They Broke the Law

He broke the law. It was obvious to many that he broke the law. Yet somehow, he amassed his own militia to fight a "Range War". And at one point, he became a media darling celebrated by "TEA" powered pundits & politicians across the nation.

Cliven Bundy exploded onto the national media stage with his outrageous views on Constitutional law, community relations, and civil rights. He even convinced a bunch of G-O-TEA politicians to stand with him in urging law enforcement agencies to stop enforcing the law.

After about 3 weeks of bumbling around this issue, outgoing Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie (R) has finally admitted that Cliven Bundy needs to be "held accountable" for breaking the law. We can only wonder if the murder of Metro Police Officers Alyn Beck & Igor Soldo (along with civilian Joseph Robert Wilcox) by two #BundyRanch "super fans" has finally registered with him.

In recent weeks, we've been digging deep into the dark side of the "Patriot Movement" that its allegedly "mainstream" "TEA" tinged allies prefer that we not notice. And in doing so, we've been reminded of the lurid story of Jim Gilchrist and Shawna Forde. Jim Gilchrist was once a Congressional candidate in Orange County, California, who managed to turn a long-shot local campaign into a national movement. And Shawna Forde ultimately became his right-hand woman on the Arizona Border after raising hell in Washington State. Gilchrist, Forde, and their army of Minutemen ultimately succeeded in killing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in 2006.



But when Shawna Forde was arrested in 2009 for the murder of Raul & Brisenia Flores, Gilchrist suddenly denied his extensive working relationship with Forde. He even later embarked on a "rebranding campaign". After all, how better to respond to evidence of encouraging criminal behavior than to "rebrand" oneself as a "kinder, gentler anti-immigrant demagogue"?



Jim Gilchrist is back. In the wake of the Murrieta bus blockade, Gilchrist has declared his interest in restarting Minutemen vigilante patrols along the entire US Border. And already, some "TEA" powered activists are vowing to start patrolling South Texas.

Ironically, anti-immigrant extremists claim they just want to "enforce the law". But as the Obama Administration is taking action to enforce current law regarding these Central American migrant children, the 21st Century Know Nothings are now breaking the law... And encouraging violent "revolution"?

When & where have we heard this before? Would Sheriff Gillespie like to explain? Would Cliven Bundy like to discuss this? Would the residents of Bunkerville & Mesquite like to chime in? Perhaps we should also extend the invitation to the families of Officers Beck & Soldo?



They broke the law. It's becoming increasingly obvious to many that they broke the law. Ironically, they're crying about "enforcing the law" while they're breaking the law... And threatening even more violent & illegal activities.

("TEA" flavored) Politicians who are rushing to celebrate the Murrieta bus blockade and encourage even more of these activities need to think twice before going any further down this path. After all, they claim to care so much about "enforcing the law".

Up in Flames

It's hot outside. And it's quite dry. Yep, it's awfully dry outside.

How dry? Take a look at this map. The drought continues to worsen. And as the drought worsens, so does risk of more epic wildfires burning across Nevada.



Mount Charleston, as well as the Las Vegas Valley below, were seriously threatened by the Carpenter 1 Fire nearly a year ago. Chris Giunchigliani understands this quite well, as she spends plenty of time with her neighbors & constituents in Las Vegas and at her mountain house on Mount Charleston. Chris Giunchigliani has experienced firsthand the effects of climate change, and she urged others in Southern Nevada to take this threat seriously.



From Wall Street titans to mayors across the nation and The Pentagon, Americans want strong action to take on climate change. And Nevada, the rest of the nation, and the rest of the world stand to benefit from strong climate change.



But of course, Cliven Bundy and his merry gang of "outlaw cowboys" refuse to accept this. The Bundy Gang are too busy "going Hollywood" to worry about such things as climate change.

Yet while they're cashing in on breaking the law and pandering to dangerous extremists, BLM Southern Nevada Fire Management Officer Mike Haydon has to focus on protecting our public lands from not only dangerous extremists with "Range War" fantasies, but also climate change.



Representatives from Rep. Steven Horsford's (D-North Las Vegas, and his district includes Mount Charleston) office, Rep. Dina Titus' (D-Paradise) office, and Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown's (D-Las Vegas) office also dropped by yesterday's event at Mount Charleston because they're concerned about what lies ahead for Southern Nevada... Especially if we don't take enough action to take on climate change.



This s--t is serious. It's not something to mock. It's not something to blithely dismiss. And it's certainly not something to deny just to "score political points".

Don't believe us? Remember what happened at Mount Charleston almost a year ago. It can happen again. And we likely will see more of those large wildfires at some point soon. Either we can take action to save ourselves, or we can let our future burn up in flames.

