Going Mainstream
In this section Keller tries to tie in those calling for state's rights with Joseph McCarthy, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, Dick Morris, the NRA, Gun Shows, the tea parties and Obama/Hitler signs as some big mainstream cabal of militia movement. And no, I'm not kidding.
He starts by addressing the movement of asserting the 10th amendment (that powers not granted to the federal government remain with the states) as somehow being anti-government. Keller seems to think that this country was founded on only a Federal government and that the rest of the Constitution is just a bunch of words. He insinuates that talk of state's rights incites people into joining radical groups.
Then Keller pulls out Glenn Beck saying that he "called Obama a fascist, a Nazi and a Marxist, even re-floated militia conspiracy theories of the 1990s alleging a secret network of government-run concentration camps. ... Beck is just one of the well-known cable TV news personalities to air fictitious conspiracies and other unlikely Patriot ideas."
This is almost a complete falsehood. Beck addressed this statement by the SPLC in this report on his show August 12, 2009. He admitted that he had indeed called Obama a Marxist, but never a fascist or a Nazi. And Beck pointed out that he actually did a show on "government-run concentration camps" because he was debunking the theory not endorsing it. Keller outright lies about Glenn Beck in this report and even if you have accepted any of this report as true, this should throw that into question.
Keller then takes on Lou Dobbs, someone that the SPLC absolutely hates.
"CNN's Lou Dobbs has treated the so-called Aztlan conspiracy as a bona fide concern and questioned the validity of Obama's birth certificate despite his own network's definitive debunking of that claim" Keller states.
The fact is that nobody has done a "definitive debunking" of Obama's birth certificate - and I'm no "birther". The point of groups like the SPLC is to shut down debate and Keller states that quite clearly. Dobbs should shut up because his Network and the SPLC say so.
I will not cover all the rest of the individuals other than to say his analysis is ridiculous.
He attacks gun shows, as if they haven't been around for a long, long time. Keller is obviously afraid of people with guns. He quotes several people who attended gun shows as if their statements are extreme. You be the judge.
"If Obama tries to get rid of our guns, it's just a step away from trying to take away everything else." said one. Another said he was just "preparing for the worst.". Maybe the inclusion of Obama in the first statement could be construed as something, but any government taking your guns is a warning that they can also take away other things that are your rights under the Constitution. That is not a far right wing militia sentiment, it is a common sense one.
Keller claims that "Patriot ideology" - read extremist militia influence - has infiltrated the "Tea Party" movement. Those Americans speaking their minds under the First Amendment were "staged by Conservatives" he says. His proof is that some called for state's rights, an end to the Federal Reserve and also an end to socialism tactics in Washington.
He mentions a survival guide being sold called the "Social Chaos Survival Guide", by Lee Bellinger, as an example of the push towards an extremist nature. Funny, I've never heard of Lee Bellinger before, I thought there was a concerted effort going on? The truth is that these survival guides have always existed and they have nothing to do with any increase in militias.
He finishes up pointing back to the April, 2009 DHS report. He does so in a calculated way. The statement regards ease of access to organize and find information on the Internet, but the real reason Keller picked this quote is easy to see.
The report states: "... the Internet ... has given domestic extremists greater access to information related to bomb-making, weapons training and tactics, as well as targeting of individuals, organizations and facilities..."
Don't think that Keller put that quote in there using the words "domestic extremists" for no reason. He wants to tie the above people mentioned in this section - Beck, Dobbs, et al - into your head in a way that makes you associate what you just read with terrorism and bomb-making. The fact is that the statement above by the DHS could apply to any person on this planet, left wing, right wing, curious teens, terrorists, or even Larry Keller himself.
Whither the Militia Movement
Keller points out three incidents which he thinks further reinforce his point.
Keller notes a wacko in Washington that was arrested and had a ton of weapons, including grenades. Then he points out the man had a bumper sticker on his car that said "End The Fed".
Keller notes Allison Klanecky, who was found with grenades and materials to make 93 more. Then he points out that she was in an end of the world group known as "The Prophecy Club" which sells books on conspiracy theories about 9/11 and other incidents.
Keller notes the outrage at the National Guard using the small town of Arcadia, Iowa for training purposes in looking for a wanted suspect. Many saw this as potential training for domestic actions in the future as it was a military force and not law enforcement.
To all three of these supposed proofs of growing "organized" extremism that Keller presents above, I say So?
The first two are hardly proof that either of these stories are tied to militias. Come on, a bumper sticker? A woman in a weird group? That's your lame proof?
As for the National Guard exercises they were completely idiotic. How any military commander could do that in a live neighborhood and not have some in the neighborhood angry or upset is beyond me. That incident sounds like total incompetence and they should have been - and were - rightly chastised and lampooned for their actions.
In closing, if you haven't figured it out by now after reading all this stuff from Keller, he's a racist just like Potok and severely against American Citizen's Rights.
Continue To Part Six
