Yes, Glenn Beck, militias can be very ordinary-seeming. That's their purpose.
By David Neiwert Friday Mar 20, 2009 2:00pm
I'll wager that Glenn Beck, like a lot of people, has heard the famous Thomas Jefferson quote:
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Maybe he's even seen one of the T-shirts bearing that inscription.
But then, there's one of these T-shirts that's especially notable: It was the one Timothy McVeigh was wearing when he was arrested for blowing up 168 people at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City back in 1995.
Does this mean that anyone wearing one of these shirts, or expressing these sentiments, is a crazed militiaman eager and willing to blow up government workers and their children? Er, no. But at the same, the meaning of that T-shirt is actually critical to understanding what happened in Oklahoma City.
The Missouri State Patrol's information arm recently compiled a report about militias (you can read it here), largely as a way of helping to inform their officers in the field, who are the people most at risk when it comes to random encounters with armed right-wing extremists.
The report, unsurprisingly, created a firestorm among the conservatives who suddenly found they had more of a resemblance to a right-wing extremist than they thought:
A new document meant to help Missouri law enforcement agencies identify militia members or domestic terrorists has drawn criticism for some of the warning signs mentioned.
The Feb. 20 report called "The Modern Militia Movement" mentions such red flags as political bumper stickers for third-party candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president last year; talk of conspiracy theories, such as the plan for a superhighway linking Canada to Mexico; and possession of subversive literature.
"It seems like they want to stifle political thought," said Roger Webb, president of the University of Missouri campus Libertarians. "There are a lot of third parties out there, and none of them express any violence. In fact, if you join the Libertarian Party, one of the things you sign in your membership application is that you don't support violence as a means to any ends."
But state law enforcement officials said the report is being misinterpreted.
Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the report comes from publicly available, trend data on militias. It was compiled by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, a "fusion center" in Jefferson City that combines resources from the federal Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. The center, which opened in 2005, was set up to collect local intelligence to better combat terrorism and other criminal activity, he said.
"All this is an educational thing," Hotz said of the report. "Troopers have been shot by members of groups, so it's our job to let law enforcement officers know what the trends are in the modern militia movement."
When I saw this story a few days ago, I knew that sooner or later it was going to get trotted out on Glenn Beck's Fox News show as proof of evil government perfidy. After all, it's already become an Alex Jones special -- which is to say, the air is thick with black helicopters and jetstream contrails.
Sure enough: Yesterday on his show Beck had a segment in which he and Penn Gillette discussed how crazy it was for law enforcement to be profiling people as potential domestic terrorists for behaviors that ordinary citizens like themselves indulge happily, as they should.
They noticed, at one point, that there's actually very little about Patriot movement beliefs to which they subscribe. It's just that their libertarianism might trip some of the outward indicators suggested in the report.
One of the people interviewed in the Kansas City report expressed similar views:
But Tim Neal, a military veteran and delegate to last year's state GOP convention, was shocked by the report's contents.
"I was going down the list and thinking, 'Check, that's me,'" he said. "I'm a Ron Paul supporter, check. I talk about the North American union, check. I've got the 'America: Freedom to Fascism' video loaned out to somebody right now. So that means I'm a domestic terrorist? Because I've got a video about the Federal Reserve?"
Neal, who has a Ron Paul bumper sticker on his car, said the next time he is pulled over by a police officer, he won't know whether it's because he was speeding or because of his political views.
Here's the catch: There's nothing even remotely inaccurate in the report. Every fact that it reports can be readily substantiated.
More to the point, there's nothing in the report suggesting that any of these traits taken individually is a sign of radicalism. Rather, officers are expected to be able to take in certain signals simply as warning signs and indicators, not evidence of either criminal intent or radical behavior.
What the report reflects is a reality that law enforcement trying to deal with domestic terrorism in America must confront: Their subjects are thoroughly American; many of the people drawn into these movements are, if anything, "hyper-normal." Their version of "patriotism," for instance, is so extreme that they actually hate not just their government but their fellow citizens -- in essence, their country: because, you see, it has been "perverted" from its original purposes.
