Actually, Bundy refused to sign the lease and pay the money because he said the federal government did not own the land. He wrote multiple letters to the BLM to that effect in 1993. For example, “Bundy responded by sending a Constructive Notice and Order to Stop, in which he again questioned the United States’ authority to manage the Allotment. See Exhibit 28 to #11.”
However, when I talk to people about this, I point out that a government that prevents Arizona law enforcement from helping arrest illegal immigrants, and that prosecutes the Maricopa sheriff for trying to slow illegal immigration, has no business using federal SWAT teams to go after trespassing cows! Who is trespassing more - a foreign citizen who comes to the US illegally, or a cow eating grass it hasn’t paid for? And why do alphabet agencies like the BLM need their own SWAT teams? Why not just put a lien against the cattle?
I also argue that a government which refuses to obey its own laws, such as repeatedly encouraging companies to violate Obama’s own healthcare law, has no business accusing ANYONE of disrespecting the rule of law!
We then can talk about the 20+ year policy of turning public lands into “no humans land”, and by the time we finish, most folks fully understand Bundy’s frustration and how angry people are.
Actually, see my post #172 directly following your post #171 to me.
These ranchers are not Double Tongues, like Harry Reid or Bill Clinton. They don't understand that language is "woven" by the speaker(s) and their media artillery support to gain the desired result.
Why do you think they turned Katie Couric loose on Sarah Palin after Palin's 2008 VP nomination? they absolutely savaged Palin before she was a veteran that could parry the BS.
This isn't about the truth, because you're not going to get it from the BLM, the politicians, the judges or the media.