Why the Increase in Militias?

"Why the increase in militias is taking place is because people have asked, `Why in the world did the federal government destroy the building so quickly after the bombing if not to destroy every shred of evidence inside?' And they've asked, `Why is the only agency not to have a single employee in there on the day of the bombing the ATF?' ... And the only place they're getting any answers is from the militias." Thomas Bazzel, another former militia staff member, offered some different reasons. "You talk to a lot of people and there's a lot of interest because they see this country going totally Socialist or Communist," said Bazzel, who once ran unsuccessfully for Bay County Commission. "And I think people are becoming more and more afraid of what's happening." Jack Scholder, yet another former staff member, talked instead about a rising tide of crime and drug use and general public frustration. The militia watchdogs had a more cynical take on things. They blamed a lot of the growth on a gussied-up, semi-bland militia image. An image that swelling hordes of disillusioned Americans apparently find appealing. An image that's being sustained by a vastly improved information network, and fed by an ascendant industry. Indeed, according to the Center on Hate and Extremism at New Jersey's Stockton College, there are now more companies than ever selling survival rations, gold, communications hardware, or whatever else you might need to prepare for the coming apocalypse (or something); and there are now more people than ever (some 200,000) spending more money than ever (some $100 million) on this stuff. And anybody with access to the Internet can quickly see that the computer network has sort of become a Mall of the Militias. There are literally hundreds of militia Web sites now, hawking everything from explosives to survivalist tracts to bumper stickers that say, "I BRAKE FOR BLACK HELICOPTERS." Of course, most of these sites offer a lot more than just stuff. The Net is a cheap and effective way for militias to exchange mailing lists and training tips and just general information. One Florida militia's site explains that "the social security office has sent you a document with void written all over it. ... This was discovered by our deputy commander last night." Other militia sites are filled with similar claims, which are often "supported" by reams and reams of documents. "Nobody in their right mind is gonna read all that, let alone research it," says Chandler, the Center for Democratic Renewal researcher. "But those of us who're unlucky enough to have to research it have found that almost all of it is complete gibberish." Not coincidentally, he says this is exactly what he's discovered about the new friendlier face the militias seem to be wearing these days. "It's not genuine," he explained. "And that's a main reason we consider the movement to be so frightening." Militia watchdogs can't repeat this theme enough. Despite appearances or assurances to the contrary, they say, militias are (and probably always will be) lightning rods for all manner of twisted kooks and ideas. The Klanwatch & Militia Task Force says that about 100 militias have provable ties to actual hate groups. And it warns that all 858 active militias continue both "to pose a danger to the country," and "to attract alienated individuals like Timothy McVeigh." For their part, former militia leaders Proctor and Bazzel repeatedly insist that the local militia unit was, essentially, innocent and harmless. But over breakfast the other day, their former comrade Scholder didn't sound so sure. "I'll tell you the problem with militias, and with starting another militia here," he said. "It's keeping out the fringe elements, the Timothy McVeigh-types. You can't tell it by looking at them, you know. They look normal enough. So how do you keep 'em out? The fact is you can't." He went so far as to suggest that a fringe-type of mentality actually dominated the local militia toward the end. "Some of the people in charge kept on saying we'd been infiltrated," said Proctor. " 'There's an FBI agent here' - that kind of thing. But they'd never say who. Then I went out of town for a couple of weeks. When I got back, they were undoing everything they had done because of it." Scholder forked off a sliver of pancake and ate it. "It was disappointing to me that what I thought was a good organization went down the tubes because of paranoia," he said. "But I think that's what it was. There was a lot of paranoia. Still is, I guess." Buddy Ebsen paused briefly, then renewed his savage rant: "You know I wouldn't be interested in anything you have to do or say, OK? `Cause you're gonna twist it around, man, and I don't deal with twisters; I deal with the truth and fact-finders. I gave you facts and you twisted it all around." Specifically, you reported in a March 1995 article (a month before the OKC bombing) that Buddy Ebsen stood up suddenly at a militia meeting and cried, "The Constitution has been secretly suspended!" You reported that he drove around in his truck a few days later and fingered dozens of federal agents who he claimed were following his every move. You reported that he talked about crematoria in the American heartland, and that he carried a loaded gun. "Oh, I'll tell you what, you're screwin' yourself up, man," Buddy Ebsen said last week, ratcheting up his voice another notch. "You need to face the music. One of these days, maybe you'll get straightened out, I don't know." He talked for a little while longer, issuing increasingly violent threats. "You know what?" he said finally, his words mixed with malevolent laughter. "I hate to say this, Brent, but I've probably killed better Japs in World War II than people like you." Then the line went dead.

The Clinton Body Count

Much of the evidence will never be known because many people who were witnesses or who possessed evidence of some kind suffered mysterious deaths prior to being able to come forward. The list compiled here is not complete and is not detailed. It is presented to show how extensive it is and to illustrate that all these deaths could not be just a coincidence.

 Mary Mohane � former White House intern gunned down in a coffee shop. Nothing was taken. It was suspected that she was about to testify about sexual harassment at the White House.

