Reminder -- US government to be overthrown tomorrow
You can read more about the imminent revolution at Green Eagle (who makes a regular practice of covering events like this), Squatlo Rant, The Immoral Minority, and Mock Paper Scissors. Oddly enough, none of the right-wing sites I normally read has anything posted about it -- even Larry Klayman, who is normally all over this kind of thing, offers only a few generic pro-sedition comments in his latest post. The operation's website is strikingly lacking in news or instructions, while its Facebook page is dominated by commenters who seem less than enthused about the whole thing:
"It will be the usual handful of angry white southern geezers. Followed by days of angry claims that two zillion were there, but the liberal media covered it up." -- Josh Whelan
"'The activists say they expect 10 million to 30 million like-minded Americans to join them Friday in the nation’s capital for a rally patterned after Occupy Wall Street and 'Arab Spring' protests.' ROTFLMAO!! On a weekday? Remember the 'Truckers Ride for the Constitution,' last October? 10,000 truckers were expected to show up to clog DC traffic, & only about 30 trucks bearing the official Twitter hashtag of the ride -- #T2SDA -- which stands for 'Truckers to Shut Down America' were spotted. 4 truckers tried slowing down traffic by going 15mph side by side, were pulled over by the cops & warned, & they ran with their tail between their legs. Any bets that they won't crack 100 protesters?" -- Gene Schuldt
"I am going to go down there with a camera, and try to find the 20 who show up. It will be fun to fuck with them." -- David Cannon
I found the image at the top of this post in a comment there by Joanne Renshaw Tipton.
Sorry, but I think a lot of people will be laughing.
[Hand update -- improving thanks to indomethacin. I still have to type left-handed, but it's surprising how fast you get used to that.]
posted by Infidel753 at 7:48 AM
9 Comments:
Didn't a similar group, called "A Gathering of Eagles," march on Washington during the Bush Administration for reasons we've all forgotten?
So these cranks are planning on a coup d'etat? Right.
Actually, THIS is what they really are like.
(Glad to hear the hand is improving.)
Wasn't the gathering to overthrow held today? I thought I read it somewhere.
Shaw: Hard to say. It's tough keeping track of all these imaginary revolutions.
Skud: It might have been, who knows. I imagine it was easy to overlook.
We people on the left in this country have our problems. But one problem we don't have is the belief that everyone agrees with us. I don't know why it is that people on the right fall for this stuff. (Didn't they say 10-30 million people?!) When I was a libertarian, most people I knew really thought that libertarianism was just about to break big--like DeVotchKa in '99.
But there is this: a liberal mind knows that its utopia would be a disaster and pushing for it is only an effort to move society in a positive direction. The conservative mind really thinks Galt's Gulch would be great rather than the dystopian hellscape any but a Randian cultist can see it would be.
But they frighten me, because these are well-armed people who hate the Constitution, even while treating it as a religious relic. See Steven Taylor's excellent article on this, The Anti-Federalist Impulse. Neo-confederacy is a growing problem in this country. I fear it will get bloody.
Frank: The internet makes it easy for pretty much any group of people to believe their own views are more widespread than they really are, by interacting only with others like themselves. Still, there's no excuse for ignoring actual polls, which show that right-wing views on most issues are in a (shrinking) minority.
The risk of violence is why the feds need to come down on those goons around the Bundy ranch like a ton of bricks -- the more they resort to force and get away with it, the more they'll do it. Over time the problem will shrink -- they're dying out and not passing on their ideas to many of the young. The reason it seems to be getting worse is that, as often happens, the movement becomes more radical as it shrinks.
I love this quote from Gawker today, "Compared to the Tea Party, Operation American Spring is... nothing, in truth. Like, literally tens of people sitting around being crazy."
On the violence issue, it's really hard. Not doing anything will encourage them, but doing something will also encourage them. Remember that Ruby Ridge was one of the crystallizing events for Timothy McVeigh. But I agree with you. For the long run good of the country, the government must enforce the law. And let's not fool ourselves. If these were black militia men, there wouldn't even be a discussion.
Frank: How odd that the vast turnout hasn't led Obama to resign and give himself up.
As for McVeigh, if it hadn't been Ruby Ridge, it would have been something else. These people have shown that they can be set off by outrage over purely imaginary things. Don't get me wrong -- the OAS people, however deluded, are just exercising their First Amendment rights and no one should interfere with that. But the militiatards in Nevada are harassing local people and obstructing highways, and they've threatened BLM officials. The government can't let that go.
Tea Party Cat posted, "Just found out, the other 29,999,547 people coming to Operation American Spring are stuck in traffic, but will arrive shortly."
I agree with you on enforcement of the law. It's funny that when it comes to overseas wars, the idea is decisive attack. I'm afraid the same holds true here. These idiots with their guns and camouflage think this is all a game. It's out of hand.
As for the OAS, I don't think it is so benign. Retired Army Col Harry Riley was making some clear threats about how he wanted it to be peaceful but for more than five years "the people" have been writing to Congress. As long as they are peaceful, it's fine. But the truth is that the right is allowed a lot of violent rhetoric that would never be allowed on the left.
Yes, well, as long as it stays on the level of rhetoric and doesn't escalate to unambiguous threats against specific individuals, leave them be, to let off steam. People on both sides of the political spectrum in this country are getting far too good at finding reasons to police mere expression. It makes me very nervous.
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