Showing posts with label militias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label militias. Show all posts
January 23, 2013
Slavery, civil rights and gun control
From theGrio:
Actor and human rights activist Danny Glover has created controversy for comments he made on the Second Amendment. Speaking at a recent event at Texas A&M University, Glover said the purpose of the amendment was to preserve slavery and keep down Native Americans.
“I don’t know if you know the genesis of the right to bear arms,” Glover said during his campus visit. “The Second Amendment comes from the right to protect themselves from slave revolts, and from uprisings by Native Americans. So, a revolt from people who were stolen from their land, or revolt from people whose land was stolen from, that’s what the genesis of the Second Amendment is.”
Similarly, responding to the argument that a gun control measure lacks the votes to pass through Congress, Fox News’ Shepard Smith compared guns and slavery. Smith offered, “If we stuck with the polls, though, we’d have had slavery a lot longer than we did.”
Glover and Smith are not the only people to make a comparison between gun control and social movements such as the struggle to abolish slavery. For example, others have made references to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Whether appropriate or not, slavery and civil rights have become part of the debate over gun control.
With regard to slavery, there is evidence that the Founding Fathers had that institution in mind when drafting the Second Amendment.
Go HERE for more
April 20, 2010
Fuse still lit 15 years after Oklahoma City bombing
Published in theGrio:
Fifteen years ago today, 168 people died in the Oklahoma City bombing - an attack that, at the time, was the greatest act of terrorism on U.S. soil. Among the dead were 19 children under the age of six. More than 680 others were injured. The perpetrators of that unspeakable act were members of a right-wing militia and patriot movement that gained steam in the 1990s.
Today, that movement is resurgent, fueled by hard economic times, anti-immigrant sentiment, hatred of government, a distaste for taxes, and disapproval of a black president named Barack Hussein Obama. Once again, extremist groups are backing up their rhetoric with acts of violence, and it seems that America has learned little since 1995.
The co-conspirators in the Oklahoma City bombing -- army buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols -- blew up a truck filled with explosives outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Building. McVeigh, who was awarded a Bronze star and other medals in the Gulf War, harbored anti-government sentiments. Specifically, he resented the government's handling of the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and the 1993 shootout and fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, which left cult leader David Koresh and 76 followers, including over 20 children dead. McVeigh timed the bombing of the Murrah Building to coincide with the second anniversary of the siege at Waco.
Until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City attack was regarded as the worst terrorist act in U.S. history. Many in the black community, however, commonly refer to a much earlier example of home grown terrorism in Oklahoma -- the Tulsa Race Riot of May 31, 1921, when a white mob destroyed the thriving black community of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 people were killed, with 35 square blocks razed and 3,000 homes destroyed. For African-Americans, terrorism is not a new phenomenon.
"Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear," said then-President Clinton at the memorial service for the Oklahoma City victims, just four days after the bombing. "When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life. As St. Paul admonished us, Let us 'not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'"
Fifteen years later, Clinton is warning us of the parallels between today and 1995. Back then, he suggests, anti-government sentiment, the vilification of government officials and a growing militia movement created a climate that led to the bombing of the Murrah Building.
"I remember when Newt Gingrich, shortly after becoming speaker, said that Hillary and I were the enemies of normal Americans. It didn't bother me a bit," the former president said in a recent speech. "But what we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or reduce our passion from the positions we hold -- but that the words we use really do matter, because there's this vast echo chamber and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike."
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security issued "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." The report warned that the current economic recession and the election of the first black president have provided fertile recruitment opportunities for extremist right-wing and white supremacist groups. The current environment could lead to confrontations between these radicals and government authorities, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and other examples of domestic terrorism in the 1990s. These right-wing, anti-government forces are united by their hatred of Latinos and immigrants, hostility towards gun control laws, and racial resentment towards President Obama.
Meanwhile, a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a dramatic increase in extremist groups in just one year. These groups, which range from Klansmen, neo-Nazis and neo-Confederates to homophobes, vigilantes and Holocaust deniers, have exploited popular anger with their outrageous anti-government conspiracy theories.
In 2009, the number of active patriot groups jumped 244 percent, from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 groups in 2009. Much of that increase was due to the growth of the paramilitary organizations called militias - which increased from 42 groups in 2008 to 127 in 2009.
"This extraordinary growth is a cause for grave concern," said the SPLC's Mark Potok. "The people associated with the Patriot movement during its 1990s heyday produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead."
In addition to Patriot and militia groups, the U.S. is witnessing a record number of racist hate groups -- from 926 in 2008 to 932 in 2009 -- in a decade when hate groups jumped 55 percent. Meanwhile, "nativist extremist" groups not only oppose current immigration policy, but these vigilantes take matters into their own hands and harass presumed immigrants. Nativists increased 80 percent in one year, from 173 in 2008 to 309 last year.
In total, according to the SPLC, extremist groups increased 40 percent in 2009, from 1,248 groups in 2008 to 1,753 last year. We are reaping the consequences of their rise, with right-wing violence that harkens back to the 1990s: The murder of six police officers since the start of the Obama administration, racist skinhead plots to assassinate the president, and bomb plots on the part of anti-government, racist and survivalist groups.