 Vincent Foster � former White House Counsel, found dead of a gunshot wound to the head and ruled a suicide. He had significant knowledge of the Clintons� financial affairs and was a business partner with Hillary. If the Clintons are guilty of the crimes they are accused of by Larry, Vincent Foster would have detailed knowledge of those crimes.

 C. Victor Raiser, II � former National Finance Co-Chairman of Clinton for President, and Montgomery Raiser, his son. Both died in a suspicious private plane crash in Alaska. No cause determined. Raiser was considered to be a major player on the Clinton team.

 Paul Tully � DNC Political Director, was found dead in a Little Rock hotel room. No cause was ever determined and no autopsy was allowed. Tully was a key member of the damage control squad and came up with some of the Clinton strategies.

 Ed Willey � Clinton fund raiser. Found in the woods in Virginia with a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide.

 Hershell Friday � Clinton fund-raiser. His plane exploded.

 Jerry Parks � former security team member for Governor Clinton. Prior to his death he had compiled and extensive file on Clinton�s activities. His family had reported being followed and his home broken into just before being gunned down at a deserted intersection.

John Wilson � former Washington D.C. council member. Had ties to Whitewater. Died of a very suspicious hanging suicide.

 Kathy Ferguson � former wife of Arkansas State Trooper Danny Ferguson, the co-defendant with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Found dead in her living room of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Interestingly, her packed suitcases seemed to indicate she was about to go somewhere.

 Bill Shelton � Arkansas state trooper and fianc� of Kathy Ferguson. Allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at her grave.

 Gandy Baugh � attorney for Dan Lasater in a financial misconduct case. Supposedly jumped out the window of a tall building to commit suicide.

 Dr. Donald Rogers � dentist. Killed in a suspicious plane crash on his way to an interview with reporter Ambrose Evans-Pritchard to reveal information about Clinton.

 Stanley Huggins � lawyer investigating Madison Guaranty. Suicide. His extensive report has never been released.

 Florence Martin � Accountant for the CIA and had information on the Barry Seal case. Three gunshot wounds to the head.

 Suzane Coleman � reportedly had an affair with Clinton. Was seven months pregnant at the time she was found dead of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled suicide.

 Paula Grober � Clinton�s interpreter for the deaf. Traveled with Clinton from 1978 until her death in 1992 in a one-car accident. There were no witnesses.

 Paul Wilcher � attorney investigating corruption. He had investigated federal elections, drug and gun smuggling through Mena, the Waco incident, and had just delivered a lengthy report to Janet Reno. He died in his home of unknown causes.

 Jon Parnell Walker � RTC investigator who mysteriously fell to his death from an apartment balcony.

 Ron Brown � former DNS Chairman, Commerce Secretary. Reported to have died in a plane crash, but new evidence reveals he may have been shot in the head. He was being investigated by a special investigator and was about to be indicted with 54 others. He spoke publicly of his willingness to �make a deal� with the prosecutors to save himself a few days before the fatal trip. He was not supposed to be on the flight but was asked to go at the last minute.

 Barbara Wise � Commerce Department secretary. Worked with Ron Brown and John Huang and had extensive knowledge of their activities. Found dead in her locked office the day after Thanksgiving. It was ruled a suicide. Interestingly, she was found partially clothed, bruised, and in a pool of blood.

 Charles Meissner � Assistant Secretary of Commerce. John Huang was given a special security clearance by Meissner. Shortly thereafter, he died in the crash of a small plane.

 Kevin Ives and Don Henry � seventeen-year-old boys who apparently saw something related to drugs in Mena by accident late at night. Officially ruled an accidental death on the train tracks, but evidence shows they died before being placed on the tracks � one of a crushed skull and the other of a knife wound in the back.

 Keith Koney � had information on the Ives and Henry deaths. Died in a motorcycle accident with reports of a high-speed car chased involved.

 Keith McKaskle � had information on the Ives and Henry deaths. Stabbed to death.

 Gregory Collins � had information on the Ives and Henry deaths. Gunshot wound to the head.

 Jeff Rhodes � had information on the Ives and Henry and McKaskle deaths. Tortured, mutilated, shot, body burned in a dumpster.

 James Milam � had information on the Ives and Henry deaths. He was decapitated. The coroner ruled death due to natural causes.

 Jordan Kettleson � had information on the Ives and Henry deaths. Found shot in the front seat of his pick up truck.

 Dr. Stanley Heard � Chair, National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee. He personally treated Clinton�s mother, stepfather, and brother. His personal small plane developed problems so he rented another. Fire broke out in flight and he crashed.

 Steve Dickson � attorney for Heard. Died in same plane crash.

 John Hillier � video journalist and investigator. He helped to produce the documentaries �Circle of Power,� and �The Clinton Chronicles.� He mysteriously died in a dentist�s chair for no apparent reason.

 Maj. Gen. William Robertson, Col. William Densberger, Col. Robert Kelly, Spec. Gary Rhodes, Steve Willis, Robert Williams, Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Sgt. Brian Haney, Sgt. Tim Sabel, Maj. William Barkley, Capt. Scott Reynolds � all former Clinton bodyguards who are dead.

