The Tea Party, Militias, and the Radicalization of America
On the heels of the recent Hutaree militia arrests in Michigan, Oklahoma Tea party leaders are exploring the possibility of forming a militia to defend against improper federal infringements on state sovereignty. The really scary part is that they are in talks with members of the Oklahoma legislature to gains state sponsorship of the militia. Discussions are still in the explanatory phase and tea party leaders disavow any connection to groups like the Hutaree.
Even if this is true, however, this still represents a dangerous radicalization of state politics. The last time armed groups started talking about states’ rights and resisting federal sovereignty it led to something called the Civil War. To be clear, I don’t think that this will lead to a second Civil War, but it still represents a dangerous trend. This is because it is not at all clear what kind of resistance this militia would use that is not already available if violence is not envisioned. The Tea Partyers already have the right to assemble, to protest, to petition government for redress, and a host of others. What exactly do they think they will be doing to resist the impositions of the federal government that they can’t do as a political organization and do better? At best there is a threat of implied violence here, we don’t intend to shoot anybody now, but if you don’t listen to us down the road we might. This is still a dangerous threat that is meant to curtail opposition by threat of force and not through dialogue and the electoral process. The fact that some state legislators are even considering this as a viable option is even more insane.
There is an increasingly dangerous radicalization of anti-Democratic and anti-Government forces going on in this country right now and it does not bode well for the nation. If groups like the Hutaree represent the radical fringe, then proposals like the above represent the middle ground and that alone should have you worried. When armed resistance groups, even planned ones, seem like a compromise position, even if only by comparison, something has gone dangerously wrong. When this is combined with the violent rhetoric coming from mainstream conservatives like Sarah “Don’t Retreat, Reload” Palin and the increasing numbers of death threats against Democratic lawmakers, the situation seems even more dire. It is probably just a matter of time before someone assassinates a congressperson or makes a serious attempt that puts multiple lives in jeopardy. There is a very real chance that the next big terrorist attack will be from domestic anti-government groups and not Islamic fundamentalists.
The ability to rationally disagree with the opposition is an essential element to democracy. When those in the political minority feel that violent threats and rhetoric are their only option (which of course is not at all true) then they have lost their grip on reality. We need a society where people feel free to debate and disagree without worrying about it costing them their lives. One’s vote in Congress should never make one fear for their life. As long as people are still free to elect him they wish then there is no need to defend “states’ rights” with armed groups. To even think so is a sign of how far we have fallen.
Oklahoma Tea Party Plans To Form Armed Militia – Sean Murphy and Tim Talley, The Huffington Post
The The Tea Party, Militias, and the Radicalization of America by Stephen DeWitt, OFM, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Comments
Pingback: The Fake Militia Movement