On MSNBC, Schultz and Schweitzer Raise Concerns about Direction of Western 'Revolt'
MSNBC鈥檚 Ed Schultz hosted former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday night to discuss the growing 鈥渞evolt鈥� over federal land use policies in Western states, embodied in the at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada. Schweitzer has deep experience with contentious land use issues and dealing with federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
As Schultz pointed out, antigovernment animus 鈥� rife with extremist 鈥溾�� and militiamen, as well as ample weaponry 鈥� appears to be building. Just last week in Utah, a BLM livestock wrangler was on Interstate 15, and protesters 鈥� including two Bundy sons 鈥� intentionally on motorized vehicles in a natural area, put in place to protect nearby archaeological sites.
Schultz blamed the rise on right-wing media: 鈥淲e all know where this antigovernment sentiment started, don鈥檛 we?鈥�
Schweitzer, who has had plenty of experience in dealing with 鈥淧atriot鈥� extremists in his own state, including , was particularly scathing in his assessment of the motivations of the people involved in the 鈥渞evolt鈥�:
SCHWEITZER: And now this bunch, this Cliven Bundy bunch, coming over from Nevada giving advice to people in Utah on how to deal with the BLM? My God, that鈥檚 like the Aryan Nations giving advice to Donald Sterling. This bunch, the Bundy bunch are grifters, they haven鈥檛 paid their fees, they haven鈥檛 cooperated with the federal government, they say they don鈥檛 even recognize the United States government. And these Tea Party, militia Foxtrotters, they鈥檙e a bunch of ne鈥檈r-do-wells 鈥� they aren鈥檛 ranchers, they aren鈥檛 loggers, they aren鈥檛 people who have legitimate businesses on the land. You wouldn鈥檛 get ranchers to stand next to Bundy. And people who are in the mining business, and the oil and gas business on federal land, they wouldn鈥檛 stand next to these people because they make a living on that land, and they listen to the rule of the land.
Schultz pointed out that the fanatical behavior of the 鈥淧atriots鈥� raised real concerns about the rule of law: 鈥淪o now we have got government officials in this country wondering, 鈥榃hat do we do if we go out and try to enforce the law, and people are openly armed with assault weapons?鈥欌��
鈥淣o one knows where this is going to end,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd no one knows how it鈥檚 going to end. And it鈥檚 kinda scary. It has the roots of a movement that won鈥檛 end really peacefully. I hate to say that. But this is how it goes, isn鈥檛 it?鈥�
That was the conundrum he presented to Schweitzer: 鈥淎re we now seeing a culture develop in America: 鈥榃ell, you can go ahead and do what you want, we鈥檒l just decide which law we are going to uphold?鈥欌��
Schweitzer agreed that it was a real concern. 鈥淲e are a land that has rule of law,鈥� he observed. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not Yemen. We鈥檙e not Somalia. We鈥檙e a land that has laws. And we all have to follow those laws. We don鈥檛 get to decide which ones we鈥檙e going to follow and which ones we don鈥檛. That鈥檚 what a civilized society does.鈥�
Schweitzer also said he was glad the people who had pointed weapons at federal agents during the Bundy standoff in Nevada on April 12: 鈥淚f you point a gun at law enforcement or federal officials, you should have no expectation of this ending good for you,鈥� he said.
