Darren Weeks
Coalition to Govern America
April 11, 2014
We’ve been following the current situation on the ground in Clark County, Nevada, in regard to the federal Bureau of Land Management harassment and persecution of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy. We discussed the Cliven Bundy case on Govern America on March 29th.
On Thursday, I heard a talk show referencing the situation with the Bundy siege, and calling it a “public relations nightmare” for the federal goon squad, which consists of numerous FBI and BLM agents. Upon repeatedly hearing this well-meaning host make the comment, I couldn’t help but think about the many countless abuses of what Irwin Schiff used to call the “federal mafia”. Schiff's term is fitting as law is only applied by the uniformed goons when it benefits their agenda. When it doesn't they take their liberty to crack skulls, break legs, and make “offers you can't refuse”.
One of the more prominent and frightening examples of federal democide was the completely unprovoked murder of the Branch Davidians at their church and residence in Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993. Ironically, the anniversary of that event is right around the corner. The feds didn’t seem too worried about public relations when they were gassing and burning men, women, and children to death on that day. The lapdog media lied about the event, but the truth was outed in the excellent documentary Waco: The Rules of Engagement. Watch it and weep.
As tensions rise, some have expressed worries that the federal bullies might try to repeat history with the Bundy family. The decades-old battle has come to a head in recent days with the feds now surrounding Bundy’s ranch with armed thugs, helicopters, four-wheel drive vehicles, surveillance cameras and federal agents armed with military-style weapons. They have closed off 1,200 acres and are rounding up and confiscating his cattle which the feds claim are “trespassing” on federal property. The feds say that all of this is to save the endangered desert tortoise. The Bundys counter that the government is trying to drive them out of business and off of their land.
Bundy’s family has been cattle ranching the lands in question since 1877. Some twenty years ago, the government violated the terms of the grazing contract by limiting the amount of grazing cattle to 150. At that time, Bundy protested by discontinuing his payment of the grazing fees to the federal government. Bundy says he is willing to pay the fees to the county instead. The case has been being fought out in the courts.
The situation has intensified with the BLM confiscation operation. Federal goons used a stun gun against Cliven’s son, Dave and arrested him. Cliven’s wife, Carol Bundy, said that arresting agents “threw Dave to the ground” and “one put his knee on his head, the other put his boot on his head and pushed him into the gravel. He’s got quite a bruised head. Just bruised him up pretty good.” Also, Cliven’s 57-year-old sister was knocked to the ground. The assaults have led to condemnation of the federal agencies for their mistreatment of the Bundys by at least two state elected officials. Gov. Brian Sandoval slammed the feds for promoting an “atmosphere of intimidation” while stating that he believed that the Bundys’ Constitutional rights were being trampled. Nevada Sen. Dean Heller also added his voice to those critical of the BLM, saying that Nevadans should not be subjected to an “overreaching agency”. The federal government is spending an estimated $3 million on the roundup and confiscation of Bundy’s nearly 1,000 head of cattle.
Like most of the west, 80 percent of Nevada’s land is owned and controlled by the federal government. Limits placed upon cattle grazing of the size and scope of the Bundy ranching operation would serve to force him out of business. The Coalition to Govern America made contact with family members on Thursday, and was told that the Bundy ranch used to have 52 neighboring ranches, all of which are now gone, having either been harassed out of business or bought out. Family members told us that Cliven and Carol Bundy are the last holdouts in the area and the family believes that the feds are attempting to drive them out of business and off their land too.
The CGA is reaching out to the Bundy family, and is working to get them on Govern America to tell their story and raise awareness of this important issue. We believe we must all stand with the Bundy family. Their battle is our battle. This has nothing to do with the desert tortoise. It is about property rights, and the right to raise and cultivate our own food. If we allow the mafia goons at federal bureaucratic agencies to force family ranches and farms out of business, driving them off of their land, the only food producers left will be massive multi-national corporations who have proven they have no ethics, morals, sense of decency, or concern about the health of their customers, the environment, or the purity of the food supply. Genetically-modified beef, anyone?
UPDATE: Dave Bundy was a guest on Govern America on April 12, 2014. He announced to our audience that the feds would be having a press conference shortly.
While we were still on the air discussing the issues surrounding the case with former U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent Jim Beers, we learned the news that the Bureau of Land Management had decided to pull out. Their intimidation tactics had failed.
After the program, we learned that BLM officers had threatened to shoot the good men, women, and children who had gathered there to defend the Bundys and their ranch. Despite the threats, these heroic Americans kept walking toward the BLM agents who pointed their guns at them and shouted death threats at them through bull horns. Faced with certain death, the brave souls, on the side of liberty, kept walking.
Realizing they would have to shoot civilians, which would likely start a hot war with the armed American people, the feds pulled out.
We are not naive enough to believe this is over. In fact, Sen. Harry Reid stated that it wasn't over. Liberty requires eternal vigilance. Whatever they try to pull in the future, the American people should be prepared.
Part of that preparation and vigilance must be the undying defense of our Second Amendment rights! This victory would never have happened if the Gun Control crowd had been successful at disarming the brave people who stood up to the federal bullies. The feds were not able to drive Cliven Bundy out of business and off of his land because courageous, heroic Americans had the necessary defense against federal aggression.
This is why our gun rights are under major assault by national media propaganda campaigns, orchestrated false flag shooting events, and various other campaigns to chip away or outright ban our firearms. Despite these high-profile media efforts, the truth remains that an armed populace is a peaceful populace. One only need to look at crime statistics in areas where firearms have been banned, versus places where they are freely available to the general population. The facts bare it out.