The hyper-normality is a kind of intentional camouflage. The Patriot movement, and militias in particular, were a very specific and intentional strategy adopted in the 1990s by the white supremacists and radical tax protesters of the American far right -- and the whole purpose of the strategy was to mainstream their belief systems and their agendas. The tactic was to adopt the appearance of normal, "red-blooded" Americanism as a way of pushing out the idea that their radical beliefs are "normal" too.
In the process, they often adopted time-worn "patriotic" sayings and symbols, such as the "Don't Tread On Me" flag Beck wears, as their own -- though with a much more menacing meaning. If you've seen that flag at an Aryan Nations compound, as I have, you never quite look at it the same.
This is why the meaning of Thomas Jefferson's quote above is quite different for them than it is for you and me. To all outward appearances, it is just an expression of avid patriotism. But to a Patriot movement follower, it means something potentially deadly.
This is especially the case for law-enforcement officers in the field:
Any time law enforcement offices encounter people with extreme ideologies, safety issues potentially arise. However, for a variety of reasons, certain circumstances pose a heightened threat of violent confrontation. Some situations, for instance, are particularly stressful for extremists, increasing the chances that they may lash out or overreact.
... Traffic stops are potentially some of the most dangerous situations that law enforcement officers can face when dealing with extremists. Numerous officers have been killed, wounded, shot at, or attacked during traffic stop incidents involving extremists during the past twenty years.
Some of these confrontations have been well-publicized. In 1997, television audiences across the country watched a police car video of a shootout in Ohio between two white supremacists, Cheyne and Chevie Kehoe, and local police officers. Yet some of the more incredible incidents have received remarkably little publicity. In one recent case in March 2000, three anti-government extremists (Lloyd Burrus, his son Jeff Burrus, and Cheryl Kate Maarteuse) were stopped for speeding by a Nevada highway patrol officer about sixty miles north of Las Vegas. The officer spotted a shotgun in the vehicle and radioed for backup. While he waited, the extremists sped off. During the ensuing chase, they shot at police vehicles from both Nevada and California, then turned off-road, where their BMW became stuck. Burrus and his accomplices abandoned the vehicle but took their weapons and ammunition, which they used to shoot down a California Highway Patrol helicopter that had arrived on scene. Eventually, after a twelve hour standoff involving over a hundred law enforcement officers, they gave themselves up.
There's nothing in the Missouri report that suggests anyone of the Patriot persuasion be arrested or treated as a terrorist -- because it's perfectly legal, in fact, to hold as radical beliefs as one likes in this country. The report simply tries to give officers a factual overview of some of the motivations of right-wing extremists, and what kinds of things are likely to set them off.
What's not legal is to act criminally on behalf of those beliefs. Unfortunately, Patriot beliefs -- particularly the more radical beliefs about the government's legitimacy (or lack thereof) -- actually tend to help induce such behavior. The police officers whose job it is to stop such criminality need to be able to assess what they're dealing with on the ground -- whether someone they've pulled over for not having license plates on their car is likely to pull something stupid.
Law enforcement officers need complete and accurate information in order to survive in the field. Maybe Glenn Beck is more worried about the tender paranoias of your average Ron Paul supporter -- none of whom have been affected in the least by this report in any real-world way -- but I tend to stand with the men and women who keep us safe.
Especially when it comes to making sure they have complete and accurate information. The more they know, the more likely they are to both enforce the law appropriately, and to stay alive at the same time.
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I understand the kinds of clues that the police use in determining potential threats. In my occupation, I do something similar in regards to identifying drug/money mules and I've received training in thwarting potential terror threats by recognizing the methods and/or tools they might employ to subvert the public's safety.
The terror threats are, if nothing else, adaptable.
I'll wager that Glenn Beck, like a lot of people, has heard the famous Thomas Jefferson quote:
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Glenn Beck is an absolute mental midget and I'll lay odds he's never heard the quote in his entire life.
but you just contradicted yourself in less than 3 paragraphs?
Come on man. dont be so disagreeable. You might be a militia-man, and therefore a terrorist, according to this blog.
you actually read the post or was that too much trouble? My personal view is that such people are not necessarily or even likely to be terrorists. They're just stupid, paranoid and ill-informed.