 Gary Johnson � former attorney for Larry Nichols, severely beaten and left for dead.

 Dennis Patrick � had millions of dollars laundered through his account at Lasater & Co. without his knowledge. There have been several attempts on his life, all unsuccessful.

 L. J. Davis � reporter. Wile investigating the Clinton scandals he was attacked in his hotel room and his notes were taken. He survived.

 Larry Nichols � former marketing director of ADFA. Responsible for bringing forth more evidence and witnesses on Clinton corruption than any other source. Very public about his claims against Clinton. He has suffered six beatings, arrest on trumped up charges, and a near arrest.

Credit Larry Nichols

Gun Toters Are Safer Than Cops

by Brad Edmonds

In a recent article, I said: "Choose any state you want that issues concealed-carry permits and you�ll find that civilians with concealed-carry permits are less often accused of violent crimes than are the POLICE in that state." Gun-owning readers asked me for documentary support for that claim, since it was dramatic and little-known. I didn�t have my sources at hand that day, but I promised I would provide them. The number of reader responses and the nature of the information persuaded me, however, that everyone should see this.

First, the bottom line: Are permit holders less often accused of violent crimes than the police (suggesting strongly that they less often commit violent crimes)? Answer: Direct comparisons aren�t possible without personally examining records in city halls around the country, but given the data available, the answer is not only yes, but golly yes.

I found many sources on the web, some listed at the end of this article, but one suffices regarding permit holders: A synopsis of testimony before a House committee by John Lott in 1999 (I couldn�t find the transcript), where Dr. Lott provided startling information. For those few of you who don�t already know, Lott wrote More Guns, Less Crime, for which he analyzed all (!) the data in the United States, using primarily FBI resources.

What Lott had to say: In all of the 29 states that issue concealed-carry permits except Vermont and Idaho (they have no restrictions), the rate of loss of permits because of crimes committed ranges from 0.001 to 0.01 percent. I should add that from Lott�s figures, the range is a little broader, from almost 0.1 percent to a perfect 0.0. The apparent worst case, Arizona, suffered 0.0943 percent (50 in 53,000) of its gun owners doing something to lose their permits. These somethings range from murder to forgetting to remove a gun before going into a nightclub, so the numbers include revocations unrelated to violence. In many of the cases around the country, the charges leading to revocation are later dropped.

In North Carolina, no carry permits have been revoked. I remember seeing that the number of permits was 40,000 over the years 1995-1999, but whatever the true number is, 40,000 is conservative: My county (one of 67) in Alabama issues over 2000 per year according to the nice lady who processes them, and extrapolating makes 10,000 new permits per year a ludicrously conservative estimate for my state. But forty-thousand, schmorty-thousand: Zero for however many tens of thousands is spectacular. In South Carolina, only one permit had been revoked from 1989 to 1999, and the charge in that case was later dropped.

My claim gets stronger. It would be helpful to have numbers of preexisting permits combined with new permits issued, though much of Lott�s data are for new permits only; data limited to convictions or adjusted for charges later dropped; and reference to only violent crimes. The requisite (years of) research would show even lower numbers than Lott has found, except where the numbers are already zero.

What of the police? The same web searches that found abundant sources relating to civilian behavior turned up no statistics for police behavior. I proceeded to the University of Michigan "Statistical Resources on the Web" site, Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center, the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, and the FBI. None of these sources seemed to provide information about criminal charges against policemen. You�d have to examine local records around the country.

But it is sound to conclude that permit holders are accused of violent crimes less than the police. It is utterly implausible that police approach, much less surpass, the levels shown by civilian gun toters (remember North Carolina, mentioned above, at zero; Virginia showed no violent crimes by any permit holders; Nevada and Kentucky seem about the same). Further, there are many websites (here�s one) posting documented incidents of police brutality, which means violence. With the low numbers we have, it doesn�t take many bad cops to tip the scale: The LAPD by its own admission perpetrates more violent crimes than do permit holders in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia combined (see the report by a distinguished Southern Cal professor).

It would be great if policemen were equal to the example of civilian toters. But my point was not that policemen are badguys. The vast majority of cops are decent folk. (Whether they have too much legal authority and too little legal responsibility is another topic.) My intention was to support the notion that owning guns can make people less violent, as can earning a black belt. The data I�ve shown aren�t scientific proof of this, as correlation doesn�t prove causation, but Dr. Lott has longitudinal analyses in his book that help provide evidence even for causation.

Gun-toting gun owners are safe. It is readily apparent they are safer than policemen, who themselves are generally quite reliable. I say again, "I�ll keep mine, thanks," and add, "You keep yours, too."

Copyright � 2001 LewRockwell.com

Boycott the Peoples Republic of China!
Encourage everyone you know to do the same
If it comes from China we don't need it!

I thought you might enjoy this.......... 

'Winning the Cultural War' 

Charlton Heston's Speech to the Harvard Law School Forum February 16, 1999. 

