Many conservatives, including The Week's Matt Lewis, warned against making a folk hero out of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who has been illegally grazing his cattle on federal land and who engaged in an armed standoff with federal agents. Now that Bundy has been caught pining for the good old days of slavery — when "the negro" at least had chickens, gardens, and "something to do" — his sympathizers are beating a hasty retreat, including Sean Hannity of Fox News, writers at National Review, and Sen. Dean Heller (R) of Nevada.
Clearly, Cliven Bundy is not long for the spotlight. But it might not be so easy for conservatives to wash their hands of him. If you subtract the vile slavery talk, Bundy's worldview arguably shares fundamental traits with the Republican Party platform, epitomized by Rep. Paul Ryan's budget, which unapologetically seeks to gut the welfare state. Here's MSNBC's Adam Serwer on that point:
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