[Vision2020] We used to call them Bubba

Wed Feb 29 12:22:45 PST 2012

Hi Donovan,

We are absolutely in agreement over human rights issues (including full civil rights for GLBT folks), in addition I also favor universal health care, strong unions, and increased funding for public education (including colleges and universities).  I am opposed to even a single penny of government funding or services for private schools, and I would certainly support legislation that required certification/licensing of homeschooling parents.  At the very least that might limit the possibility that their children are being taught that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. My social and political world view has me strutting down the path to hell according to many political/religious conservatives and I happily take my chances with that!

None of which has anything to do with why I respect Barrett’s (who no doubt would shudder over much of my political wish list) standing for office and calling out the loop de loops in the local Militia.  I am not a big fan of conspiracy theories; perhaps because it is the chief weapon used by the goofy guys and gals themselves.  However, I do believe  them when I read their literature which emphasizes the importance of planting “their” people in office and in particular electing their own special kind of Sheriff. (Hint: Take a few minutes to investigate  local candidates for Sheriff .  And, no, Sheriff Rausch is not one of them.)  The Oath Keepers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_Keepers>  are in lockstep with the Militia movement.  And these folks are not funny (except to look at and listen to).  Armed crackpots who reinforce each other in unfounded and outrageous claims against the government structure, government policies, members of the judiciary, and elected office holders, are not just grumpy, they have the potential to be mean.  There are genuine risks involved when one yanks the tail on a monkey butt.  And, I freely confess, these wankers offend me beyond measure when I remember the service and resolute character of Marines I have known, (Semper Fi to all former Marines)  compared to these jackass toy soldiers pretending to be something they couldn’t have been thirty years ago and certainly can’t be now.    

I respect Barrett’s courage and integrity for exposing this mess in our own backyard. Many of us on V2020 have been there and done that, and believe me, as you well know, Donovan, the fallout is not all sunshine and roses.  So, I celebrate the spirit of bi-partisanship that encourages me to find areas of agreement and friendship with Barrett.

Best,

Rose

PS  And speaking of messes in our own backyard, are any of you folks familiar with any occasion when Doug Wilson was spit upon by screaming people?  I was stunned to read this:

“Nate Wilson at age 33 is the father of four children and seven books of young adult fiction, including such titles as the 100 Cupboards trilogy and Leepike Ridge. From his Idaho base he's also put out a terrific video apologetic, Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World. Here are edited excerpts of our interview before students at Patrick Henry College. 

Was it a blessing or a curse to be both a preacher's kid and a writer's kid, with your dad, Doug, writing influential books? The disadvantages turned into advantages for me. I knew from a very early age that my father took his qualifications seriously, and I was one of those qualifications. So I, at a very young age, felt I was in a position to ruin everything—I could ruin all of it. But our house was joyful. He was a pastor, but we weren't a house of rules: We were a house of jokes and rock songs. I benefited immensely from the education that he worked to build—the classical education model in Christian schools. 

And you saw antithesis? I remember being taken along to events where he'd been invited to come be the crazy Christian, the one guy in the room who they could all scream at and spit on, and watching him smile and laugh while writing a note to a moderator to please call the police. “

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19205

I have never witnessed such a spectacle, but before I decide that Nate has confused fiction with fact I hope to find independent verification of this event.  If it did happen, it is beyond disgusting and Doug deserves a profound and sincere apology from the dimwits involved.  If it was a mythical event, it may verify the expression that the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.

From: Donovan Arnold [mailto:donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 7:02 AM
To: Rosemary Huskey
Cc: 'Moscow Vision 2020'
Subject: Re: We used to call them Bubba

Hi Rose,

I am glad that such a fine person as yourself and me are able to see so many different issues in the same way. I know we agree on many things regarding human rights, health care, and education. We also agree on most things we oppose, such as preventing a woman's right to choose, the tea-party, and religious right wing conservatives. However, I agree that we are in disagreement with Barrett's reasons and his actions being honorable. 

Barrett has spend his entire adult life promoting, supporting and funding the Idaho and National Republican Party. The party that has tried all my life to keep Gay people as subhuman. The party that killed millions of people overseas for oil. The party that has succeeded in denying women rights over their own body. A party that seeks funding cuts for the poor, disabled, retired, and education while promoting and giving tax cuts and handouts for the wealthiest. 

I don't see this as honorable. I find it repulsive. I believe most the public is now starting to see how repulsive this political party is and can be void of any real value. But this also is what the Republican Party has strived to be for the last twenty years. They kicked out all the liberal and moderate members of their Party, aggressively and ruthlessly. Then they closed out their primaries so only the far right wing is left to vote and can run for the nomination, which is what they wanted and tried to get. Now, now that they got what they wanted, and the voters see what a nasty party it is with anyone with reason being kicked out, they want to separate themselves from themselves because it is politically expedient to do so. I think that is bullshit.