                I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. "My Daddy," he said, "pretends to be people." There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling re-painted I'll do my best. There always seem to be a lot of different fellows up here. I'm never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I'm the guy. As I pondered our visit tonight it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to re-connect you with your own sense of liberty of your own freedom of thought ... your own compass for what is right. Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you ... the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is. Let me back up.  

             About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve ... I serve as a moving target for the media who've called me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped" to a "brain-injured, senile, crazy old man." I know ... I'm pretty old... but I sure as Lord ain't senile. As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that. I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated. For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist. I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh. From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they're essentially saying, "Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!" But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown. In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin Gross writes that "blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction. Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don't like it." Let me read a few examples. At Antioch college in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation ... all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive. In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDs --- the state commission announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not..... need not..... tell their patients that they are infected. At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team "The Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name. In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the right of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery. In New York City, kids who don't speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R's in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic. At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students. Yeah, I know ... that's out of bounds now. Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said "black." But it's a no-no now. For me, hyphenated identities are awkward ... particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American... with a capital letter on "American." Finally, just last month ... David Howard, head of the Washington D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly" while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, "niggardly" means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign. As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn't know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn't know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance." What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind. Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression? Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe? It scares me to death, and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason. You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that ... and abide it ... you are - by your grandfathers' standards - cowards. Here's another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they'll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayor's pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers. I don't care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me." If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe. Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism. But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation? The answer's been here all along. I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people. You simply ... disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King ... who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might. Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea into Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Viet Nam.  In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with > > massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous laws that weaken personal freedom. But be careful ... it hurts. Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies. You must be willing to be humiliated ... to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma. You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story. A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world. Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so-at least one had been murdered. But Time/Warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black. I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time, so I decided to attend. What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer"- every vicious, vulgar, instructional word. "I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF....." It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that. Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore. "SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY ......" Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said, "We can't print that." "I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it." Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner's, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk. When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself ... jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office. When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors ... choke the halls of the board of regents. When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment .....march on that school and block its doorways. When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish > them. When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month ... boycott their magazine and the products it advertises. So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobedience's of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country. If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree.

           For 50 years, the Harvard Law School Forum has been sponsoring speeches by luminaries ranging from Fidel Castro to Gerald Ford to Dr. Ruth. Sometimes the speeches have generated a bit of media coverage, sometimes not. But one given last month by Charlton Heston has taken on a life of its own. Heston, the actor and conservative activist, delivered a stem-winder to about 200 listeners about "a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart." "He knew he was coming to a liberal environment, and clearly a group of his listeners was conservative and another was more liberal," said David Christopherson, president of the forum. "About half respectfully challenged him during the questions. It generated a lot of debate around the campus. But what's happened caught us off-guard." What happened was Rush Limbaugh's radio talk show. On March 15, Limbaugh read the entire speech on the air, only to find himself bombarded with thousands of requests for a copy of it. The same thing happened at Harvard Law. "We couldn't keep up with all the requests," said Mike Chmura at Harvard. "It really didn't have legs and might have been forgotten if Mr. Limbaugh hadn't decided to deliver it." 

Stock up now, Be glad later

Here is an article I found on the

High Desert Militia's Website. 

The only "newsies" that I have ever met that I didn't believe wasted oxygen by breathing were Dickey Chappell and Bernie Fall, both of whom were killed in Viet Nam because they believed that you couldn't report battles in the field from a bar in Saigon.

It is not easy to admit that a newsie stopped me cold the other day in the middle of one of their silly interviews. He had asked me to enumerate the reasons that I believed to be valid to support the private ownership of firearms.

We did not disagree over personal protection; he even admitted that hunting is legal in every state. But, when I stated that I believed that the founding fathers intended that we be armed against the possibility of our own central government overstepping its bounds, he quite bluntly asked me if I thought that an armed American citizenry had a snowball's chance in hell in an uprising against our own federal government.

Now, when was the last time you put some really serious thought into that proposition? Not counting the slaughter of the American Indians, we have not seen a serious effort to pit Americans against Americans since the end of the War Between the States that ended 130 years ago.

Is there even a shred of possibility that an armed citizenry could succeed against the strongest military power on Earth today?

Perhaps we should review the years 1960-1975 again. The United States blindly stuck its oar in the muddied waters of Viet Nam very shortly after the French got their heads handed to them on a platter and were invited not to be a colonial power in Viet Nam any more.

Finally, we found ourselves in the position of guaranteeing the survival of an independent South Viet Nam when the Northern part of the country made it clear that they were interested in reuniting the country under their particular brand of socialism.

For a decade and a half, we changed the leadership of South Viet Nam quite regularly; increased the pressure on the Johnson thumbscrews; bombed, quit, bombed, quit, ad infinitum; quantified the war; and finally turned it into an electronic war. At home we kept telling the citizens that we were just about to win decisively and elected another president to drive crazy with this goofy little war.

Finally the president declared that all was over and the troops could come home.