What is particularly disturbing about the rise of the patriot movement is their success in penetrating the mainstream and becoming part and parcel of conservative American politics, something which had not occurred in the 1990s.
"The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the SPLC report notes. Consider high-profile personalities with large followings that embrace the anti-government rhetoric and conspiracy theories of the patriot movement, such as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R, Minn), who suggested Obama was planning re-education camps for young people, and FOX News host Glenn Beck, who promoted the conspiracy theory that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is operating secret concentration camps.
The Oath Keepers -- a militia group consisting of current and ex-soldiers and police officers -- similarly warns about concentration camps, a coming dictatorship, and a "New World Order." This organization, which considers President Obama "an enemy of the state", is co-sponsoring the Second Amendment March on Washington set for, not surprisingly, April 19th.
Birthers, who have been legitimized by conservative news outlets and members of Congress, believe that President Obama was born in a foreign country and is not a U.S. citizen. James Von Brunn, the white supremacist who opened fire and killed a security officer at the National Holocaust Museum, was part of the Birther movement, which has racist and anti-Semitic origins.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma legislators and tea party members have proposed the formation a volunteer militia group to defend against the federal government. And the Colorado Court of Appeals has rejected on Second Amendment grounds the University of Colorado's ban on students carrying weapons on campus.
Fifteen years after the Oklahoma City bombing, the extremist groups are back and they're bigger and badder than ever. And this time, they are coalescing, working from the same page, and enjoying support from some circles in government and the media. Once again, we have failed to learn from the lessons of history. Are "the dark clouds of fascism gathering" in America, as Noam Chomsky suggests? Although we must hope he is wrong, perhaps he has a point.
Nevertheless, we should all make it a point to watch our back.
Fifteen years ago today, 168 people died in the Oklahoma City bombing - an attack that, at the time, was the greatest act of terrorism on U.S. soil. Among the dead were 19 children under the age of six. More than 680 others were injured. The perpetrators of that unspeakable act were members of a right-wing militia and patriot movement that gained steam in the 1990s.
Today, that movement is resurgent, fueled by hard economic times, anti-immigrant sentiment, hatred of government, a distaste for taxes, and disapproval of a black president named Barack Hussein Obama. Once again, extremist groups are backing up their rhetoric with acts of violence, and it seems that America has learned little since 1995.
The co-conspirators in the Oklahoma City bombing -- army buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols -- blew up a truck filled with explosives outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Building. McVeigh, who was awarded a Bronze star and other medals in the Gulf War, harbored anti-government sentiments. Specifically, he resented the government's handling of the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and the 1993 shootout and fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, which left cult leader David Koresh and 76 followers, including over 20 children dead. McVeigh timed the bombing of the Murrah Building to coincide with the second anniversary of the siege at Waco.
Until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City attack was regarded as the worst terrorist act in U.S. history. Many in the black community, however, commonly refer to a much earlier example of home grown terrorism in Oklahoma -- the Tulsa Race Riot of May 31, 1921, when a white mob destroyed the thriving black community of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 people were killed, with 35 square blocks razed and 3,000 homes destroyed. For African-Americans, terrorism is not a new phenomenon.
"Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear," said then-President Clinton at the memorial service for the Oklahoma City victims, just four days after the bombing. "When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life. As St. Paul admonished us, Let us 'not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'"
Fifteen years later, Clinton is warning us of the parallels between today and 1995. Back then, he suggests, anti-government sentiment, the vilification of government officials and a growing militia movement created a climate that led to the bombing of the Murrah Building.
"I remember when Newt Gingrich, shortly after becoming speaker, said that Hillary and I were the enemies of normal Americans. It didn't bother me a bit," the former president said in a recent speech. "But what we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or reduce our passion from the positions we hold -- but that the words we use really do matter, because there's this vast echo chamber and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike."
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security issued "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." The report warned that the current economic recession and the election of the first black president have provided fertile recruitment opportunities for extremist right-wing and white supremacist groups. The current environment could lead to confrontations between these radicals and government authorities, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and other examples of domestic terrorism in the 1990s. These right-wing, anti-government forces are united by their hatred of Latinos and immigrants, hostility towards gun control laws, and racial resentment towards President Obama.
Meanwhile, a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a dramatic increase in extremist groups in just one year. These groups, which range from Klansmen, neo-Nazis and neo-Confederates to homophobes, vigilantes and Holocaust deniers, have exploited popular anger with their outrageous anti-government conspiracy theories.
In 2009, the number of active patriot groups jumped 244 percent, from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 groups in 2009. Much of that increase was due to the growth of the paramilitary organizations called militias - which increased from 42 groups in 2008 to 127 in 2009.
"This extraordinary growth is a cause for grave concern," said the SPLC's Mark Potok. "The people associated with the Patriot movement during its 1990s heyday produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 people dead."