The honorable thing for Barrett to do is to denounce the Idaho Republican Party, stop trying to pretend to be a RINO on election years, and support the issues and funding that is best for the people of Idaho. I personally, don't consider the Militia anymore of a threat to me than any of the other 1500 things the radical Idaho Republican Party has tried to do in the last ten to twenty years. 

That is my thinking on the matter. Barrett helped create and raise this monster of an oppressive political party, and now he is claiming it an orphan all along. It doesn't fly with me. I'm glad you can feel comfortable with your position and are friends with Barrett. However, I not able to do so. 

I hope all is well with you and your family, Rose. 

Donovan Arnold

From: Rosemary Huskey <donaldrose at cpcinternet.com>
To: 'Donovan Arnold' <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> 
Cc: 'Moscow Vision 2020' <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 11:31 AM
Subject: We used to call them Bubba

Hi Donovan,

Lately I’ve found myself in agreement with most of your positions on V2020.  But this time I must respectfully disagree with you.  Although there are undoubtedly political positions that Barrett and I share we also have differing perspectives in other areas.  Nonetheless, his integrity and courage are beacons of hope and sources of inspiration that extend beyond party affiliation.  It takes courage and commitment to stand up to local louts and swaggering fanatics.  Barrett is setting a standard for all of us.  The militia movement and Tea Partyesque members are not funny (even if they are ridiculous) and they can’t be dismissed with a snigger, or a latte sipping laugh.  As befuddled as they are, their intentions are not a joke.  Like all fanatics they are true believers.  It is my hope that all candidates running for local office would be eager to inform voters if they support the militia movement, and whether or not they will work to achieve the goals of former Sheriff Mack <http://sheriffmack.com/>  and his fellow travelers.  Rational Wiki <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Militia_movement>  (see below )  nails the militia movement and it’s unholy alliances.  The links at the bottom of this email are clickable and will provide V peeps primary documents about the political philosophy of these scrambled-brained folks.   Once we called these characters Bubba or Junior; we thought they lived in the Ozarks and had chaw juice dribblin’ down their Z.Z Top chins.  Now we call them candidates, neighbors, small business owners, and Tea Party Republicans.  They live in our neck of the woods, waddle around in size 3X camouflage, and are magically equipped with “special” insights into the Constitution (that somehow elude the rest of us). They attach the descriptor “Freeman” to their name: i.e.,  Jeff Williams <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJMk_vYMBsY&feature=related>  Freeman is a militia affectation.  (By the way, the link to Jeff Williams is a YouTube rant directed toward the Southern Poverty Law Center wherein he informs them that he is armed, brags about his concealed weapon permits from the states of Washington and Utah, and declares himself “dangerous” as far as they are concern.) It’s not just Idaho’s own Lightfoot Militia <http://www.facebook.com/5775LF>  crowd that bellies up to the conspiracy bar, let’s also acknowledge the local efforts of the Appleseed Project <http://www.facebook.com/NorthwestRegionProjectAppleseed> , Palouse Liberty Project <http://www.palouselibertyproject.com/aof.php>  and those ever bustling  gals at the Brushfire Alliance <http://brushfirealliance.blogspot.com/> .  Bless all their hearts, their self-importance may be the only source of importance they will ever enjoy.  

Rose Huskey

Rational Wiki

The militia movement is a United States <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/United_States>  subculture consisting primarily of disaffected rural white right-wing <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Right-wing>  Christians <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Christians>  who believe that the Federal government's authority is either broadly abused or outright null and void. The movement was mostly active 1992-1996, and appears to be making a comeback as of 2011, though it is not as powerful as in the 1990s. 

They draw their name from the "well-regulated militia" clause of the Second Amendment <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Second_Amendment>  to the United States Constitution[1] <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Militia_movement#cite_note-0>  (generally interpreted by others to mean bodies such as the National Guard and state police, assembled and regulated by the states or the Feds). While the militia movement does experience plenty of cross-pollination <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crank_magnetism>  with white nationalists <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/White_nationalism> , anti-Semites <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism> , and other elements of the radical right, most observers view this as secondary to the movement's chief ideology -- indeed, during the movement's height in the '90s a number of black separatist groups took up the ethos of militias. The militia movement is heavily associated with, and infused with, survivalist <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Survivalism>  rhetoric about impending economic collapse and societal breakdown. 

