| | Jim is a little behind the power curve on this, but Robert should know me well enough to parse this. Let me be perfectly clear about this.
The Declaration of Independence cited a long train of abuses that could not be remediated because the colonists, though English by birth and birthright, had no representation in Parliament. They had tried and tried to get the King's attention and been repeatedly rebuffed -- and their primary point of contention was that under the English Constitution, the monarch answers to Parliament because Parliament hires the monarch. They called George III a tyrant, a nuance lost on us today, but clear to anyone raised on Greek classical thought. We have a functioning democratic republic. Much is made of the power of incumbancy, but the truth is that at all levels, newcomers do raise popular support. Moreover, cry as some do about lobbyists, the fact is that any constituency with $300 can buy an hour of a lobbyist's time to make an appointment and present a case. That, too, is how this republic operates.
That said, this Topic is my compiled argumentation against rightwing superpatriot attacks on the American federal government. Superpatriot militias -- the Guns, God, and Gold crowd -- are more of a danger than the ELF. If not surpassing Al Qaida, then the superpatriots are surely in the same league, including their anti-Jewish paranoia and fear of compound interest on borrowed money.
Kyrel Zantonovitch has made just those kinds of threats in the past and he did so again. His views find a lot of support here -- too much support -- as the Guns, (God sometimes) and Gold (Double Capitals on Gold, please) crowd -- finds a lot of sympathy in conservative, libertarian and objectivist circles.
Despite the risks attendant with arson – certainly to firefighters – no lives have been lost to ELF/ALF actions. In 2001, Michael James Scarpitti (alias “Tre Arrow”) held off police and forest rangers for 48 hours by leaping from one 100-foot high perch to another (Sullivan 2006). However, direct confrontation with law enforcement is just not their style. On the other hand, right-wing extremists have confronted law enforcement. Christian activists have killed and wounded doctors who worked for abortion clinics. Militias have been arrested with large quantities of poisons intended for the public water supply, as well as with fake ID to allow them to pass for law enforcement officers.
[...]
The fact remains that there is a cultural divide between law enforcement and environmentalists – and this is not always the case with patriotic militias. In fact, they often share a lot: military service, nuclear family, Christian religion, love for traditional American culture and pride in American history. No Heroes: Inside the FBI's Secret Counter-Terror Force by Daniel Coulson and Sharon Shannon (Pocket Books, 1999) tells of how Coulson formed the Hostage Rescue Team. In one armed stand-off after another, Coulson talked the militia out of their positions. The worst confrontation played out when he was assigned to stay in Washington.
Marotta, Michael E., The Earth Liberation Front, School of Staff and Command, SSC 441: Foreign and Domestic Terrorism for First Responders, Eastern Michigan University, Winter 2008, Gaylord, Michigan.
In case anyone mired in the concrete of Objectivist catechism is unable to understand the concepts here, I say again:
- Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.
- There is no reason to physically attack the government of the United States of America, any of the Fifty States and Ten Other Things, or any county, city, township or village.
Are there any questions?
(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 6/29, 7:29am)
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