Thanks David. I thought I might have beck withdrawal today with no Beck post. I was getting shaky.
I did see this segment yesterday and as usual, Beck takes something serious and manages to knot it all up so that it appears to be something else.
Today he was pissing and moaning about President Obama filling out his brackets and going on Leno. Fox had taken all the times the president laughed on the show last night and pasted them all together. Imagine the president going on a comedy show and fu*king laughing. Well, I never. (as my granny would have said)
Beck was having a heart attack over the economy and he felt, I guess, that the president should do nothing day and night but work and worry. Hell, I hope everyone watching that show last night got a laugh or two out of it. Who doesn't need to take some time out to laugh these days.
Beck is down in Orlando Florida tonight. Too damn close to me!
GWB's vacation schedule, which Obama will probably never touch, but before 9/11, Joe Conason has calculated that up until Sept. 11, 2001, Bush had spent 54 days at the ranch, 38 days at Camp David, and four days at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport—a total of 96 days, or about 40 percent of his presidency, outside of Washington. in the end it was a total of 487 Days At Camp David, 490 Days At Crawford. But he'dve done a lot more harm I'm sure, if he'd been present.
But he's busting out over President Obama filling out a basketball thingy and going on a teevee show.
Now why doesn't this mentally ill guy grab onto and obsess over this? Why didn't he ever?
Back during the bush years I never heard of Beck until he appeared on CNN. He was crazy then but since he went to Fox he's gone all out nuts.
"An Inconvenient Book" I guess he thinks he's smart and ironically hilarious enough to mock Al Gore. I mean both Beck, and my brother.
I hate going over there sometimes because just to be a dick, he'll leave his reading material out. I say he'd printed up a transcript of this morons show or some words of beck from the beckblog a couple of weeks back. I guess it would be a shame to miss one word of gibberish from this unfortunate guy's mouth.
I do accept condolences on the loss of my brother BTW. He's not dead to me yet, as long as we only bitch about how fucked up NAFTA is, which he blames on the Clenis, of course. But we were both raised by a lefty and this hurts...
neiwert seems to have an unhealthy obsession with glen beck.
perhaps the matter would best be settled with a pay-per-view nude mud-wrestling match?!
.
...requires at least two celebrities and the only one here is Beck.
8 f*cking years of the worst administration in the past century or so....
And the wingnuts are blowing a fuse and reaching for their guns after 8 weeks of a Dem president?
The other side went from anti-war to pro-big government in 8 weeks, and didn't miss a beat either. The two parties deserve eachother.
So war and "big government" are the same?
Interesting.
Have you checked out our military budget lately?
But Beck et al were rather silent during the past 8 years regarding the biggest increase in public spending *ever* Which took place under their boy Bush's reign.
So they whole assumption that these nut jobs are against "big government" is quite dishonest to say the least.
These idiots can't stand a moderate in charge, much less if said moderate is not even 100% white. 8 weeks and they are already losing it.
"Against big government" my ass....
They know not what they do.
Ignorance is bliss, methinks.
The last person to raise government spending to the moon, before Shrub was the idiot tool Ronald Reagan.
But shhhhh...don't tell the militia people. It might send them over the edge.
Thank god the Democrat rank and file, such as the good folks that frequent this blog, realize that "big government" is a bad thing.
I'm for education, creating jobs, fixing our broken infrastracture, social programs to help the poor, you know, doing something good for our society.
I am not for spending 56% of our tax dollars on the military machine and killing people. Nor to I appreciate bloated and intrusive programs such as the ridiculous homeland security.
It is a sight to behold really...
Protesting the war is in the same league as advocating civil war? Wow... grasping at straws much there?
I always love your insights.
Exactly.
This is what poop does as it circles the bowl on it's way down, never to be seen again.
...all the talk about an Obama gun grab has not only increased gun sales, the price of some once very affordable handguns have also increased considerably.
Such an unfounded fear. So far, there has not been a gun grab and I don't expect one in the future unless the neo-con fascists come back into rule. Eight years of near fascism is enough.
I've followed this movement (following the sites and so forth) throughout the entire Bush years. This movement isn't only 8 weeks old. Trust me on that.