But they did not return home in triumph with the bugles blaring. They came home with their tails between their legs just like every other defeated army in the history of the world. And the reason that they did so, my friends, was that the world's most powerful nation got its backside severely whipped by a small, backward, agrarian nation who started the war against us with an assortment of ancient bolt-action rifles, no lines of support, no manufacturing base, and no infrastructure that the country absolutely depended upon.

It is not a joke that they made sandals from cut-up truck tires - it's the truth. They fought the only kind of war they could hope to fight and win successfully - a guerrilla war.

They had two good models: the American colonies against the British in our war for independence, and the American Indian wars, where the value of slash-and-run against a superior foe was escalated to a fine art by the world's finest light cavalry.

Twice the North Vietnamese allowed themselves to be suckered into main force set-piece battles, and they got cut into ribbons for doing it. Otherwise, they stuck to General Giap's plan of guerrilla warfare to the finish.

The North finally *did* get to mass their troops and tanks during their final sweep to victory into Saigon.

Why did this happen? Why did the world's most powerful nation get its teeth kicked in and sent home in disgrace? Because we forgot our very own origins! We forgot that we were the ones who hid behind logs, berms, and bushes and shot British troops and their mercenaries as *targets of opportunity* while denying our opponents a target of any kind.

We used the skills of the mountain and plains Indians against an Army that was trained in only one form of combat. We refused to engage in the British methods of combat until we had superior forces and the odds were highly in our favor.

General Vo Nuyen Giap did exactly the same thing against us in the 1960s and 1970s while we used our superior firepower and technology to create ten million deaf monkeys and water buffalo. We defoliated tens of thousands of acres of jungle forest to prove that Giap's troops weren't there. We constructed every kind of trap known to mankind to capture and destroy divisions of enemy troops where there weren't any.

We very patiently fought a European theater-type of warfare against a steadfast foe who fought a completely different kind of war that simply made our complex weapons systems useless. By inflexibly insisting on doing it our way, we lost the whole shooting match to a man who played it his way and won.

Meanwhile, on the exact opposite side of the globe, another shooting match was gearing up that pitted the second most powerful nation in the world against an enemy whose armament consisted of ancient bolt-action rifles, who had no lines of support, no manufacturing base and no infrastructure that the nation depended upon.

Though the Russians were determined that *they* would not be sent home with their tails between their legs, the Afghans were paying particular attention to those tactics that had worked so well for General Giap against the American forces. Even with the advantage of being able to totally ignore world opinion and to essentially ignore the opinions of its own citizens, Russia followed us down the long winding trail to disgrace by doing exactly what we had done in Viet Nam.

High-ranking politicians (some of them in uniform), with absolutely no idea what was going on in the day-to-day conduct of both wars, made stupid decisions and then stuck by them despite advice to the contrary from both American and Russian on-scene commanders.

The Russian methods of combat - mass maneuver and firepower - that were developed against Napoleon and Hitler proved no more successful than our methods against an aggressively waged guerrilla war.

Both major enemies failed to fight the enemy that they faced. Both, in fact, fought an historical enemy who was not present on the field of battle. Both of these superior armies truly believed that superior strength and technical abilities would win the day. Both major armies believed that time was on their side and was working against their foe. Both were totally wrong because they underestimated the growing dislike of the supposedly neutral or "friendly" indigenous forces whose cities, villages, towns and homes were being destroyed by the ongoing flow of large-scale battles by the two major armies.

Whatever the levels of dispute between the Vietnamese, the American forces eventually became the common enemy simply because of the massive damage they were doing in behalf of the south. Exactly the same thing transpired in Afghanistan. The Russians became the common enemy and went home in defeat.

Our armed forces used everything in our weapons inventory in our effort to win except nuclear devices. So did the Russians. They even used some chemical weapons that we didn't try.

What does all this have to do with the question the newsy asked me? Everything.

A revolution could be waged against the current American government far easier than you might imagine without careful examination. Consider:

* The sheer numbers of firearms of all kinds in the hands of the American public would have made the American commanders in Viet Nam quake in their boots. We're not talking junk equipment here, either. The average deer hunter with a .270 or .308 could give a platoon of regular troops more grief than they want. There was a special on the tube recently about military armaments on sale in the black market (including Stingers).

* The population base from which revolutionaries could be recruited is *massive* - 250 million.

* There are literally millions of well-trained men who served as officers and NCOs who learned face-to-face how guerrilla warfare works. They haven't forgotten it, either.

* There are millions of young men out there with military training and experience with weapons of every conceivable kind, who would make top-quality guerrilla troops.

* Every one of the 100 counties in the state of North Carolina could field at least one full company that would be formidable in capability. If one assumes that North Carolina is no more capable than other states, that could amount to 180 divisions. These potential rebel troops would be fast-moving light infantry, with the capability of melting into the general population when necessary.

American military leaders would be in the position of having an inventory of high-tech weapons that they would be dependent upon your son or nephew to use against you. There would be no enemy states in which you could say that any weapon could be used against the rebels. They would be from each and every state and major city.

