Tea Party Terrorists: America's Next Great Threat?

[Joanne98]

About this time each year, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) publishes their report on violent rightwing extremist groups. This year’s report, titled Rage on the Right, goes beyond looking at the usual group of skinheads, neo-Nazi, Patriot militias, and nativist extremist and includes fringe elements of the Tea Party movement. Just to be clear, SPLC has not determined the Tea Party movement to be an extremist rightwing movement. Rather, the report has established that much of the Tea Party ideology is rooted in extremism. “The 'tea parties' and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism.” However, the report does warn us, “The signs of growing radicalization are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be 'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants.' <1>



To be considered an extremist group they must engaged in highly confrontational actions, use hate speech, and support violent tactics. Some could argue that the tea baggers have already shown themselves to be highly confrontational and willing to use racist hate speech. Lest we forget their disruptive tactics at town hall meetings last summer or more recently the racist, homophobic vitriol and even spitting on one member of congress last weekend.



We also saw this week a concerted campaign of intimidation by a rightwing extremist group to throw bricks into the windows of Democrat Party offices. We learned that Mike Vanderboegh, former leader of a radical Patriot group called the Alabama Constitutional Militia has been advocating on his blog breaking the windows of members of congress. He states that if the rightwing breaks enough Democrat Party members windows, the Dems just might get the message, “and make defending ourselves at the muzzle of a rifle unnecessary… BREAK their windows. Break them Now.” <2>



What is important to note about Vanderboegh’s intimidation tactics and threats is that much of the anti-government, anti-immigrant, racist, militant conspiracy theory ideology he spews out on his website is now openly being embraced by the Tea Party movement, members of the rightwing media machine, and many Republicans as well. It used to be that only the craziest elements of the rightwing espoused such conspiracies and violent rhetoric. Now we see Glenn Beck and other Fox News hosts and contributors regularly make statements that could be considered inciting violence. Here for example is long time Fox News contributor Dick Morris talking last year on Your World with Neil Cavuto about president Obama working with the UN on a trade deal, “Those crazies in Montana who say, "We're going to kill ATF agents because the UN's going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case." <3>



Dick Morris, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the tea partiers all claim a near hatred for government and a belief that liberals and president Obama are working to create a “New World Order.” They claim progressive liberals wish to round up the conservatives, take away their guns, and send them off to concentration camps in order to enact a socially dream in which the government controls every aspect of your lives. I know it all sounds crazy. That is because it is crazy, except for the part that many on the right believe actually this crazy conspiracy theory. A theory so crazy that it originated over twenty years ago by some of the most extreme white supremacist, Patriot militia groups our nation has ever seen. Groups like the Christian Patriots Defense League and the White Patriot Party. Groups that are currently follow people like the brick throwing wingnut Vanderboegh.

Continued>>>>
http://www.groundreport.com/Opinion/Tea-Party-Terrorists-Americas-Next-Great-Threat/2920743

[ixion]

1. "Dick Morris, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and the tea partiers all claim ...

a near hatred for government..."

Unless, of course, it's their 'team,' then they're happy as larks with creeping fascism and erosion of civil liberties.

[virgogal]

2. Compared to the extremist groups of the 60's the Tea partiers are

just tyros.

[starroute]

3. What extremist groups would that be?

The John Birch Society? As far as I know, they never engaged in overt violence.

Or are you thinking of the Weathermen? In that case the comparison is still off base, because they were a few dozen troublemakers -- not a movement which claims tens of thousands of adherents and is promoted full-time by a leading television network and catered to by a major political party.

The majority of Tea Partiers may be pasty-faced old white people who misspent their youth not being hippies or anti-war protesters and now want to catch up on everything they missed in the 60's. So in that sense, they might be considered "tyros."

But what they lack in bomb-making expertise, they more than make up for in both public adulation and raw craziness.

[virgogal]

4. The Weathermen? Uum,there were a few more groups than that.

Google is your friend.

[johnbrown 2]

5. Tea Party, terrorists indeed!!!

The Progressive left has to get organized and confront these people. As it is we are trying to laugh them off. These people are DEAD serious and dangerous. Everyone thought Hitler was a clown when he first got started.

[Demeter]

6. the Tea Party Is the Same Old Aryan Threat the US Has Always Faced

Only they are getting older, poorer, and dumber. And they get a lot more positive media support than minorities, Democrats, unions, and women will ever see.