Well, wadayaknow?
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/bundy-02-26-2015.html
Not exactly as I predicted, but the net affect is the same. Bundy's cattle are happily munching on what little vegetation grows in that desert and I think it's fair to suspect that this is in thanks for a job well done on the part of the Bundy clan. I'd rate it as one of the most successful domestic psy-ops (which
became legal due to the 2013 NDAA) because probably only 0.01% of the population even suspects it as possible.
Since this thread started I've personally moved much farther to the right on a lot of issues and in particular land use issues on account of me personally being extorted by my state's DEQ. I don't change my stance on the Bundy issue one iota and stand by everything I said on this thread. Why?
Consistency. I am a strong believer in property rights and always have been even when I was much more left-leaning. The land Bundy's cattle are using belongs to the Federal govt. It is there right to do whatever the fuck they please with it more or less.
I think the Feds own to much land and that we as a society should move that in the other direction, but that's the way it is in the here and now. Bundy's activities were not achieving this goal at all and caused significant regressions on multiple fronts. Further, I strongly suspect that this was more by design than by accident.
They have a name for when people refuse to change their stance regardless of their change in understanding of the facts, confirmation bias.
If I am not mistaken, the "federal lands" Bundy's cattle are grazing upon were originally property of the Bundy family, given up to the federal government with the explicit condition that he, and his family, in perpetuity be allowed to graze the lands free of fees. Why is it that the rights of the federal government should be maintained, but it is ok to disregard the protections afforded to the Bundy family under that agreement?
As far as this being a psyop, I am in agreement with you on this part, however that does not mean Bundy himself is complicit. IMO this served as sort of a honeypot to lure in reactionaries and militiamen so they could be identified, as well as gauging the public response to such actions, and perhaps even a way to influence people into supporting such actions from the federal government. This could have all easily been set up around him without any complicity on his part as a captive participant.