There are many reasons to be disturbed by the fact that a band of armed thugs has occupied federal land in Oregon for nearly three weeks with hardly more than a shrug from the authorities. For one thing, if the ringleader were named Hassan instead of Bundy, the right-wing circus on the presidential campaign trail would have been demanding a nuclear response long ago.
The Bundy gang’s staged pronouncements about American values, pioneer history and the sacred rights of landowners are offensive. Their disregard for the law is equally so.
And their utter lack of self-awareness is breathtaking. It would be funny if they were not committing serious criminal acts.
This week, the Bundy gunmen posted a video showing them pawing through Native American artifacts that are stored in one of the buildings in which they are squatting. They said they were concerned about how the artifacts were being stored, and eager to return them to their rightful owners, the Paiute tribe.
The Bundy crowd loves to talk about rightful owners of things, like the land they are holding at gunpoint, which they seem to think is their property. According to ThinkProgress, members of the tribe lived in the area for 6,000 years – until the kind of settlers whose descendants are now occupying the land pushed them out. Those settlers, of course, had help from the federal government, now the object of the Bundy gang’s disdain.
Jarvis Kennedy, a member of the Burns Paiute Tribal council, said at a news conference this month that the Paiutes can protect their own interests. “We don’t need some clown to come in here and stand up for us,” he said.
As for the artifacts, the Paiutes were actually working with the federal government to preserve them.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/the-bundy-gangs-latest-stunt/?ref=opinion
The Bundy gang’s staged pronouncements about American values, pioneer history and the sacred rights of landowners are offensive. Their disregard for the law is equally so.
And their utter lack of self-awareness is breathtaking. It would be funny if they were not committing serious criminal acts.
This week, the Bundy gunmen posted a video showing them pawing through Native American artifacts that are stored in one of the buildings in which they are squatting. They said they were concerned about how the artifacts were being stored, and eager to return them to their rightful owners, the Paiute tribe.
The Bundy crowd loves to talk about rightful owners of things, like the land they are holding at gunpoint, which they seem to think is their property. According to ThinkProgress, members of the tribe lived in the area for 6,000 years – until the kind of settlers whose descendants are now occupying the land pushed them out. Those settlers, of course, had help from the federal government, now the object of the Bundy gang’s disdain.
Jarvis Kennedy, a member of the Burns Paiute Tribal council, said at a news conference this month that the Paiutes can protect their own interests. “We don’t need some clown to come in here and stand up for us,” he said.
As for the artifacts, the Paiutes were actually working with the federal government to preserve them.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/the-bundy-gangs-latest-stunt/?ref=opinion
