Getting a lot of attention this morning is a very disquieting piece in Mother Jones about the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia group that is attracting scores of ex-military and (even more disturbingly) law enforcement personnel in their efforts to prepare for “the coming tyranny”. We on the left have all had our jollies making fun of the pathetic Teabaggers, with their misspelled signs and their wacky conspiracies, but these people transcend the nonsense of political foolsmanship because they represent an actual danger to the public. Armed to the teeth, trained for military action, and blinded by ideology, they are the shock troops that would bring ordinary citizens to their knees in seconds if they ever decided to take things into their own hands.
Not getting much attention nationally, there was an arrest in tony Manchester-by-the-Sea here in Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago, where a guy was arrested because he had amassed a frickin’ arsenal in the basement of his house, preparing, he told his wife, for the imminent outbreak of hostilities. His wife actually called the cops and turned him in because she was concerned he was getting ready to start using the guns. Meanwhile, the daughter of the guy who flew his plane into the IRS offices in Austin, Texas, called him a hero on national television (though she subsequently recanted that), and there is serious debate over whether or not the guy committed an act of terrorism, despite his actions meeting every single standard definition of the word, simply because he was a white guy and not an eeeeevil Muslim.
And all of this in the shadow of a pair of political conventions that legitimize and even overtly praise the behaviors and attitudes of these people, with a seemingly unending parade of politicians openly siding with them as they align themselves for the next couple of election cycles.
We can’t keep brushing these people off, dear readers. They are dangerous, they possess a disproportional amount of influence at a time of enormous instability in our political institutions, they have outright control of “the most trusted news source” in the country and have bent the rest of the media to bias in favor of them, and I genuinely believe that all it would take is for one leader figure who was remotely credible to emerge from the pack of idiots like Palin, Beck, Limbaugh, Cheney, et.al. to ignite the entire thing like a match in a lake of gasoline. We are living on borrowed time, I believe, before this person appears.
The parallels to the situation in Weimar Germany and the rise of Hitler are too strong not to mention, even though the mere invocation of Hitler’s name draws instant opprobrium. Hitler was shrugged off by “serious people” in Germany right up to the point that he suddenly won national office and could name his own terms with the struggling leadership. The economic conditions in this country may not have reached the desperate stages of hyperinflation, but 1 out of every 5 people of working age in this country are unemployed or underemployed, and there is little hope for any change in that condition for the foreseeable future. We are ripe for a right-wing demagogue, who can instantly bring to bear armed assistance of supporters numbering in the tens of thousands, and who would likely enjoy the popular approval of at least a full third of the population. Meanwhile, the erosion of checks and balances in our government, and the unchecked expansion of executive powers that began under the last administration and has found little-to-no recision in the present one would present an enormous opportunity to that individual to sweep away everything you and I might think is unshakable about American democracy.
It’s time to stop joking about these people, time to stop dismissing them as the lunatic fringe, and recognize that a clear and present danger exists. My own opinion is that we have gone too far down the road to be able to easily prevent a political upheaval, but it may still be possible to mitigate it, particularly as long as no charismatic leader arises to galvanize the situation. That day will come, however, as it inevitably does, as it always has throughout human history. Don’t close your eyes now, because the danger is right in front of you.
yeah, okay, but what should be done? going back to a state monopoly on military force would be nice – no militias or private security firms any more, just the military and police, which for all their faults do seem to be more accountable than the private versions. is that feasible?
another question: is it true that bush spent 2 terms packing the judiciary with judges of a certain type (pro-business, what else?) that will make turning this boat around that much harder?
yeah, okay, but what should be done?
A lot. Cracking down on these groups is exactly what they are expecting and would use to their advantage as prima facie evidence of their paranoia, so taking away the guns isn’t as good a solution as one might hope. Keeping a white hot spotlight of critical attention on them is much more effective, because, as with most extremist views, their agenda doesn’t hold up when you force it to be reality-checked. The problem at hand right now is that the media are failing in their role as public watchdog because of the overt political agendas of the corporations who control them and because of the collapse of the traditional press as an institution with values beyond the scope of corporate profits. Journalism’s abrogation of its civic role is maybe the single biggest problem we have in this country outside of the economy. As long as the lies, spin, and misrepresentations are given the amount of credibility and uncritical coverage as they are getting right now, the longer the hijacking of traditional mainstream conservative politicians will go on, and the stronger the extremists will become.
As to your second question, the federal courts have always been very business-friendly, and the Bush Administration put their efforts into ideological purity instead — looking for judges who would take on political issues like abortion and gay marriage and such. The recent Supreme Court decision on corporate contributions to political campaigns is a whole new ballgame, however. It will almost certainly make any effort to bring about badly-needed Congressional reform essentially impossible and have a very chilling effect on the traditional political process. To the extent that the effect would make it easier for a demagogue to seize power, it’s a concern, but at the same time it also somewhat reduces the likely impact of a single charismatic political figure if that person is too inimical to corporate interests.
This makes me happy I’m living in Austria, where there are no demagogues.
Yes, although they did produce a whopper of one once. :-) And then there was that Jorg Haider fellow a few years back, who seemed like he was on the verge of becoming something much bigger.
Right-wing parties in Europe seem to me to be rather one-note — all racism, all the time — while the American right is a mish-mosh of ideas, some of which have some basis in reality, which is what gives them their lasting power.
Strache is the Austrian demagogue to watch at the moment. All racism, all the time, as you say.