It is just that "movement" has a tendency to "wake up" as soon as a Dem is in the White House, and remains dormant as soon as one of their beloved Republicans is there "restorin' honor and dignity."
I would have an iota of respect for these loons if they, at least, were consistent. However, what I find it disgusting is that the nuts hide behind of the achievements of real patriots, who put their lives on the line to fight for our freedom. Just like the f*cknuts over at the NRA do in order to justify their penile extensions...
If the sh*t hits the fan, I expect these militias to be the ones breaking all sorts of records in track and field when they run to hide behind their mommies skirts. I expect NRA members to come in a close second. The bulk of the GOP will get the Bronze medals... and we will have our very own chickenship podium from hell... oh, joy.
Leave it to the thought-stifled Glenn Beck to grasp at those particular straws.
Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, recently extended Glenn Beck's contract.
Two sources with knowledge of the deal said it was valued at $50 million over five years.
Really, that's all we need to know about Beck.
I'm sure the guy doesn't believe a god damn thing he is saying.
Perhaps he is some kind of MK-ULTRA disinformation golem.
...and I seem to recall a distinct lack of outcry against it from the right when it was swarthy folks being profiled. But don't all of their then-arguments about why it was OK - necessary even - still apply, even when they are the "collateral damage?"
Of course they do. But rigorous, honest thinking doesn't happen all that much with the likes of Beck and his wanna-be revolutionaries.
Timothy McVeigh was wearing a T-Shirt with a picture of Lincoln and the Latin phrase "Sic Sempter Tyrannis" which means "thus always to tyrants" and is sometimes loosely translated as "death to tyrants."
See the mugshot here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/package...
Sorry, you are mistaken.
The T-shirt linked above was introduced in court as evidence.
..what John Wilkes Booth shouted after he shot Lincoln.
Having read this report on "militias", would the police in D.C. at the time been able to foil J.W. Booth? I wonder what bumper sticker we would have found on his horse?
What was it they used to tell us about wiretapping? If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about.
Why is this american psycho still making news? Who gives a royal $hit about what he has to say. We might find more sense being made by people in a mental institution at this point.
Get rid of him already! Glenn Beck's an irrelevant cipher.
Glenn Beck be institutionalized? He gets crazier by the day.
Crazier than a shithouse rat.
Now that sounds like a serious out of control rat. ;)
Fertilizer Missing:
>>> http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/art...
And,
Penn Jillette, Stephen Moore and Mark Skousen on Glenn Beck - March 4th, 2009
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy8-uUo7Gws
PS. I don't know who posted the clip, but it's funny how they cut it just before "Penn Jillette" an atheist, was about to explain morality. :-)
And Beck and his buddy, "we could get [A YEARS TAXES] instead... ya hear that America. :-/ Sure who cares about the year after that... Good grief. :-o
Update:
[ Search on for fertilizer truck stolen in Dania Beach Posted on Friday, 03.20.09 ]
Snip - " The Broward Sheriff's Office is searching for a stolen fertilizer truck carrying 600 pounds of ammonium nitrate on its flatbed.
Ammonium nitrate is commonly used as a fertilizer but can be used to make explosives, according to BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella."
>>> http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/...
Not saying it isn't possible that thieves wanted the fertilizer, but more likely it was for the truck. I've stayed off SR 84 (Dania/Ft Lauderdale) area. Lots of criminal activity--crackheads mostly-- who wouldn't know a bag of NH4NO3 from a bag of kitty litter.
If they wanted the twelve bags, it would have been much simple to climb onto the flatbed and toss them into a waiting car or truck.
BTW, ammonium nitrate is still easily obtainable, at least in Florida, at fertilizer wholesalers. I used it regularly when I ran a small nursery and never had any problems purchasing it. Not sure if that was supposed to be the case, but that was how it was.
I was picturing a rusty old F350 farm truck that wouldn't be worth much. :-) As well they did say they tried to take another vehicle... How they knew that, I could not discern, car alarm, broken window or eye witness?
Though I've read some story recently that said it could be used in relation too "methamphetamine" as well?
