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You can have my cattle when you pry 'em from my, well, you know ...

These are stand-your-ground times, and no one is standing his ground like rancher Cliven Bundy. Check that -- technically, he's standing our ground. Bundy, 65, is the guy in northern Clark County who's been illegally grazing cattle on public land since 1994(!). The BLM was going to round up his trespassing livestock, but halted after Bundy said he would "do whatever it takes to protect his property." No one looks good here, except maybe the cattle: The BLM appears weak, indecisive; Bundy spouts Wild West denialism about the feds having no authority over public land; Sheriff Gillespie gets to sound all cool-headed, saying stuff like, "Nobody wants this to turn into a confrontation where violence would occur," and never mind that Bundy is the sole source of needless escalation; the media get to cite "Ruby Ridge" and "Waco" to set the mood; and meanwhile, a cranky old man who's already flauted the law for 18 years gets to do it a bit longer. Time to get the cattle to Abilene.
Published in Las Vegas City Life /April 2012