Many of these groups conversely view themselves (or frame themselves to the public) as groups of citizens organized and ready to be called on by local government when needed, and that private citizens' militias such as theirs were the "original intent" of the Founders for national defense and assistance with local law enforcement. This is a half-truth. While it is true that, historically, government agencies (from the local sheriff to the state) have called upon private citizens during times of emergency or temporarily deputized private citizens, and most state constitutions include definitions of the "unorganized militia" as all adult males (usually between a certain age range, 18 to 45) for this purpose, it is a leap of logic to conclude this sanctions the formation of private paramilitary organizations not organized by nor recognized by the government. The concept is "all adult males", not a private group of people holding decidedly fringe views proclaiming themselves "the" militia. Besides conspiracy theorists and survivalists, the movement also attracted a heavy dmixture of whackers <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Whacker>  (although most of them left once it became clear the movement was also a magnet for dangerous anti-government paranoids like Timothy McVeigh <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh> ). 

After the Oklahoma City bombing, many of the casual hangers-on left the movement in droves, perhaps realizing it was a haven for the mentally unstable and potentially violent and in any case deciding they had cold feet and didn't want to be associated with it after all. This left a small hard core of true believers still in the movement. The finishing blow was 9/11 <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/9/11> , which split the few remaining active militia groups into two camps; some militia leaders claimed that 9/11 was an inside job <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories> , while others proclaimed their patriotism and offered their support in the War on Terror <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/War_on_Terror> . Furthermore, the presidency of George W. Bush <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/George_W._Bush>  and the political dominance of the conservative Republican Party <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Republican_Party>  meant that most of the movement's causes, such as illegal immigration, had a more respectable outlet in the form of political activism, causing the more mainstream (or at least less militant) members to leave and take up support of political efforts to implement their goals. This only further shrank the group's membership to the hard-right fringe. By around 2004 the militia movement had completely petered out as an organized political force. 

Later in the 2000s, however, a confluence of factors led to a resurgence of far-right "Patriot" rhetoric about government oppression[5] <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Militia_movement#cite_note-4> , restoring some mainstream interest in the militia movement. The seeds of this resurgence were planted mid-decade with anti-immigrant "citizen border patrol <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Secure_the_border> " groups like the Minuteman Project (no relation to the Minutemen <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Minutemen_%28organization%29>  of the '60s), Ranch Rescue and their many copycats, which grabbed media attention with their armed patrols of the US-Mexico border. Starting in 2008-09, the economic crisis and the election of Democratic President Barack Obama <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>  kicked the movement into high gear, leading to a resurgence of "traditional" anti-government militias. One group at the forefront of the new movement, the Oath Keepers, specifically recruits military and law enforcement personnel in the interests of "upholding the Constitution", with their list of ten "orders we will not obey" including two references to concentration/detention camps <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/FEMA_concentration_camps>  and one to foreign troops on US soil.[6] <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Militia_movement#cite_note-5>  Meanwhile, many of the old anti-government plots <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hutaree>  are once again coming out of the woodwork. 

Most militia groups claim direct lineage from Revolutionary War groups such as the Minutemen, and at least a few claim to be available to their states for defense purposes. However, many, if not most, states have laws against private armies such as these or any sort of paramilitary organization not directly authorized by state or federal government. 

Legally speaking, the National Guard (which is not any sort of citizen militia) is considered the "organized militia" under US federal law, a few states also have their own "organized militia" separate from the National Guard (the Texas <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Texas>  State Guard is an example), and to the extent that there is a citizen (or "unorganized") militia, it is a concept found in state constitutions used to bridge a gap in federal law declaring all able-bodied males between 18 and 45 to be part of the "militia". Should the "unorganized militia" need to be called to service at the federal level, one might presume that the proper way to do so would be to enact a draft using the Selective Service infrastructure. Things in the US would probably have to be quite bad for it to get to this point. Historically, private citizens have been "drafted" (or "deputized") at the state or local level under the "militia" clause on a temporary basis, usually to help with emergency services, but while this was common in the 1800s it is very rare today.

The modern movement began at a 1992 meeting initiated by fringe preacher Peter J. Peters <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Peter_J._Peters>  in Estes Park, Colorado <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Colorado> , although they appear to have taken some of their ideology and organizational tactics from two earlier movements, the 1970s/1980s Posse Comitatus <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_%28organization%29> , and the 1960s Minutemen <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Minutemen_%28organization%29> . Peters' meeting was initiated in the wake of the Ruby Ridge <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge>  fiasco and he invited a large number of leaders from both mainstream evangelical Christian and political extreme right circles; most mainstream Christians blew him off, so the attendance wound up reading like a who's who of the extreme right. Among those in attendance were Aryan Nations <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Aryan_Nations>  leader Richard Butler; Texas Ku Klux Klan <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan>  leader Louis Beam; Chris Temple, who published the Christian Identity <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Christian_Identity>  newspaper The Jubilee; and attorney Kirk Lyons, who headed the CAUSE Foundation (a "pro-white" legal foundation which stands for Canada, Australia, United States, South Africa, and Europe). The purpose of the meeting was to figure out what to do to make sure a Ruby Ridge didn't happen again. Their solution: form citizens militias. 