By the same token, there would be no sanctuary for the federal troops anywhere in the land. No matter where stationed, they would be subject to attack and harassment. The infrastructure on which the federal government depends would be rather easily disrupted by those who live there. Airfields and major lines of communications could be shut down and kept down for days at a time. Disruption of supplies to major bases and to centers of government would be simple. You don't have to cut them off, just keep them hungry.

The federal government would be denied the use of all their major weaponry because they would still "own" the cities and villages. How do you justify bombing your own city just because there is a rebel company in it? One bombing would be the biggest recruiting drive ever for the rebel forces.

Now just how powerful do those 12 Army divisions and those three Marine divisions really look to you? Just how scary is the Air Force against America? What will the Navy do, shell all coastal cities? I don't think so.

One of these days a truly charismatic individual is going to walk out of the heartland of America and point out that the Declaration of Independence has never been repealed and that it *requires* all citizens to rise up against an oppressive government. With the current attitude toward our government and the people who populate it, a massive groundswell of support for throwing the current crop to the dogs and starting over again might not be so difficult.

As for the *ability* of the American citizens to successfully wage a guerrilla war on their own government, the likes of which this world has never seen nor contemplated before, I am absolutely convinced that it could be done, and a lot more swiftly than many might believe possible. How many highly-capable long-range snipers can your county put together?

The Oklahoma bombing exposed links between the 

Army and the militias.

The militias use Army training grounds,
buy their surplus weapons, and share a militarist mindset.

After Timothy McVeigh was arrested in connection with the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, a flock of reporters swooped down on anyone who had ever known him. One of McVeigh's high school classmates described him as "a quiet friendly teenager. I was thinking," she said after hearing of his arrest, "what happened to him between now and then." The next sentence of the Washington Post story began: "He joined the military after high school."

 

While most people emerge form the military as decent citizens, they bear the mark, some lightly, some deeply of having been indoctrinated by a highly efficient military machine in the belief that killing is a valid, even glorious, way to settle disputes and scores. They also learn the skills to do it efficiently.

MORE TANGIBLE LINKS

According to the Washington Post, the 500-member Kansas Militia claims to have recruited a number of members from the Ft. Riley area. The degree of involvement by reservists or active-duty GIs in the burgeoning militia movement is unknown at present. There is evidence that militia members or sympathizers have legally and illegally obtained weapons and explosives from military facilities and learned how to use them courtesy of the taxpayers. Stolen explosives and weapons, according to testimony of a Los Angeles police detective at a 1993 hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, were allowing extremist groups to become better armed than law enforcement agents. At the same hearing, a Michigan National Guardsman admitted that for five years he had been stealing small arms parts and selling them to an Illinois gun dealer whose customers included David Koresh's Branch Davidian religious sect near Waco, Texas.

In early 1987, five Ku Klux Klan members were charged by a federal grand jury in Raleigh, N.C., with conspiring to steal U.S. military weapons, explosives and rockets to equip a white supremacist paramilitary unit. In 1988, an associate of former Green Beret Lt. Col. and current Idaho-based militia leader James (Bo) Gritz, pleaded guilty to shipping 200 military plastic explosives by commercial airline for use in the Nevada desert to train Afghan rebels. In July 1994, members of the Blue Ridge Hunt Club, a militia in Virginia, were charged with plotting to plunder a National Guard armory for weapons and ammunition.

For five years, Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) has been investigating the widespread theft of military equipment and weapons from various U.S. installations. He commented that while the military has improved control over sensitive weapons and supplies, you can't guarantee that TNT or blasting caps are immune from theft. Glenn's office released a General Accounting Office report on corrective actions taken by the Army to cure inventory and physical security weaknesses. It also noted that in July 1994, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command began an on-going vulnerability assessment for small arms, ammunition, and explosives.

In addition to those obtained through theft, many weapons obtained by militias were bought openly from the military. Since 1993, 3.7 million pounds of outdated explosives have been sold by the Defense Department to citizens and companies with government licenses. A Pentagon official admitted that no checks are made to ensure that the lethal items are used for legal purposes.

TRAINING

The Competitive Sportsmen is one of 1,945 registered gun clubs allowed to use target ranges at military bases without charge, as part of the Army's Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). This gun lovers' bonanza was established after the Spanish American War because military leaders like Teddy Roosevelt were disturbed by the poor marksmanship skills of their soldiers. In 1989, about 165,000 people (with 41 percent under 21 years old) participated in various aspects of the program. An Army spokesperson for CMP described it as an innocent recreational affair that promotes civic virtue and aids safe training for young people.

Even though the Pentagon has admitted that the $2.5 million a year civilian marksman program has no military purpose, it has been preserved thanks in part to strong backing by the National Rifle Association. For the last three years, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) has fought to scrap the program as useless and wasteful. After the Oklahoma City bombing, she called on Defense Secretary William J. Perry to conduct an immediate investigation of any links between this program and militia groups and individual extremists, and provide a complete list of registered gun clubs, and locations of the military bases on which they practice. According to Maloney's legislative aide, Mark Stephenson, the DoD sent a list of gun clubs, did not find evidence of links, and did not provide a list of bases. Although the base commanders would prefer that the knowledge not become public, said Stephenson, by statute, target ranges are open to all people `capable of bearing arms.'