In addition to Patriot and militia groups, the U.S. is witnessing a record number of racist hate groups -- from 926 in 2008 to 932 in 2009 -- in a decade when hate groups jumped 55 percent. Meanwhile, "nativist extremist" groups not only oppose current immigration policy, but these vigilantes take matters into their own hands and harass presumed immigrants. Nativists increased 80 percent in one year, from 173 in 2008 to 309 last year.
In total, according to the SPLC, extremist groups increased 40 percent in 2009, from 1,248 groups in 2008 to 1,753 last year. We are reaping the consequences of their rise, with right-wing violence that harkens back to the 1990s: The murder of six police officers since the start of the Obama administration, racist skinhead plots to assassinate the president, and bomb plots on the part of anti-government, racist and survivalist groups.
What is particularly disturbing about the rise of the patriot movement is their success in penetrating the mainstream and becoming part and parcel of conservative American politics, something which had not occurred in the 1990s.
"The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the SPLC report notes. Consider high-profile personalities with large followings that embrace the anti-government rhetoric and conspiracy theories of the patriot movement, such as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R, Minn), who suggested Obama was planning re-education camps for young people, and FOX News host Glenn Beck, who promoted the conspiracy theory that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is operating secret concentration camps.
The Oath Keepers -- a militia group consisting of current and ex-soldiers and police officers -- similarly warns about concentration camps, a coming dictatorship, and a "New World Order." This organization, which considers President Obama "an enemy of the state", is co-sponsoring the Second Amendment March on Washington set for, not surprisingly, April 19th.
Birthers, who have been legitimized by conservative news outlets and members of Congress, believe that President Obama was born in a foreign country and is not a U.S. citizen. James Von Brunn, the white supremacist who opened fire and killed a security officer at the National Holocaust Museum, was part of the Birther movement, which has racist and anti-Semitic origins.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma legislators and tea party members have proposed the formation a volunteer militia group to defend against the federal government. And the Colorado Court of Appeals has rejected on Second Amendment grounds the University of Colorado's ban on students carrying weapons on campus.
Fifteen years after the Oklahoma City bombing, the extremist groups are back and they're bigger and badder than ever. And this time, they are coalescing, working from the same page, and enjoying support from some circles in government and the media. Once again, we have failed to learn from the lessons of history. Are "the dark clouds of fascism gathering" in America, as Noam Chomsky suggests? Although we must hope he is wrong, perhaps he has a point.
Nevertheless, we should all make it a point to watch our back.
August 22, 2009
Militia movement again on the rise
We need to beware of the right-wing militia movement in America. It poses a danger to our democracy. And shamefully, it is fueled by a few mainstream politicians and media personalities.
After a decade out of the spotlight, the militant rightwing “Patriot” movement — which was responsible for such murderous terrorist acts as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that claimed 168 lives and injured 500 — is on the rise.
And according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, this violent coalition of groups is united in their hatred of the government, and of the first black president.
The newly minted report, “The Second Wave: Return of the Militias,” warns that authorities are worried about the acceleration in violent acts by radical right groups.
“Militiamen, white supremacists, anti-Semites, nativists, tax protesters and a range of other activists of the radical right are cross-pollinating and may even be coalescing,” says the report. “This is the most significant growth we’ve seen in 10 to 12 years,” according to one source in the report. “All it’s lacking is a spark. I think it’s only a matter of time before you see threats and violence.”
As many as 50 new militia training groups have formed in two years. Shockingly, one of the groups, the Oath Keepers, consists of current and ex-soldiers and police officers. Its members are concerned about a coming dictatorship, concentration camps and a “New World Order.” And they regard President Obama as “an enemy of the state.”
Meanwhile, sales of guns and ammunition have increased over fears of gun control laws.
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that in recent months, men with pro-militia, racist, anti-government or anti-Semitic sentiments have committed acts of murder — including the murder of six police officers since April. And a majority of the killers and conspirators were at least partially motivated by the election of Obama.
It’s astonishing that mainstream politicians and media outlets have stoked the fires of militia extremism. This is both irresponsible and dangerous, and will only lead to acts of violence. They have legitimized the hateful and racist propaganda of the Patriot groups, including the outrageous claim that the president is not a U.S. citizen, and that he presides over a fascist-socialist government.
Glenn Beck of Fox News has called Obama a Marxist and a racist who hates white people. And he has linked the Obama administration with fascism. CNN’s Lou Dobbs has opened the door for questioning Obama’s citizenship, and has legitimized the conspiracy theories about Latinos wanting to conquer the Southwest.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., suggested that the president was planning reeducation camps for young people. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., channeling Joe McCarthy, warned that there are 17 “socialists” in Congress. And Texas Gov. Rick Perry echoed militia talk when he suggested Texas secede from the Union.
These militia sentiments were on full display at the anti-tax tea party protests, and they have continued at the health care town hall meetings, along with death threats against members of Congress. Some protestors have come to presidential events strapped with pistols and armed with semiautomatic assault rifles, creating conditions that are ripe for violence.
We can’t ignore the threat of homegrown domestic terrorism. The far right militia groups are profoundly undemocratic. We underestimate them at our peril.
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