However, the movement quickly spiraled out of control - and out of the control of the extreme right leaders who initiated it. As with many such movements, the founders talked up the militia concept but then stepped out of the way and went back to what they had been doing before once the ball got rolling. The movement quickly attracted a different set of unstables and unknowns who saw the militia movement as a way to make a name for themselves: 

*	Michigan <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Michigan>  janitor Mark Koernke, who called himself "Mark from Michigan". Mr. Mark from Michigan was soon giving public speeches and making videos spinning outlandish tales of fleets of mysterious black helicopters <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Black_helicopters>  being prepared for blue-helmeted United Nations <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/United_Nations>  troops to invade the U.S. Koernke then started a show on shortwave <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Shortwave>  radio peddling his same nonsense. More fun than being a mere janitor, I guess (hey, is this guy <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Joe_the_Plumber>  an example of the same thing?). 
*	John Trochmann, who had been at the Peters meeting. Trochmann founded the Militia of Montana <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Montana>  whose main purpose was to promote the militia concept by selling a mail-order packet of information. The packet included a handbook for how to organize a militia (amusing because, among other things, every page of the booklet had the words TREASON TREASON TREASON TREASON TREASON across the top and bottom margins); a book catalog of the usual conspiracy books and far-right material; and a bunch of photocopies of tanks and military equipment being carried on railroad cars, supposed "evidence" that the United Nations was about to invade the U.S. in the name of the New World Order <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/New_World_Order> . 
*	Indiana <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Indiana>  attorney Linda Thompson. Formerly a liberal <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Liberal>  who had done some work for the ACLU <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/ACLU> , Thompson made a video called Waco, the Big Lie right after the 1993 Waco <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Waco>  siege. While not the first significant criticism of the government's mishandling of the events, it made a splash because it was then the most sensational. Thompson soon moved far to the right and went haywire, proclaiming herself "Acting Adjutant General of the Unorganized Militias of the United States", jumping on the  <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/America_Under_Siege> "black helicopter" bandwagon, claiming the bar-coded stickers on the backs of highway signs were to guide U.N. tanks after they invaded the U.S., and proclaiming an armed march on Washington, D.C. <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.>  scheduled for September 19, 1994 during which "all militia units" were to assemble and arrest the entire U.S. Congress for "treason". She later called off the march (after just about every other militia group balked at her insane proposal) and claimed it had only been to drum up publicity. Yep. 
*	Ron Cole, who was so moved by the Branch Davidian siege in 1993 he converted to Branch Davidianism on the spot, and also started a Colorado <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Colorado>  militia group. He soon got involved in the feud among surviving Branch Davidians as to who would take over leadership after Koresh's untimely demise. He and the three other members of his Colorado militia were arrested in 1997 over allegations of possession of a pipe bomb. 
*	The movement also attracted the usual bunch of grown-up little boys who read magazines about mercenaries <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Soldier_of_Fortune>  and needed an excuse to run around in the woods in camo shouting "hoo-ah!" without actually having to meet the physical fitness requirements to join the military. (Couldn't they have just gone hunting <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:Hunting>  instead?) 

it's not even
a good idea 

 <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pseudolaw> Pseudolaw 

 <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Category:Pseudolaw> Icon pseudolaw.svg

I have a theory,
which is mine 

*	Brian Gerrish <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Brian_Gerrish>  
*	Citizen's Rule Book <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Citizen%27s_Rule_Book>  
*	Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Constitutional_Sheriffs_and_Peace_Officers_Association>  
*	Corporate personhood <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood>  
*	Crime woo <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crime_woo>  
*	Flat tax <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Flat_tax>  
*	Freeman on the land <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Freeman_on_the_land>  
*	Gold standard (economics) <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gold_standard_%28economics%29>  
*	Posse Comitatus (organization) <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_%28organization%29>  
*	Provisional Imperial Government <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Provisional_Imperial_Government>  
*	Robert Beale <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Robert_Beale>  
*	Sovereign citizen <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen>  
*	The Annotated Citizen's Rule Book <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Annotated_Citizen%27s_Rule_Book>  

v <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Template:Pseudolaw>  - t <http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Template_talk:Pseudolaw>  - e <http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Pseudolaw&action=edit> 

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