicles with armed soldiers in them. [Emphasis added.]

“Then I’m wondering where I am. I’m not in Afghanistan. I think I’m in Nevada. But I’m not sure right now,” he said to applause and defiant shouts.

Federal officials said that BLM enforcement agents were dispatched in response to statements Bundy made which they perceived as threats.

“When threats are made that could jeopardize the safety of the American people, the contractors and our personnel; we have the responsibility to provide law enforcement to account for their safety,” National Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover said to reporters Sunday.

A good collection of links is available at Nebraska Attitude.  Here’s a video from one of the links:

Would the video be more effective if the protesters were more multiculturally diverse and hence politically correct?

Here’s a video of a speech by a fellow rancher:

“It’s a Hell of a lot bigger than Clive Bundy?” Yep, it is. Many neighboring ranches have been vacated over the years due to the BLM, and the Bundy Ranch is one of the very few remaining. Were it not for Mr. Bundy and his supporters, there would be no story to hear about BLM encroachments on our freedoms.

A leftist version of the story is provided at Think Progress in an article titled Armed Right-Wing Militia Members Descend On Nevada To Help Rancher Defy Court Order. Obviously, the Feds are right and those who oppose them are, therefore, wrong. Right?

Due to the declaration of a no-fly zone in the area, the “legitimate media” would not be able to take aerial photographs or otherwise provide coverage from helicopters even if they wanted to do so; they probably don’t want to, because such coverage might well conflict with the official narrative and there could be unfortunate consequences. Might there be a “Waco massacre” when the Bundy family supporters arrive to defend them? Might the BLM enforcers stop and go away? According to this report,

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie made an announcement moments ago and ordered BLM off the Bundy land. People from around the country that traveled to Nevada in support of states rights and property rights are rejoicing at the end to this federal land grab and overreach. It looks like the one person who has the authority to tell BLM to leave the premises and cease operations has done so. 

According to this report,

BUNKERVILLE (KSNV MyNews3.com) — The gathering of rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle in northeast Clark County has been stopped by the director of the Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM announcement came as Bundy was meeting with Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie about the week-long dispute.

The BLM had been using contract cowboys to round up Bundy’s 900 head of cattle that have been grazing over 600,000 square acres in northeast Clark County for more than 20 years without his payment of grazing fees.

As of Friday they had secure 389 cattle from the Gold Butte area, nearly 90 percent of them marked with the Bundy Ranch brand.

All of the public land closed for the cattle roundup have been reopened, the BLM said today.

New BLM Director Neil Kornze made the following statement this morning:

“As we have said from the beginning of the gather to remove illegal cattle from federal land consistent with court orders, a safe and peaceful operation is our number one priority. After one week, we have made progress in enforcing two recent court orders to remove the trespass cattle from public lands that belong to all Americans.

“Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public.

“We ask that all parties in the area remain peaceful and law-abiding as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service work to end the operation in an orderly manner.

If the reports are accurate, will the BLM agents re-group to return in greater force after the protesters have left and publicity giving the BLM (and the Obama Administration) a bad image has ceased? Maybe, but don’t look for many verifiable details from the “legitimate media.”

Here are some photos from an earlier time, accompanied by the song Home on the Range.

Just look at the anti-social jerks in the old photographs! Some of them might even have had unregistered firearms. There were no Federal agents to guide them by ensuring approved health care, child happiness and welfare, social justice or any of the plethora of “benefits” for which we now told to rely upon our benign Government.

Sometimes turning to fiction can be helpful in comprehending “reality.” I have been reading a frightening novel, Foreign Enemies and Traitors by Matthew Bracken, published in January of 2011. It is frightening because, although it depicts situations that now seem impossibly worse than anything yet seen — or likely to be seen — in the United States, the story is becoming incrementally plausible. It is set in a time when the United States are in turmoil, its citizens are arrested and murdered or “disappeared” because they oppose a no-longer accountable Government.

A series of environmental disasters had damaged the economy severely enough to provide a crisis that had to be set right, for the People, according to the Fed’s own lights. Food and other necessities were scarce and Federal moves to ensure “social justice” were implemented. Those who failed to abide by the Federal version of social justice became enemies of the state. Rural Southerners were the principal targets and a Federal Rural Pacification entity was formed to deal with the problem. Civilian firearms were banned but the bans were very difficult to enforce in the rural South.

In a small Tennessee village, Saturday markets attracted nearly all residents to barter or, if they had any of the new Federal currency, to buy things they needed to survive. A few had small gold coins, the possession of which was a capital offense, with which to buy what they needed. The whole concept of a free market was antithetical to the Federal concept of social justice, so one Saturday afternoon hundreds of market participants were arrested, taken to a ravine and shot. Rural pacification was a “black operation.” Since it did not officially exist, any stories of its actions were deniable and hence untrue.

If you have an opportunity, please read the book. Far fetched? Of course it is. It might — or might not — nevertheless suggest where the United States of Obama may be headed. Will “We the People” try to keep the situation from getting worse, or will we be content simply to “think progress,” to wait until we are personally affected and to hope for change?

Elections are coming in November. Please vote for our freedoms and against those who would destroy them “only” a few at a time as we enjoy the intervening periods of what passes for “normalcy.”

UPDATE:

Things may not be quite as they seem. According to a post at Maggie’s Notebook,

After being told the BLM would stand-down this morning, it appears nothing of the sort is happening. InfoWars was streaming live, right at the spot where the cattle were, when the feed was cut, and apparently InfoWars is not the only one to lose communication. Cell phones are working and Alex Jones was talking by cell to David Knight who says someone there has threatened to shoot the activists. The area is heavy with armed police and other officials. Traffic has stopped on the interstate, honking in support of Bundy. David Knight says there are “soldiers” hiding behind cars with AR-15s. Amid the reporting, Bundy’s cattle will not be returned to him. More as information becomes available.

I don’t consider Alex Jones’ InfoWars a reliable source. However, there seem to be very few of them and he may be correct.

UPDATE:

From PJ Media, a post titled Breaking: Bureau of Land Management Won’t Enforce Court Order Against Bundy Cows claims that

The Bureau of Land Management announced that it would not enforce a court order to round up cows owned by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, effectively ending the siege at the southern Nevada ranch.

But did it?

When government chooses to intimidate instead of negotiate in good faith, they should expect this kind of resistance. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a good thing for citizens to threaten government officials, but the situation would never have gotten to this point if the government had treated its people as citizens instead of subjects to be bullied and pushed around. [Emphasis added.]

The BLM may wait for things to die down and then return to enforce the court order. If they try the same tactics, it’s likely they’ll meet the same resistance. “It’s about the freedom of America,” said another of Bundy’s sisters, Margaret Houston. “We have to stand up and fight.” If the only thing they accomplish in the end is put the government on notice that citizens won’t sit still for this kind of bullying, something positive will have come out of this mess. [Emphasis added.]