Ya, that is only a small amount of bags huh. Though I thought farmers and the like need some type of permitting to get the stuff and were suppose to somewhat safeguard and monitor said allocation?
Now if it was a New F350 dually... :-) At least it was not nearly as much as the 8000lbs at the other place. :-O
PS. Dad use to live and tend bar off of Rt1A I think it was, located in or near "Cape Canaveral" on the "Cocoa Beach" line? [The Lampost] about 3 to 5 mi. from Ron Jon's http://www.ronjons.com/DisplayContent.aspx?Co... :-P
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
The thing guys like Beck and company always seem to forget about that Jefferson quote is that Jefferson got to eat those words in his lifetime as he watched people like Robespierre put it to practice.
I wouldn't mind an American Robespierre right about now.
Yeah, it's not third parties in general that tend to appeal to militia types; it's right-wing third parties like Libertarians, parties advocating state independence, etc. Anyone who's been around militia types at all knows that to be true. I would be stunned if I ever saw even one militia type sporting a t-shirt or bumper sticker that said Green Party or ISO or Nader. It's the right-wing parties (oddly called "conservative" in the US) that appeal to militia types.
Admittedly, I'm not involved in political party activities, but I've never met a separatist Green Party member or Nader supporter who advocated violent revolution.
I must admit, its HILARIOUS to see conservatives complaining about being profiled by police...
It wasn't even a week ago that I watched the "debate" between ann coulter and Sen. (elect) Al Franken where she went on and on about the benefits of racial profiling.
I guess it's only effective when you're looking for non-whites.
But...I'd be more surprised if the radical right did or said something that WASN'T incredibly hypocritical.
glenn beck, you're no alex jones.
but a douche bag? yes.
Glenn's yellow t-shirt says it all. He's waiting for Chuck Norris' snake to give him a golden shower.
Murdoch deserves a special place in Hell for the morons he gives us in every form of each of his various mediums.
If we don't want to break up media conglomeration, we should want to break it up because of its idiotocracy.
How can you get anything that makes sense from two nut jobs.....
I don't really trust the police to be happy about seeing them profile anybody (even right wingers). They make too many mistakes. They act on bias.
Even the language of this report is disturbing.
"The Feb. 20 report called "The Modern Militia Movement" mentions such red flags as political bumper stickers for third-party candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president last year; talk of conspiracy theories, such as the plan for a superhighway linking Canada to Mexico; and possession of subversive literature."
1.) Ron Paul ran as a Republican, not a third party candidate.
2.) I don't like the phrase "subversive literature." "Subversive" can mean anything from The Turner Diaries to Noam Chomsky to a copy of a report from Earth First.
3.) If you're going to profile people for talking about "conspiracies" you'd better start with the police. Half the people in the typical state prison are doing time for "conspiracy."
Sure this looks good when it's applied to violent militiamen.
At the same time, I don't think I'd want to get caught in Missouri with a "Nader/Gonzalez" bumpersticker or encourage the New York City Transit Police to take me to an interrogation room because I've got a Khefiyeh or a Free Palestine T-shirt.
Theoretically this makes sense. In the real world, the police always target left dissidents more aggressively than right dissidents.
I spent the entire 2000 campaign season in Missouri with a Nader/LaDuke pin. Get over your stereotypes and/or grow a spine.
just when I think we can't sink any deeper as a country...we attain lower and lower levels.
Damn! And I liked Penn & Teller. Up to this moment, that is.
They're still fun magicians. When they think that being popular TV magicians means that they have some sort of political insight is when they run into trouble.
Politicians and Magicians are both trained to decieve and entertain audiences.
ONE WORD: LUNATIC
The screencap makes Glenn Speck look like some dumb kid whose mom made him wear a suit to dinner.
I'm sure I'm profiled by the local gendarmes for my bumper stickers. They read:
Give Peace A Chance, Will Work For Peace, and a Kucinich sticker from the 2004 election cycle. Gotta say, Kucinich bumper stickers are the best! They last and last and last.
Here in this red state, such stickers are like bull's eyes to the local rednecks. They do however really like the "Homeland Security, Fighting Terrorism Since 1492" sticker with the photos of the Native Americans. Some have even asked to take a picture of it.
