'Patriot' Rhetoric Becomes Increasingly Violent
In gatherings over the summer, antigovernment 'Patriots' discussed their enemies in violent terms
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. 鈥� The Forces of Freedom are ready for war.
In mid-August, about 100 self-described and 鈥渟trict Constitutionalists鈥� gathered in a hotel ballroom here for the Freedom Action National Conference organized by the conspiracy-minded American Policy Center (APC). United by rage at a federal government they believe is they were determined to take back the country for the people.
The conference, hosted by APC founder and president , featured a parade of antigovernment Patriot movement heroes. Each outlined a theory on the roots of the alleged sovereignty crisis, offered a solution, and encouraged the audience to take action before time ran out.
Most proposed nominally peaceful options such as jury nullification, local government coordination, or outreach through alternative media. But none dismissed the possibility 鈥� even the probability 鈥� of violence.
DeWeese鈥檚 Patriots beat the drum for a 鈥淪econd Amendment solution鈥� to the Tenth Amendment crisis. (The Second Amendment guarantees the right 鈥渢o keep and bear arms.鈥� The Tenth Amendment says those powers not explicitly given to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.)
The most overt call for violence came from former Arizona sheriff . 鈥淢y dear friends, I pray for the day that the first sheriff in this country [is] the one to fire the shot heard 鈥檙ound the world and take out some IRS agents!鈥� Mack said.
Mack is famous in Patriot circles for joining a lawsuit against the federal government over the Brady Bill requirement that law enforcement agencies conduct background checks on prospective gun owners. Mack, who draws inspiration from the late Cleon Skousen (an ex-FBI agent and constitutional fundamentalist whose disciples in law enforcement swear never to enforce an 鈥渦nconstitutional鈥� law), refused, saying that the feds had no right to order him to enforce their laws. He and several other sheriffs basically won their lawsuit 鈥� weakening the Brady provisions and scoring a win for advocates of state and local sovereignty.
Speaking before a rapt and adoring audience, Mack lambasted the federal government. 鈥淭he President of the United States has no power, no jurisdiction, I don鈥檛 care if it鈥檚 George Washington himself, to tell anyone in your state to change one damn thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he sheriff is the one who determines what is and is not enforced in his county. 鈥� Your sheriff is the only person who can call up the militia or call up the posse. And he should! We should be so prepared in our counties that , we can say, 鈥楪o home, go to some other county, we鈥檒l call you if we need you.鈥欌�� (Many on the radical right, including the now-defunct anti-Semitic group and much of the contemporary , believe, like Mack, that county sheriffs are the highest legitimate law enforcement authority.)
One-time Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarick insinuated that a new revolution is in the offing. 鈥淚s the government evil? Yes. Are they willing to do anything to subdue us? Yes. But as I said, we just bought 85 million guns,鈥� Badnarick said, a reference to the estimated number of gun owners in America. 鈥淒ying for your country is not really the question. Are you willing to kill for liberty?鈥�
Pennsylvania State Rep. Sam Rohrer, who earlier this year lost his primary bid to become the Republican candidate for governor, echoed his call. 鈥淭here is a time to pray and a time to fight,鈥� said Rohrer, paraphrasing Revolutionary War hero and pastor Peter Muhlenberg. 鈥淎nd I think the time has come to fight.鈥�
Speakers were uniform in believing that the United States is headed for a catastrophe for which strengthened state sovereignty, won by words or by force, is the only antidote.
鈥淭he oligarchy our founding fathers feared, federalist and anti-federalist [alike], has taken over,鈥� said Tom Cryer, famous in Patriot circles for beating charges of tax evasion. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to put this beast back in the box that it came in.
鈥淲e are in a defining moment,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e are either going to be the generation that saved America from its government and its government from itself, or we鈥檙e going to be the generation that betrayed its ancestors and its posterity all at one time.
鈥淯nite. Fight. Win.鈥�
A month after the Valley Forge conclave, a different group of Patriots met in a far different setting. The three-day 鈥淭aking America Back鈥� conference at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami was organized by the right-wing WorldNetDaily (WND) and its co-founder, . The numerous speakers and other conference attendees didn鈥檛 voice the violent rhetoric of those at the Valley Forge event, but their fury and disgust with the Obama Administration and the general direction of the country were no less fervent.
The sum of their sentiments: Christianity, the Constitution, America, Ronald Reagan, unfettered capitalism, the Tea Party movement, morality, conservatism, U.S. medical care, guns 鈥� good. President Obama, Muslims, 鈥渆lites,鈥� leftists, gay marriage, activist judges, ACORN, Saul Alinsky, public schools, 鈥淥bamacare,鈥� communism, socialism, secularism, illegal immigrants, mainstream media, university professors, pusillanimous pastors, government, taxes 鈥� bad.
That鈥檚 a lot that they鈥檙e disgruntled about, and by no means a comprehensive list. But over and over, Obama bore the brunt of most of the WND group鈥檚 ire. He was called a communist, a socialist, a Muslim, 鈥渁 very dangerous man鈥� and the 鈥渓iar in chief.鈥� He was accused of deliberately steering America toward failure in order to fulfill his vision of an 鈥渋nternational socialist movement.鈥� Some said he should be impeached. 鈥淚f he can鈥檛 subvert America, I really believe Barack Obama wants to bankrupt America,鈥� said Floyd Brown, a consultant who is infamous for his racially charged Willie Horton television ad that severely damaged the 1988 campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
, a WND writer and the author of books attacking Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, drummed up his usual suspicions that Obama wasn鈥檛 born in America, and therefore is serving in office illegally. He noted that the late left-wing community organizer Saul Alinsky dedicated his book, Rules for Radicals, to Lucifer, and said Obama was trained in Alinsky鈥檚 methods and should therefore renounce the devil 鈥� as well as Islam.
Corsi and many others at the Miami conference stressed the importance of not compromising with the Republican Party on core social issues, especially same-sex marriage, and being assertive in proclaiming their views on issues. 鈥淭he big tent Republican Party doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� Corsi told his enthusiastic audience.
鈥淎t some point, being conservative is not enough,鈥� Farah said in comments kicking off the conference that recalled some of the hot talk at Valley Forge. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when you need warriors.鈥�
