Why we conservatives are still getting it wrong with Bundy

[brooklynite]

CNN:

I don't know what's more offensive: rancher Cliven Bundy telling blacks they'd be better off as slaves picking cotton or conservatives who continue to defend him.

...snip...

Conservatives are supposed to be the party that believes in adhering to the Constitution and the laws of our land. We talk about this to the point of obsession, myself included, with regard to issues like immigration, affirmative action, Obamacare, etc.

Yet conservatives of all kinds couldn't wait to support Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who for over 20 years has refused to follow the laws of our land and Constitution by not paying over $1 million in grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management.
CNN's Chris Cuomo pointed this out to Bundy in his interview Friday, reminding him that he might want to read the Constitution he carries in his pocket.

...snip

I think it's an awful day for conservatives. I think we need serious reflection because we're not going to win 2016 with this attitude, keep doing things the same old way. We have old white men saying offensive things to women and minorities, and I'm tired of it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The writer is correct in the sense that cons defending Bundy is indefensibly stupid, but

she's not the sharpest knife in the drawer herself. She says:

The federal government owns 85% of Nevada's land. In other western states the federal government also owns large swaths of land. Is it government overreach? Sure.

So 'splain to me how the federal government's ownership of land constitutes "overreach"? Why can't the federal government own land? Why can't it lease that land to ranchers and make some money off it for the benefit of the taxpayers? I don't understand why that's overreaching.

And then she says:

One doesn't just wake up one morning like Cliven Bundy did and decided he's not going to follow the laws of our land. There are lots of laws I don't like -- most notably paying taxes -- but I follow them because I don't want to go to jail.

Paying taxes is how we manage to have a functioning government and a society that doesn't look like Somalia. It's why we have roads, schools, airports, an army, national parks, clean water, safe products and public universities. Not wanting to go to jail shouldn't be anyone's reason for paying taxes. Wanting to live in something approaching civilization is a far better reason. I don't like unfair tax laws that allow the wealthy and the big corporations to avoid paying their share, but I don't have problems with laws creating a tax system. This is a pretty good example of basic conservative idiocy.

And she closes with:

Maybe if the GOP would stop treating blacks as "others" and really give us a seat at the table, it would stop acting like the stupid party and start winning presidential elections again.

But she fails to understand that the GOP treats blacks as "others" because it's full of racist asshats like Clive Bundy and all the morons who think he's such a great "patriot." The GOP will always treat blacks (and other racial/ethnic minorities, and gays, and women) as "others" because that's what they believe they are. I remain amazed that a black woman could even regard herself as a conservative.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. Agreed ... But that part bothered me far less ...

her weak-ass condemnation of Bundy's racism.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. That was definitely lame. I suspect that she is having trouble reconciling

her conservative ideology with the fact that most of the people she's thrown in with are deeply and hopelessly racist. All I can say to her is: Get a clue. Those people will never accept you, a black woman, no matter how enthusiastically you spout their low-tax, anti-government party line.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. From the OP ...

At a time when the GOP needs to bring more minorities into our tent -- along with women for that matter -- embracing fools like Bundy doesn't help and certainly will put us farther down the path of losing in 2016.

It really bugs me when a PoC refers to themselves as a "minority" when talking to the gop ... or really, anyone; but especially when talking to the group that is oppressing them.

[12kbush]

5. Congress 2014

Priority 1 is changng the face of Congress 2 progressives suggestion would be to let the conservatives under leadership of Bundy & other ignorant people who can`t accept a Black Man As President. Move To RUSSIA, Putin is White!

[mulsh]

6. MR. BUNDY clearly & sucinctly states what conservatives truly believe and

that's the problem. I have never been provided any evidence by conservatives I know that they aren't close minded racists. Bundy just hasn't been coached enough to use the current crop of buzz words and euphemisms.

[Democracyinkind]

7. It's noteworthy that she thinks old white men being offensive to women and minorities...

... can be changed. It is the unifying - though mostly only cryptically expressed - platform of the GOP. It's not just some old white men. It's what unites their party.