I'm generally just not into longterm bumper stickering. I did however, give quite a bit of money to his 2004 campaign and spent some time on a snowy overpass holding a peace banner.
That Homeland Security sticker is good too. It looks even better when it's enlarged, on the front of a t-shirt.
Another potentially troubling thing about this report is the attempt to slip the whole concept of a "Fusion Center" by as if it's a long established police procedure and not a new institution that came out of the Patriot Act.
A "Fusion Center" allows local police to share information with the federal government and allows the federal government to profile people politically across state lines and pass the information along to the local police.
Once again, does anybody really think "Fusion Centers" are going to be used to track violent right wing extremists and not anti-war protesters. Doesn't anybody remember what went on in Minneapolis and Denver last Summer where "Fusion Centers" were used to profile not only protesters but independent (and not so independent" media?
Sure, it sounds good. And Beck's an asshole. But one caveat from history. The "House UnAmerican Activities Committee" was founded to track Nazis and the KKK during WWII. But once you create an instution like this there's no stopping someone else from grabbing it and using it for purposes totally different from what it was made for.
Lt Holtz talks about Fusion Centers as if they're very innocent things:
But the ACLU released a report on them a few years ago and they're far from simply "educational resources."
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/32966pub20071...
Since no two fusion centers are alike, it is difficult to make generalized statements about them. Clearly not all fusion centers are engaging in improper intelligence activities and not all fusion center operations raise civil liberties or privacy concerns. But some do, and the lack of a proper legal framework to regulate their activities is troublesome. This report is intended to serve as a primer that explains what fusion centers are, and how and why they were created. It details potential problems fusion centers present to the privacy and civil liberties of ordinary Americans, including:
Ambiguous Lines of Authority. The participation of agencies from multiple jurisdictions in fusion centers allows the authorities to manipulate differences in federal, state and local laws to maximize information collection while evading accountability and oversight through the practice of "policy shopping."
Private Sector Participation. Fusion centers are incorporating private-sector corporations into the intelligence process, breaking down the arm's length relationship that protects the privacy of innocent Americans who are employees or customers of these companies, and increasing the risk of a data breach.
Military Participation. Fusion centers are involving military personnel in law enforcement activities in troubling ways.
Data Fusion = Data Mining. Federal fusion center guidelines encourage whole sale data collection and manipulation processes that threaten privacy.
Excessive Secrecy. Fusion centers are hobbled by excessive secrecy, which limits public oversight, impairs their ability to acquire essential information and impedes their ability to fulfill their stated mission, bringing their ultimate value into doubt.
The lack of proper legal limits on the new fusion centers not only threatens to undermine fundamental American values, but also threatens to turn them into wasteful and misdirected bureaucracies that, like our federal security agencies before 9/11, won't succeed in their ultimate mission of stopping terrorism and other crime.
because now cops will be consciously wary of ron paul supporters, who in the main are peaceful and not aggressive (unless you're sean hannity and it's snowing;) ), just think now when a cop approaches a car with a Ron paul bumper sticker on he's going to be thinking he could be in danger, someone in the car unwittingly makes a wrong move and it could lead to some regrettable incidents :-/
Rightly so, Ron paul and some of the others mentioned in the report are taking legal action, this is slanderous .
Actually, that would be libel, not slander. But please, let him sue.
His problem is that truth is close to an absolute defense in such cases.
does beck ever let his guests speak for more than 5 seconds without butting in ? so annoying.
Glen Beck and his false prophet "news" channel has not earned the right to were that t-shirt.
What's amazing to me is how Penn Gillette makes such a big deal about libertarians being rational thinkers, and how he's a huge skeptic, and then he goes on a totally deranged program like the Glenn Beck show a bunch of times.
How someone who claims to be a skeptical thinker can loan his name to a guy like Beck is beyond me.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats”.
-Henry Louis Mencken
This is something Timothy McVeigh wrote to Gore Vidal during their correspondence before McVeigh was put to death.
I would recommend to all people to read the essays of Gore Vidal in the book called "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace".
It's a real mind blower.