Who Expects This?

We were wondering when more folks would notice. Sure, Cliven Bundy became "old news" for national media pundits when he was revealed to be a racist fool. But for the poor residents of Bunkerville & Mesquite, the armed madness continued even after the national media cameras left.

But at least now, Salon's Paul Rosenberg is noticing. And even better, he put together the timeline of what's happened at #BundyRanch since the national media spotlight dimmed. That helps those who haven't been keeping up with the story here.

Yet now, the media spotlight seems to be returning... Or has #BundyRanch just moved to where the national media spotlight is now?



Remember when we discussed "Operation American Spring"? That's actually about to begin tomorrow. The "Patriot Movement" is hoping to take the mayhem it's unleashed on Nevada & Utah all the way to DC.

Meanwhile on this end of the continent, Gun Owners of America Director Larry Pratt is still encouraging the Bundy Gang to do whatever they can to stop federal authorities from enforcing federal law. And not only that, but he's proposing a nifty solution to the Great Western Drought: Just have California's county sheriffs point guns at federal officials to make them release water that California no longer has!



Wow. That makes plenty of sense. (/not)

But then again, none of this really does. Who expects local law enforcement agencies to prevent other law enforcement agencies from enforcing the law? Who expects 10 million people to descend upon the DC area to overthrow our duly elected government? Who expects license to trespass upon the American people's land without facing any consequences?

Who expects this? And who condones this? Think about it.

Free-dumb

Might the armed madness finally be nearing an end? After over a month of Cliven Bundy and his gang of "outlaw cowboys" running rampant and unleashing mayhem upon Gold Butte and the Virgin Valley, law enforcement may finally step up to put an end to this. And we're not just talking about any law enforcement. Now, the FBI is starting to investigate #BundyRanch while the BLM is preparing to take Bundy (back) to court.



Yet as the Bundy Gang are starting to encounter consequences for their actions here in Nevada, that isn't stopping them from spreading their signature brand of armed madness into another state. Last week, they began making noises about BLM land in southeastern Utah. Apparently, they've been upset over the BLM restricting all terrain vehicle (ATV) use in Recapture Canyon, an area well known for Native American petroglyphs and sensitive riparian habitats.

Even before last week, Recapture Canyon had been subjected to repeated acts of vandalism. But last weekend, that vandalism reached new levels when the Bundy Gang decided to take an ATV joy ride through the area. Oh yeah, who cares about some silly birds and burial sites. The Bundy Gang only care about their Free-dumb!

And they're not alone. Since last month, a number of G-O-TEA politicians have joined the Koch funded AFP in encouraging this kind of armed rebellion. And even though they've been trying to avoid Bundy's racist comments, they've still been championing the extreme ideology behind those comments.

They may not be alone, but they are quite clearly in the wrong. The vast majority of Westerners don't condone this behavior. And perhaps more importantly, both state & federal law forbid it.



For all their talk of "loving the Constitution", these "Constitutional conservatives" seem to have no idea how the US Constitution actually works. And they seem to forget that the Constitution set up the very federal government that they oh so hate now.

So what are they fighting for? What are they demanding? What are they making the case for?

Apparently, free-dumb. They demand the free-dumb to vandalize and flat out destroy property that belongs to the American people. And they don't care who gets hurt in the process.

Here in America, these fringe characters have the freedom to be stupid. They just don't have the free-dumb to pee on our legs and tell us it's raining.

This Land Is Our Land

On Thursday, we were alerted to a troubling situation near Bunkerville. A local rancher named Cliven Bundy had been illegally sending his cattle onto BLM land. He had racked up a $1,000,000+ bill after refusing to pay grazing fees for over 20 years. And when the BLM was preparing to put an end to Bundy's illegal grazing on federal land, Bundy decided to call in local and national "TEA" fueled allies to provoke armed conflict with the BLM.

And now, the BLM has been forced to stand down at #BundyRanch in order to prevent a bloody, violent end to this conflict. Already, the situation had gone out of hand.



And even now, #BundyRanch is is still a very volatile situation. It's just escalated from a local embarrassment into a national fiasco. And "TEA Party, Inc. definitely had several hands in escalating this conflict.

Remember when Republicans marketed their party as "the law & order party"? Those days now feel like an eternity ago. Now, we have the Nevada Republican Party cravenly endorsing brazen lawlessness. And G-O-TEA politicians & pundits from across the nation have been piling on to worsen an already fragile situation.



