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Right-wing TV and radio maintain a drumbeat of hatred and fear 24/7, 365. What are the consequences of that?

Three members of the so-called 'Hutaree' Christian Militia arrested by the FBI, 03/29/10. (photo: US Marshals Service/AP/NYT)

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Comments

+3 # Guest 2010-03-30 22:08

The Hutaree group is likely the tip of a growing iceburg. Are we reaping what the right wing sews? Of course we are.

Any back pedaling I've heard from the right is too little, too late, and too vague.

Hate groups and the party of "No" are in the same ball park and not because I merely say so. The sore loser right resists decency at the same rate that hate groups explode in number. Is there a connection? You can bet there is and I don't believe this to be coincidental.

-3 # Guest 2010-03-31 03:43

There is a lot of "planning" going on in this narrative, but no actual crime. Whatever happened to getting information on a criminal plan and following up with arrests when the plan is put into action, as in money actually exchanged in a drug deal, etc. And no I don't mean waiting until someone is murdered.

The group quite possibly would become dangerous, and there are numerous groups that actually are dangerous in the U.S. The Southern Poverty Law Center has warned of various groups over the years, only to be ignored, to everyone's regret and even chagrin. Have some of these growing, genuinely dangerous, groups been infiltrated by the FBI? If not, why not.

As I have stated in another thread, let's do be careful to not make an example of anyone, based on what they "might" do, or creating false charges merely to assert use of the bogus Patriot Act, as has been done even to quiet demonstrators.

+7 # Guest 2010-03-31 07:03

[quote name="Glen"]There is a lot of "planning" going on in this narrative, but no actual crime.

Glen, I'm afraid you don't know the law. This is a criminal conspiracy. In order for a conspiracy to be a crime it must be accompanied by an overt act or acts in furtherance of the planned crime. Do you believe that field training in warfare, explosives and firearms practice, plotting "kill zones" and ambushes do not qualify as overt acts? Do you really believe that prosecutors should have to wait until these lunatics kill 30 or 40 cops? What's the matter with you?

-2 # Guest 2010-03-31 10:34

You failed to see the sentence, "And no I don't mean waiting until someone is murdered." Training is not the same as ever having committed a crime. I do understand what all this means. I live in a state where true conspiracies and hate groups have actually committed crimes. Some of those groups go through the motions but don't commit crimes. There are enclaves of folks who have done no more than hoard ammo and firearms, food, water, etc., and do a bit of training. They did not threaten or announce any intent to harm anyone - they were defensive only - but were arrested, punished, made public spectacles of - for nothing. At the same time, other groups did attack police, or whoever, and only then, in spite of their intent being known, were they arrested. That is the sort of inconsistency I am speaking of, as well as creating issues that don't truly exist. I am not defending criminals or terrorists. As I've said, I've seen death due to the government stirring up trouble, not citizens.

-6 # Guest 2010-03-31 05:21

There is a fine line between free speech and incitement to violence. Were we so upset when a movie about George Bush's assassination was acclaimed? Or when Iraq Invasion protesters made up posters for rallies demanding the killing of Bush/Rove/Cheney or the burning of their homes? Or depicting the lynching of Bush or depicting Bush with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead? We did not and we were right because none of the protests were anything more serious than rhetoric. We should apply the same standards to all.

And we should not convict these extremists without a bit more information -- their plans might easily have been idle daydreams given the jumpy history of our law enfocement services.

Lee Nason

-2 # Guest 2010-03-31 10:36

Thanks for the measured assessment, Lee Nason. We really don't know all the facts.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-31 05:27

Interesting that they're all getting, and accepting, court appointed lawyers. So much for principles.

-4 # Guest 2010-03-31 06:55

You have to give the these people credit. Putting an agent-provocateur into a group of not-very-well wrapped Millennialists calling themselves Hutaree and assisting them to build and distribute pipe bombs and talk about plots to kill cops that involve killing innocents, family members, etc., was well thought out, craftily planned, executed and timed for maximum impact. But the whole thing isn't about hutaree It was about discrediting the revitalized constitutional militia movement and Oath Keepers. The feds began their operation against the Hutaree back in 2008 and worked hard to set them up.

Hey, what about the 35 muslim terrorist training camps in the US that are untouched by the feds? See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_iZY28WkD8 These guys are o.k. right?
They just want ti kill us, that's all

+1 # Guest 2010-03-31 18:06

Jeff,
Don't forget the several "islamist terrorist plot" sting operations by the FBI in the last few years including the two men from an Albany, NY mosque, the Fort Dix attack plot and the Miami 7. The arrests in those cases did not include the FBI operative and it is highly unlikely that one of the nine arrested in the Hutaree case is the operative, as has been claimed in current postings. And Diane is right on, sanity seems to be going the way of the dodo bird.

+6 # Guest 2010-03-31 07:51

@Jeff -- To my mind, the Muslim terrorist training camps and the Christianist wackos like Hutaree are pretty much equivalent. Both of them are dangerous. And how do you know the Muslim camps are "untouched by the feds?"

+1 # Guest 2010-03-31 12:32

All this talk of violence, whether it is coming from the right or the left, just sickens me. I am a community mediator in my small town, working to help people solve issues in a respectful manner. I've been following the Tea Party news, the tidbits about militias and I am also well aware that the left also isn't innocent in the way it approaches conflict.

Where in the hell have all the sane people gone?

Diane

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