Who Asked You?
by digby
Evidently, the Guardians of the free Republic see themselves as modern day Gandhis, peaceful patriots who simply demand that everyone do what they want within the next 60 days. Demanding that all 50 Governors step down in the next three days was simply a nice request, not a precursor to violence. Like their idol, Ron Paul, they just believe that the country must return to the halcyon days of 1933:
Actively recruiting across the country in the last few months and promoted on a Texas radio station, the Guardians of the free Republics believe the US government is a corporate imposter put in place by corrupt bankers as part of the New Deal in 1933.
In essence, their “plan” seeks a return to de jure, or original, governance, stripping Washington of its ability to tax citizens’ income and dismantling agencies such as the FBI. The Anti-Defamation League says “sovereign citizen” groups wage war against authority using “paper terrorism,” but rarely resort to violence.
[…]
So far, a number of Guardians have emerged. Kennedy, a Texas radio-show host, was interviewed for two hours on Friday by the FBI, but not arrested. Another “elder” listed is Tom Schaults, who runs clinics on “attorney repellant technology.” And a third is the owner of the Guardians website, Clive Boustred, whom Mother Jones describes as “a British-educated former South African soldier with an apparent knack for ‘anti-terrorist warfare.'”
The appearance of Mr. Boustred in the mix may give some clue to the assertion by the Guardians that they had an agreement with “the military” to support their quiet coup.
The Los Angeles Times writes that the “group’s philosophy mingles with the anti-Federal Reserve mantra espoused by followers of US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas as well as with anti-tax advocates.”
But while a return to constitutional ideals is what much of the conservative tea party movement is about, experts say the Guardians are a different animal altogether. They can be primarily traced to the anti-IRS Posse Comitatus movement of the 1980s, and their modern iteration is, if not non-partisan, anti-partisan.
Oh bullshit. They are far right all the way, just like the teabaggers, and they steep themselves in the same noxious wingnut water. Just because some of them have adopted some of the anti-capitalist sloganeering of the far left doesn’t mean they aren’t just your usual gun-toting patriot/goldbug/militia/new world order paranoids. These people have been around forever. They are activated by economic stress to some degree, but they only seem to really crawl out of the woodwork when someone other than a conservative Republican who promised to protect their gun rights and cut their taxes isn’t in charge.
What’s new is the internet organizing*, not some new merging of the left and right. That’s what makes this whole thing different than it’s been in the past — and potentially more lethal. There’s something about the online world that changes some people into rageoholics. Any of us who have been doing this for a while have seen the phenomenon. And when you combine that with hate radio and FOX news, there is some likelihood that a fair number of them will be moved to actual violence as their number of grievances add up and they are encouraged by their fellow sore losermen.
* that link leads to some intriguing information from Gavin at Sadly No. It’s certainly possible that the conservative establishment created a monster they can no longer control.
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