Over the past week, all of us in Southern Nevada have witnessed "Stand Your Ground" run amok... Except this ground does not just belong to Cliven Bundy. Gold Butte is ground that belongs to all of us. There's a reason why it's called "public land". Hint: This land is our land, as we are the public.

This is something the Koch-topus has been trying to make us forget. No wonder why it's reared its ugly head to spin this brazen abuse of public property into some sort of demented "freedom fighting". It's just ironic that the "libertarian" "TEA" powered astroturf network is fighting for the very "welfare" it claims to fight against.

This land is our land. This land is ours to protect, ours to cherish, ours to preserve. It's not there for one misinformed man to exercise his anarchist fantasies on. It's not there for Koch backed militias to play "Cowboys & Cops" on. And it's certainly not there to prove every worst assumption everyone makes of America & Nevada.

This land is our land. It's not just Cliven Bundy's. And it's a damned shame that after benefiting from "big government welfare" for all these decades, he has the nerve to tell us we have no rights on what's our land.

The Real Reasons for Outrage

So we have another outbreak of outrage this week. But is it really all about cattle? Is there some sort of "overreach"? Or are the usual "OUTRAGED!!!" suspects missing the real reasons for outrage?

Cliven Bundy has been illegally letting his cows graze in the Gold Butte area for nearly 20 years. He has refused to pay grazing fees since 1993, and he has used some rather novel excuses to spin his brazen violation of federal law.

So why are Senator Dean Heller (R) & Governor Brian Sandoval (R) screaming about the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) stepping up to enforce the law? Are they really trying to argue that this is acceptable?



And is this what the NRA means when it claims "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"? Could this explain why Heller & Sandoval have even opposed modest efforts at gun violence prevention?

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And then, there's the issue of Bundy's specious claim to the land. That land isn't just his. It's ours. It belongs to all 300 million plus Americans. And if he doesn't believe that, he can read the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

That land also belongs to the wildlife who call Gold Butte home. Oh, and that land belonged to the Native Americans who called this region home long before our ancestors immigrated to this continent.

It's unfair to all the rest of us to allow one rancher to let his cattle trample upon the habitat of an endangered species (the desert tortoise). It's especially unfair to let that rancher let his cattle run rampant and ruin land that belongs to all of us. And it's particularly unfair to let this one rancher let his cattle run rampant when he's refused to pay the fee that all area ranchers must pay to use that public land. (After all, the BLM has to maintain this land for everyone.)



Oh, and haven't we talked about this before? Haven't we warned about this before? Haven't Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) delivered barn burning speeches about this? Hasn't the ongoing drought been reminding us of why we can't leave this unchecked?

If Senator Heller & Governor Sandoval are truly offended by what's going down at Gold Butte this week, then why don't they ask their fellow Republicans to stop denying the brutal reality of climate change? It's already having an effect on cattle ranchers. And pretty soon, it will have a major effect on all our lives if we don't step up our game.

Hey, someone had to do it. And since hardly anyone else is discussing the real reasons for outrage regarding this Cliven Bundy "scandal", we figured we might as well wade into this hot mess. So to recap, some G-O-TEA politicians are screaming at the BLM because the BLM is enforcing existing law. A rancher is willfully violating the law and encouraging armed rebellion against the federal government because he doesn't like the law. And meanwhile, the land itself and the original inhabitants of this land are reeling because we've allowed the land to be mistreated by the likes of Bundy... While we threaten the climate that's supposed to sustain this land.

Feeling outraged yet? At least now you understand why we are.

Water War: Thirsty for Growth in Las Vegas? Or Parched to Death in Snake Valley?

(Also at Daily Kos)



Earlier this week, Henderson's Convention Center was host to the latest battle in the ongoing war for rural Nevada and Utah water. And while the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) got some high profile support at the BLM (federal Bureau of Land Management) hearing in Henderson this week (even if they were still outnumbered 4:1 by opponents), the angry tongue lashings against SNWA's water grab were much more unanimous at the BLM hearing in Ely last week. And in Elko, some high profile opposition hammered at the water grab proposal.

Elko County Commissioner Warren Russell said groundwater pumping will “create real desert areas,” and he called the proposed pipeline “a big sucking monster moving north.”

He also testified he is concerned about the attitude that the water authority could start the drawdown and “see what’s happening” in terms of impacts.

Yvonne Prescott, who grew up in Lincoln County, said the proposed pipeline would have a drastic impact on White Pine and Lincoln counties, and the water drawdown will create a dust bowl.

She also said the counties wouldn’t reap economic benefits because most construction workers would come from Clark County, and neither Lincoln or White Pine has housing for workers.