In addition to free use of the ranges, CMP distributes 40 million rounds of free ammunition and sells 6,000 surplus M-1 rifles at cut-rate prices each year. After the wave of criticism threatening program funding, Rep. Paul Gilmore (D-Ohio) introduced language that would make the program financially self-sustaining but still under DoD aegis. Presumably, Stephenson speculated, the NRA would pick up most of the tab.

EXTREMIST ON ACTIVE-DUTY?

While this directive was originally aimed at anti-Vietnam War soldiers and sailors and coffee house organizers, in recent years it has been primarily directed at GIs who support para-Nazi and white supremacist causes. There is a long history of such associations.

In 1976, a Ku Klux Klan chapter was uncovered among Marines serving at Camp Pendleton, California. A cross was burned near the base and at least two black Marines on base were attacked by whites wearing Klan insignia. Marine Cpl. Daniel Bailey, Jr., who identified himself by his Klan rank, Exalted Cyclops, told reporters that a hundred Marines belonged to the branch. The Marine Corps had suppressed any information about the Klan's activities until a group of black Marines attacked a white gathering in the (mistaken) belief that it was a Klan meeting. During their courts-martial, the black Marines testified that their commanders had tolerated the flaunting of Klan regalia, had allowed the distribution of racist literature, and had ignored attacks on black Marines by Ku Klux Klan members. While most of those convicted received some jail time and other-than-honorable discharges, white Marines suspected of Klan sympathies were simply shipped out to other duty stations.

Further light was shed on organized racist groups within the military in 1985 when it was discovered that the White Patriot Party of North Carolina was successfully recruiting Marines and soldiers. According to the New York Times, a number of the neo-Nazi sympathizers within the military were identified after they sold Claymore mines, rockets, grenades, and small arms to undercover agents in a sting operation. Three of the service members were dishonorably discharged.

IDEAL RECRUITING GROUNDS

Clearly, the Army is not ignorant of the possibilities. In Michigan, home of the largest militia, the Army National Guard's adjunct general warned members that they are not allowed to belong to racist or extremist organizations. But some Guard units are more solicitous of their local militias. After an incident involving an Idaho National Guard helicopter over flying a Montana militia group, Idaho officials agreed to notify their Montana counterparts in advance of any future flights.

It is impossible to tell exactly how many Guard members and reservists also belong to locally-organized militias. The situation at Ft. Drum, home of the 10th Mountain Division in upstate New York, illustrates the difficulty of trying to keep militia members away from military training and combat weapons, even if there is a will to make such a separation. Each year, 35,000-40,000 National Guard members and reservists from all over the Northeast train there for varying periods. It would be impossible to monitor individual trainees to determine which ones were planning to apply their instruction in support of their home town militia.

Col. Robert R. Waters (Ret.) is a career Green Beret who now edits a special operations journal called Behind the Lines. He told Army Times that he believes the militia movement is gaining momentum. He also raises a disturbing scenario: Obviously, they're going to seek [specialized] training from those who can provide it.

The militia phenomenon arises out of a toxic stew of legitimate anger, scapegoating, and paranoia. Its links to the military, and the support of the taxpayers are more than an irony for a group which openly despises the government. But the militias and the military have much in common aside from their obvious predilection for weaponry and the violent resolution of conflict. Like the militias, the U.S. military has always attracted more than its fair share of right-wing extremists and white supremacists. Its rigid structure and rules probably appeal to those whose personalities tend toward authoritarianism. Without understanding these common bonds, as well as the physical links, civil society will never be able to understand, much less root out, irrational acts of violence like Oklahoma are calculated declarations of adventurous war.

Timothy McVeigh, top center, with his platoon, Fort Benning, Georgia, 1988.

Here's something I found on the web. See if you agree with it.

Dear Police Officer:

I do not want to kill you. I do not even want to wound you. I admire your courage and the commitment you have made to help others, often at risk of own your life when you act as a Peace Officer. I hope you will not forget what it means to be a Police Officer and come for me, because if you do, one of us will die. It may be you. I have done nothing wrong. I do not intend to. However, the government that you serve has passed too many "laws" that are, as Marbury v Madison (5 US 137) are "repugnant to the Constitution" and are therefore "null and void of law". I am sure to accidentally break one of these "repugnant laws," some day. The end result is that same government is systematically destroying the Unalienable Rights which our Constitution says shall not be infringed &; very specifically, my Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

I am not some wacko lunatic, however I can no longer stand idly by while an out-of-control government hell-bent on "democracy systematically enslaves decent people" which is socialism with a "human" face. I cannot allow the current corrupt-judiciary to use its power to destroy my Unalienable Rights and my country. That government and that judiciary has begun to use you to arrest and kill people just like me &; people who believe that the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights mean what they say.

