The Liberal Bias: Thanks Mr. Bundy, But My Birthday Isn’t Until August

On Thursday, April 26, the New York Times published a story where Nevada Rancher and Tea Party poster child Cliven Bundy said some racist remarks. For those of you who haven’t been following the story, the basics are that Bundy has been grazing his cattle on public land and hasn’t paid any taxes for it for the past 20 years.

When the Federal Land Bureau came to confiscate some of his cattle as payment, Fox News pundit Sean Hannity began reporting his story and heralding Bundy as a champion of the rural farmer. Then some armed militia men showed up, there was a standoff and then the FLB backed off. Conservative Senators such as Ted Cruz (R-TX) took to Bundy’s side.

For two glorious weeks, the Right had a man who embodied all of their wholesome beliefs of individual rights and limited government, and he was a man without fault. Then he said this: “I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro.”

Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do? They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

The best part about this rant is that if you watch the video of this and listen carefully, in the background you can hear the collective face-palming of hundreds of conservatives across the country.

Right now, Bundy is pretty much untouchable to the people who were formerly his supporters. Fox News waited almost a day before they even would print a story about it. Hannity has yet to say anything at the time I am writing this.

On the other hand, there are some outlets that are gently tiptoeing around the remarks and heading straight for the “Liberal Media Bias Machine” argument. A tweet straight from the Bundy Ranch said, “There are new rumors going around about Cliven. We all know that with the media, words are taken out of context….”

Now, I will say that the video is cut down, and you can find a longer, three minute version of his statements online, but to say that his comment as it has appeared is disingenuous. This is not like a “Paula Deen Moment” where someone found out he said something at one point in his life years ago that could be taken out of context (not defending her remarks, just bear with me). This is Bundy, on film, the day before the story broke, referring to an entire group of people as lazy, and thieving, murderous ne’er-do-wells. He may speak in a soft tone, but there is no lack of context here.

I think we all know the type of person that Bundy is. We’ve probably all had that one friend or that grandparent who has said something that is contradictory of the message they think they are trying to get across. A discussion starts in class or maybe at Thanksgiving about some social program and a hand goes up and a voice says, “I’m not a racist, but….” You do not even need to hear the rest of what they have to say, you just kind of know you’re not going to like it.

Clive Bundy did a version of that with the very first line of that quote. Now, we all get to have our figurative uncomfortable, dismissive pause and continue on with our day.

Comments, questions, or red notebook manuscripts can be sent to csullery0@frostburg.edu