Timothy McVeigh chose the poem Invictus, which means "Unconquerable" in Latin, to be his final statement. He handed a handwritten copy of William Ernest Henley's poem to the prison warden, Harley Lappin, just before his death. It seemed to come completely from memorization.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
I am not in any way endorsing anything Timothy McVeigh did or did not do.
I am however offering a look inside his head.
Anyone that criticizes Gore Vidal and his correspondence with T.M. is revealed to be IMO, as a scaredy cat wussy. My reasoning being is that all of humanity is subject to any method of madness for many different reasons. No matter how wrong-headed or insane. Getting a glimpse inside that mind can teach a person a lot about a particular mindset or group think.
People need to stop being sheeple.
I know this can't happen but Americans are such Lemmings. I used to play the game called "Lemmings" a lot and we are basically falling off the cliff and smashing into the unknown.
Profiling people because of their political beliefs? Since when should we be considered suspected terrorists just for a bumper sticker of a presidential candidate? That is absolutely outrageous!
Subversive literature? Be a bit more specific. It is known what literature they say is subversive -- the US Constitution! Yes, if you make too much noise to these people about your Constitutional rights, you are considered a potential terrorist.
Shame on you David Neiwert! While it might make for good political commentary now, just wait -- these things have a habit of coming back and biting Dems even more hard. You don't have to be a right-winger to understand that this sort of profiling is wrong.
If you are too myopic to see this fact, David, then might I suggest that you take a break from the political commentary, and think it through a bit more...
It's frightening to think about.
Heaven forbid! My niece had a ron paul sticker on the backside of her first fuel efficient car I just spent so much money on.
That makes her a terrorist? May intelligence and humanity see through this drivel.
Being a Ron Paul supporter is *one* of the criteria.
Being a Ron Paul supporter is *one* of the criteria.
*One* of the criteria.
*One* of the criteria.
Did I say supporting Ron Paul is only *one* of the criteria?
So many people outraged to learn their favorite political word may be connected to nefarious activities.
So many people listen to the punditry or read only the summaries. The state troopers explicitly state that while many militia members may have these views, not all with these views are militia members.
But I guess reading whole articles is too hard for some people who just want the outrage to start.
In all seriousness, these right wingers are starting to frighten me. People used to poke fun at the left wing fringes. But, they were the peaceful tree huggers, the folks that held hands and sang kumbahya. The right wing nut jobs are the pitch fork crowd, angry and out of control. Now, they're being egged on by folks in the right media like the radio talk show hate mongers, Fixed News, and even the ex-VP. The paranoia, anger, and outrage is escalating. People are going to get hurt. Did any see Lawrence Wilkerson on Rachel Maddow? He touched on this with regard to Dick Cheney. He said the folks showing up at the McCain/Palin rallies really got his attention, and he found it frightening.
wear his magic undies OUTSIDE his shirt and pants?
for a police department to write up a report suggesting that a car with a certain type of sticker on it probably suggests that the driver is a drug user and should be searched?
It sure seems that in this great nation, bullshit is wholly acceptable so long as it applies to people one does not agree with.
I guarantee that police use these tactics. Often they are combined with the most trivial of equipment violations (license plate light out, cracked taillight lenses, etc), but I guarantee that bumper stickers of pretty much any kind (save, perhaps a "W", McCain/Palin, NRA or "Choose Life") won't keep most cops from wanting to hassle you.
Years ago, when The Grateful Dead were still a touring band, vehicles, especially from out-of-state, with pot-leaf stickers were routinely seen being searched on te way to concerts.
The report is inaccurate.
Read Judge Andrew Napolitano and Professor Allan Bloom. You will then understand how we transitioned from the democratic man to the democratic personality -- or a liberal democracy without natural rights.
There is a conspiracy against Human Rights. The 6-steps of Economic Integration clearly end in political unions and supranational states. This has been the US economic policy since WWII.
Before 1961 when Bela Balassa wrote The Theory of Economic Integration, this idea was known as the Open Conspiracy. That's the title of a 1928 book by HG Wells. The book said that world peace is possible through world government.
