Less than a week ago, Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy's standoff with federal authorities over unpaid grazing fees was treated as political gold by some conservative politicians and media personalities. The figure of the rugged Westerner standing up to armed agents of the state seemed a perfect opportunity to highlight long-standing complaints about the size and scope of the federal government.

But stories showing Bundy in a less flattering light exploded on Thursday after he was quoted in a New York Times profile questioning whether African-Americans were better off as slaves.

"I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro," Bundy said during one of his daily press conferences. "ecause they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? 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."

After the story quickly went viral, Bundy was forced to address his remarks during a press conference on Thursday afternoon. Bundy said he is opposed to slavery. "I don't believe in any of that type of stuff," he said, but he also used the word "Negro" or "Negros" at least a half-dozen times during his brief remarks. "They're not slaves anymore," Bundy added. "But they seem to be slaves to the welfare system."

"It really don't matter to me if you twist my words out," Bundy said at the end of his press conference. "It matters that my heart goes out to the people of this world, and they understand what I stand for."

Bundy initially denied the comments in an interview with radio host Alex Jones. But after video of his full comments surfaced, he doubled down on his remarks on Thursday, saying in a radio interview with Peter Schiff:

"That's exactly what I said. I said I'm wondering if they're better off under government subsidy, and their young women are having the abortions and their young men are in jail, and their older women and their children are standing, sitting out on the cement porch without nothing to do, you know, I'm wondering: Are they happier now under this government subsidy system than they were when they were slaves, and they was able to have their family structure together, and the chickens and garden, and the people had something to do? And so, in my mind I'm wondering, are they better off being slaves, in that sense, or better off being slaves to the United States government, in the sense of the subsidies. I'm wondering. That's what. And the statement was right. I am wondering."

After a week of accusations that the federal government had overplayed its hand by sending armed officials from the Bureau of Land Management to seize cattle from Bundy's property in the dispute, critics of Bundy and his armed supporters seemingly seized the upper hand.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, resumed the offensive, calling Bundy a "hateful racist" in a statement released on Thursday and urging Republican leaders to distance themselves from him.

"For their part, national Republican leaders could help show a united front against this kind of hateful, dangerous extremism by publicly condemning Bundy," Reid said in the statement.

A number of Republican officials, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, have begun doing exactly that, the Washington Post reports.

"I wholeheartedly disagree with him," Paul said in a statement, calling Bundy's remarks "offensive."

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus also condemned the comments, saying, "Bundy's comments are completely beyond the pale. Both highly offensive and 100% wrong on race."

A spokesman for Republican Nevada Sen. Dean Heller echoed Paul's comments, saying, "Sen. Heller completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy's appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way."

Bundy explained his comments by saying he was just trying out a Glenn Beck-style thought experiment. Later in the same press conference, he praised the family lives of workers, presumably Latin American, who are living illegally in the U.S.

"Now, let me talk about the Spanish people. You know, I understand that they come over here against our Constitution and cross our borders. But they are here and they are people. And I've worked side by side with a lot of them. Don't tell me they don't work and don't tell me they don't pay taxes," Bundy said. "And don't tell me they don't have better family structures than most of us white people. ... We need to have those people join us and be with us, not not come to our party."

In addition to the story's national political fallout, the furor over Bundy's comments could have implications for the land policy movement in the American West. A group of 50 political leaders from nine Western states met over the weekend to discuss strategies for reclaiming lands currently under federal management. The meeting was scheduled before Bundy's story made national headlines, but it drew heightened attention in the wake of the Bundy Ranch debate.

http://news.yahoo.com/cliven-b...-i-said-192309857.html

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I noticed it always coincides with their own desires

Susan B. Anthony
1896

Impeach Trump

http://theweek.com/article/ind...fight-with-jon-stewart

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I noticed it always coincides with their own desires

Susan B. Anthony
1896

Impeach Trump

Hannity is a stooge.  

He was back tracking away from Bundy big time on his radio show today. 

Pretty funny stuff.

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If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC - KV

I guess Rand Paul is trying to scrape the turd off his shoe also.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I noticed it always coincides with their own desires

Susan B. Anthony
1896

Impeach Trump

Interesting parallels between the Bundy saga and the Whiskey Rebellion

What would George Washington do in Nevada?

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Wrong, the Whiskey Rebellion was the refusal to pay tax. That is not the same as the government using excessive force to take land, in which the only reason they feel entitled to it is because of a stroke of a pen forming some authoritative agency long after the fact. Not to mention the government stealing/murdering your cattle. I can almost guarantee George Washington wouldn't resort to such tactics.

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"Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

"Take" land? It's Federal Land, and Bundy refuses to pay grazing fees which might be considered a tax.

Excessive force? Washington brought an army. The government has the right to seize the cattle as confirmed by the courts.

I guess you support enforcing the laws you agree with only. Figures.

I would send in drone strikes, arrest anyone still alive, butcher the cattle, and have a cookout.

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Maybe he should throw a big barbecue party to cover his back taxes like Willie did.

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Def could use some of them there cattle for some mighty tastee bbq

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There are NO white people at all in the Bible... take all the time you need with that...
Please stop feeding the trolls - they will go away if you do...