“I see all negatives for the people, animals and the land,” Prescott said.

Former Assemblyman John Carpenter of Elko testified he has had a lot of time to study the proposal over the years, “and the more you look at it, the less desirable it is.” He also questioned whether the water would at some point come from Elko County.

Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea (R-Eureka) even rose to speak of his concern about pumping 175,000 acre feet of groundwater out of rural communities with no chance of recharge. He also asked why SNWA isn't asking California for a pipeline to desalination plants, but the increasing controversy over ocean desalination probably makes that just as difficult for them. So we're back at Square One. To pipe or not to pipe? That is the $3.5 billion question.



And if that isn't bad enough for SNWA, Utahns are also balking at the proposed pipeline.

Among the 30 participants in the public hearing was Randy Parker, CEO, Utah Farm Bureau.

Rupert Steele, a member of the Goshute Tribe, told BLM officials that the draft EIS does not address the recharge rates of the aquifers if 177,000 acre-feet is pumped out of them per year as proposed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

"Taking water resources away from its source should not be allowed," Steele said. "This will leave a sad legacy of environmental destruction."

Pumping water out of aquifers that feed Utah’s west desert will lead to increased air pollution along the Wasatch Front, said Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.

"Groundwater drawdown can generate dust and pollution," he said. "We already live in a non-attainment area in Salt Lake County. The federal government has already told us our air is not clean enough."

The BLM’s draft EIS estimates the pumping project would add 24,122 tons of windblown dust a year into the air during the project’s first 75 years.

The draft EIS also estimates that groundwater discharges to surface evaporation and transpiration by plants would be reduced by 28 percent in Snake Valley during the first 75 years of the project.

But [Steve Erickson, of the Great Basin Water Network] said he believes the draft EIS underestimates the impacts of the 306-mile pipeline project that Southern Nevada Water Authority says will cost some $3.5 billion.

Farmers and ranchers in Eastern Nevada and Western Utah depend on their local groundwater supplies to survive. So do hunters and wildlife. So do local Native American tribes. The stakes can't be any higher, and neither can the emotions on both sides.



Rural farmers and suburban Utahns direct their rage toward Pat Mulroy and her plans to steal their water, while Mulroy directs her rage right back at them for wasting so much water in the desert.



SNWA claims this is only about our survival. After all, Las Vegas is right in the heart of the Mojave Desert. Clark County will very soon have 2,000,000 people living here, and even as future growth is expected to slow, we'll still need water to survive. So how can we get the water?

SNWA - WATER ESCORT from Kurt Rauf on Vimeo.

SNWA has succeeded at dramatically transforming Clark County from a "water junkie" to a mecca of conservation. After levels sunk dramatically in the last decade, Lake Mead is actually rising again after a good rain/snow season and the release of excess Lake Powell water. And renegotiations over Colorado River water are bound to happen soon.

So why is there "need" for this pipeline to rural Eastern Nevada and Western Utah? That's what many are asking, and Pat Mulroy continues to insist that Lake Mead and conservation are not enough. She demands that we prepare for the possible instead of hoping for the probable.


Colorado River Drought Spurs Seven State Pact by FORAtv

So is she right? The BLM environmental impact study (EIS) now up for review casts doubt on Mulroy's much desired pipeline, and rural Nevadans and Utahns point to it as vindication for their hard stance against the water grab.

Meanwhile, opponents are quietly content over a draft environmental impact statement finally released by the bureau in June, after six years of input from the Water Authority, residents, tribes and a litany of federal agencies.

The prose is turgid and reserved, but the environmental conclusions are often stark:

• “... likely result in windblown dust emissions due to drying of hydric soils and loss or reduction of basin shrubland vegetation.” People in Utah, downwind, are particularly alarmed by this prospect.

• “... risk of subsidence of the ground surface as a result of the withdrawal of the groundwater.” This means the pumping could cause the ground to sink several feet over hundreds of square miles, causing buildings, transmission lines and roads to be structurally unstable.

• “... risk of invasion by invasive ... species.”

• The pumping could affect surface water, such as ponds, lakes and streams, which would obviously adversely affect the species that rely on that water for drinking, foraging, breeding.

• “Drawdown poses long-term risks to the agricultural sector in the rural areas...”

Great Basin Water Network, Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association, and others are fighting hard against SNWA's pipeline. And perhaps for the first time ever, they finally seem to be gaining the upper hand. But how long will it last? And will Pat Mulroy and SNWA go down without one last brutal battle?

And is this really the end of it? I doubt it. As climate change worsens and drought conditions reappear throughout America, expect The Water War to get uglier.