You do not know me, but you see me every day. I may be a businessman, a truck driver, or an executive. I could be a housewife or a salesman. However I am Free, therefore I am armed, as Free-Americans have been since the Mayflower Compact. Know this: I am determined to keep the freedoms that only an armed people may retain. With my rifle, I can hit a man-sized target at 800 yards on a bad day. At shorter distances, in the blink of an eye, I can hit a head-size target with a handgun. You do not even want to think about what I can do with my shotgun. I do not wear a uniform. I do not drive a marked car. I do not wear camouflage. I could be your own secretary, or your barber. I might be the guy who delivers your bottled water, or the parcel delivery lady. You do not know who I am, or what arms I have, and you never will. I am millions. I am America. I am Free.

However, I know you. I know your uniform, your car, and your work schedule. I know where you work, and where you live. This is good for you, because not only am I no threat to you, so long as you act as a Police Officer, for I am also prepared to assist you when you are threatened. You may think that there are not many of me left, but believe me, there are many, many more than you can imagine. When the chips are down, we are the ones who are truly on your side. On your side, that is, so long as you honor your Oath and continue to be a Police Officer.

We are on your side if you are one of the majority of peace officers who are not corrupt and who have not sold out to the fascists, socialists and communists who will do anything, say anything to destroy the Free America our fathers, grandfathers, and Founding Fathers bequeathed us. No, I am no threat to you, but your bosses in government do not see it that way and will try to tell you otherwise.

They think that I, and my arms, are a threat to them, and they are planning to send you for me, just as they've sent armed, dangerous officers on select little missions for years, taking out targeted individuals. On their orders, you may succeed in murdering me for my beliefs. On the other hand, you may not.

Whether or not you succeed in murdering me, as federal agents murdered Vicki Weaver and her son in Idaho; or as those same federal agents murdered 81 men, women and children at Waco, Texas; there will be others who will rise up in my memory, as I now rise up in honor of the innocent lives taken by the jack-booted thugs and black-clad imitation ninjas who think it is fun to murder Americans &; who have somehow become convinced that it is their job to murder Free-Americans.

I am prepared to die, honoring my sacred Oath as an American I utter every time I take the Pledge of Allegiance, that is, to defend and protect the Constitution of the united States of America and the Republic for which it stands. Are you prepared to die to violate the Oath you took? You see, our government is out of control. You know it if you have not been thoroughly brainwashed. You have seen it if you are not blind. It is likely that you, like many others, have been too concerned with your job, your family, and your pension, to say or do anything about it. Deep down, you know I am right. However, you think you must follow orders. Please remember the many who claimed they were only "following orders" at the Nuremberg Trials and what happened to them when Justice finally raised Her Sword and exacted punishment for their lack of thinking.

So, must you simply "follow orders?" Are you going to murder me for having the courage to stand up for the country and the principles in which you believe? Are you going to go along with unconscionably illegal, unconstitutional orders, just as those "good" German soldiers followed their orders? Are you going to be a Peace Officer or a jack-booted thug? There is little difference between a street outlaw who murders and robs; and a thug in uniform that murders and robs under color of law. The result is the same -- property confiscated, lives ruined, families ripped apart, murder committed, and a free nation destroyed.

Look at history. Look around the world. As we move toward Socialism, our country moves closer and closer to losing the Constitution forever. Are you going to enforce unconstitutional "laws?" Are you going to be part of the private army of socialist dictators masquerading as "democratic representatives?" Alternatively, are you going to do your part to recapture America? Are you going to keep your eyes and ears open? Will you let me know when the jack-booted thugs in the SWAT teams have targeted me? Will you let your fellow officers know that their corrupt masters are selling them down the river? Do not come to kill me, because I do not want to kill you. If you do come, you may succeed &; if you get lucky. However, do not count on luck, because it will probably be hard--damned hard. Like millions of other Americans, I am the son or daughter of a nation of riflemen--citizen-soldiers who have a rich heritage of beating the best the enemy can send against us. We are resourceful. We understand weapons and tactics. You are foolish if you intend to be our enemy. If you do not succeed in the end, and you will not, here is what you can expect:

Ambushes of SWAT teams; the wholesale slaughter of all the jack-booted thugs who have murdered innocent Americans on the orders of their socialist masters; targeted assassinations and kidnappings of anti-Constitution judges; assassinations of anti-American, anti-gun politicians; demolition of your jails, precinct houses and other gathering places giving you and your compatriots no rest or respite.

By your willingness to be a good little Nazi, you will have unleashed a civil war. It does not have to be that way. You can do something about it. It is easy. Read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Although you took an Oath to defend them, you do not see much of them in your training, do you? Today, these documents are considered dangerous by the government, just as King George found them dangerous over 200 years ago. Why do you suppose your leaders lead you to oppose the very rights you swore to protect? Why do they want a disarmed public? You know the reason. It has nothing to do with controlling crime. It has everything to do with using you to disarm, fine and control your fellow American Citizens.

Do not fall for it. Do not force me to defend myself, because you may not survive.

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"Reason obeys itself; and ignorance does whatever is dictated to it."
--Thomas Paine, Rights of Man ("Conclusion")

"All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void."
--Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (2 Cranch) 137 (1803)