Roam, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

April 26, 2014 Martha Thomases 1 Comment

I was trying not to get too invested in the continuing saga of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who had refused to pay grazing fees for the decades his cattle roamed on federal land.  I mean, the man seemed like a real asshole, but what do I know about ranching?  I can’t even reliably wrangle a cat, as you can see by the number of vet appointments I’ve had to reschedule because I can’t get her in the carrier.

And then, he said this:

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

 

The man who claims a government hand-out to feed his cattle is his inalienable right thinks a government hand-out is worse than slavery.

This happens a lot.  If we are discussing a benefit for another person, it’s a giveaway.  If it’s something we need, it’s an investment in society.  So food stamps get cut, but oil companies get tax incentives.

I’ve heard the argument that Mr. Bundy has a right to graze his cattle on federal land because his family has been doing this for over a hundred years, and is therefore “grandfathered in,”  and the law doesn’t apply to him.  This is an interesting argument, and, again, I suspect it wouldn’t work for me:

• “Yeah, I know it’s his car, but he used to let me borrow it, so I’m driving it to California.”

• “We used to chop down Christmas trees here all the time.  Why can’t I take enough to build my new house?  Do you know what lumber costs when you get it from the store?

•  “I’m sorry, officer, but my family has always let our dogs shit on the sidewalk, and therefore the pooper-scooper law doesn’t apply to me.”

We could go on, and Jon Stewart did.  I won’t attempt to compete with someone who gets paid for this.

However, I will note that, before he started spewing his racist garbage, Bundy was something of a folk hero to the more rabid conservatives in this country.  Many took their guns and drove hundreds of miles to stand with him against the police who were trying to enforce the law.  They compared it to Woodstock.

And then they claimed surprise when Bundy said things that the extreme right has been saying (in somewhat more polite terms — but only barely more polite) for decades.

As a taxpayer, I’m happy to have my money go to preserve and protect federal properties.  If Mr. Bundy needs access to our property to make a profit raising his cattle, he should pay for the privilege, or buy more property of his own.

But he shouldn’t wrap himself in self-righteousness while denigrating others.  He’ll need a moat for that glass house.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, gets along, little doggies.