HG Wells was a member of the Fabian Society. The Fabian Society published a book entitled The Third Way by Tony Blair. Both Blair, President Clinton and President Obama (evident by Rahm) are Third Way politicians.
Look up The Third Way -- it is a mix of socialism and capitalism.
In 1940, HG Wells wrote "The New World Order". While both Hitler and Bin Laden pushed for their own new world orders, this one is based on Fabian socialism and defined by the journal Foreign Affairs.
Robert Gates joked that the new world order was something that happened when you let Bush Sr. and Scowcraft go fishing with too much time on their hands but even Bush Sr. said it was something a thousand wars had waged for and a hundred generations had search for (i.e. the open conspiracy).
When Ben Bernanke sat in front of the CFR a few weeks ago and spoke, you might have wondered...what is the CFR's think tank called? Oh, the David Rockefeller Studies Program.
Who owns part of the New York Fed? Oh, David Rockefeller via JPMorgan.
What did David write his thesis on at Harvard 70 years ago? Oh, Fabian Socialism!
How many non-profits think tanks has David started? 40? 50? 70? The Council of the Americas, the Council of this and that etc.
Who was offered Chairman of the FED and Secretary of the Treasury and turned all the offers down? Oh, David.
How does one advance Economic Integration? Keynesian economics!
For the last 8 years we've had Military Keynesianism. What was the last thing Bush did when he left office? Threatened Congress nearly into passing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. see -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONoP4lSigro
Who does Obama pick? Mr. NAFTA, Rahm Emmaneul. What did he say? Never waste an opportunity.
And what's his solution -- ECONOMIC INTEGRATION.
These ideas deny Human Rights come from God, rather they believe they come from collectivist governments. As a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) said, the Treaty of Lisbon (i.e. Economic Integration) would of reversed what the French Revolution accomplished -- concepts like the CITIZEN, inalienable rights and the end of FEUDALISM.
I fight for everything you do, but above all, I fight for your right to exist and to be left alone (i.e. the 4th amendment).
- an old time liberal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_integra...
1. Preferential trading area - GATT/NAFTA
2. Free trade area
3. Customs union
4. Common market
5. Economic and monetary union
6. Complete economic integration
Obama pledges to continue steps 3 & 4 -
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/d...
Vice-Chair of FED, Global Economic Integration -
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/spee...
Step 5 is being seized now. Not by the US Government or the people, but by a private company called the Federal Reserve.
He was stopped because his car didn't have any license plates on it.
IIRC, McVeigh didn't believe in any Govt. above the county level, and not displaying license plates would be completely in character for someone like him.
So, if this is the case, then it was McVeigh's own extremist beliefs which got him caught.
The magical thinking shown by McVeigh and fellow knuckle-dragger Glenn Beck has no basis in reality or logic, not in the least.
Penn Jillette, Stephen Moore and Mark Skousen on Glenn Beck - March 4th, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy8-uUo7Gws
At 2:40 Mark Skousen mentioned the solution was for President Obama to sign an executive order to eliminate Mark it to Market accounting rules. I am curious and confused because I really don't understand how this could be done and was wondering if anyone had (has) an opinion on this and can explain how this would solve the current economic mess we are in, and farther, how it could be done.
Wow!
For starters, the report has the history all wrong: the Minutemen were active starting in the sixties (not the anti-immigration group, the proto-militia group). Like the Birchers, they were extremely concerned with resisting UN-led One World Government (now recast as the New World Order).
The report indulges in pretentious and inaccurate pseudo-sociology: only beginning in the 80's did "this culture glorify white males" and "glorify combat" (never heard of Sgt. Fury, I suppose).
Priceless: "12/08: National Guard and Reserve facilities received packages with anti-New World Order rhetoric. This would occur within a week of hoax anthrax mailings to State Governor's offices." Duh... the connection? If any? Hoax anthrax mailings are commonplace... OMG! HERE'S A PACKAGE CONTAINING -- ANTI-NEW WORLD ORDER RHETORIC! "Dammit, you can never find a biohazard team when you need one!"
And "it is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material." Even if this is the case, is it common for those displaying such material to be militia members? No... so how is this factoid supposed to be useful?
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