If we are to believe the gun-toting pseudo cowboys roaming a dusty part of Nevada, “Cattle Graze Free” ranks right up there with “Taxation Without Representation” as a slogan of consequence.

They remind me of the vigilantes who were riding up and down the Arizona border a few years ago in their attempts to keep out illegal aliens, however, that time the “cowboys” were there to uphold the law—not break the law.

I watched in fascination as one fully-armed kaki-clothed free range advocate turned to the television camera and said with great sincerity, “I’m willing to die to protect our freedoms.” It’s the bravado of an old “B” Western.

And then, at the center of all this machismo is Cliven Bundy, a man who has spent 20 years losing in the courts and still wants to do as he pleases with land he does not own. This folk hero wannabe wishes to steal from the government and give to himself!

For countless generations ranchers throughout the west have been paying a fee to graze their cattle on publicly-owned land. It’s part of the cost of doing business.

In my eyes Mr. Bundy is nothing more than a common run-of-the-mill cheat. A person who fully well knew the rules and consciously decided: “The hell with them.” A moocher on a horse.

What I find most disturbing about this entire episode is the cheering that is emanating from pundits and others on the far right. The same people who will bring up the Constitution when it suits their needs are now turning around and totally ignoring its very core idea—the rule of law.

But then hypocrisy and politics are well traveled bedfellows.

“The only thing the worthless Federal Government does right is send out my crop subsidy checks!”