BLM EXISTS IN DISGRACE

SPECIAL POST

Saturday morning, faced with hundreds of protesters and the promise of hundreds of more by the end of the week, the BLM summarily announced that it was pulling out of its hostile takeover of the Bundy Ranch near Overton and Bunkerville in Nevada.  Several protesters had been arrested, including one of the sons of the ranch owner, Cliven Bundy. Both Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie both condemned the BLM actions. 

BLM has historically had rotten relations with ranchers and farmers, particularly in Western States.  The Las Vegas office has been particularly overbearing and arrogant in its relationships.  It has many times used ruses to drive farmers and ranchers from their lands.  In this case, the BLM claimed the desert tortoise was nearing extinction and that cattle grazing in the area had to stop.  It was around that time that one BLM agent allegedly told ranchers and farmers that the BLM would drive them off their lands.  In the meanwhile, the desert tortoise has thrived and the BLM is actually killing some of them off.  Yet, the land battle has continued. 

The Bundys moved to the area in 1870, long before the BLM was formed, and began ranching.  It was open range in those days; you could graze cattle wherever there was edible vegetation. The most recent confrontation was over Bundy's grazing of cattle on BLM lands, formerly open grazing lands.  At the heart of the issue is the lack of a fence to distinguish Bundy Ranch lands from lands supposedly owned by the BLM; the Bundy's were saying Friday that the lands in question were actually state-owned lands.  

During the standoff, the BLM refused to allow protesters near the site and confined them to two small "Free Speech" areas with a limit as to the number of protesters who could be at the areas and the condition that only one of the two areas could be occupied at any given time.  This is a glaring violation of the 5th Amendment. 

The BLM may be gone from the Bundy Ranch today, but they are not used to losing their battles.  You can bet they will be back; it's just a matter of time.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.