As militias return, so do the same exact debunked conspiracy theories they had in the 90's

[ck4829]

It looks like nothing more than a 2,500-acre military complex, but sinister plans are afoot. One day soon — if it hasn’t happened already — law-abiding U.S. citizens will be rounded up and imprisoned here by their oppressive federal government. It’s perfectly obvious to anyone with eyes to see the traffic signs that direct FEMA trucks this way and that: This is one of the 800 or more detention camps being built by a government gone mad.

At least that’s what more and more Americans believe. A fear that the federal government will concoct a pretense for declaring martial law and confine patriotic dissidents to concentration camps — a conspiracy theory that goes back decades and was especially prevalent during the militia movement of the 1990s — is spreading as the country experiences a surge in groups on the radical right.

In the last year, FOX News personality Glenn Beck devoted airtime on three shows to the theory, saying he “wanted to debunk it” but could not. (He eventually did, but only after much criticism.) Oath Keepers, a conspiracy-minded police and military organization formed last spring, listed the 10 “Orders We Will Not Obey,” including any command to enforce martial law or herd Americans into concentration camps. And in September, Restore the Republic, an antigovernment “Patriot” group with militia-like beliefs, released “Camp FEMA: American Lockdown,” a video that alleges the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is behind the camps.

One long-time Patriot conspiracy theorist, retired Phoenix police officer Jack McLamb, has gone so far as to claim that the government has placed unobtrusive colored dots on people’s mailboxes so that when martial law is declared, foreign troops serving the “New World Order” will know what’s to be done with the people at each address. A blue dot your mailbox: You’re taken to a FEMA camp. Pink: You’ll be used for slave labor. Red: You are shot in the head immediately.

FEMA camp stories have been around a long time. Almost three decades ago, back in 1982, a newsletter of the extreme-right and anti-Semitic Posse Comitatus warned that “hardcore Patriots” would be imprisoned in FEMA detention camps. Some versions during the militia heyday of the 1990s had urban street gangs like the Bloods and the Crips, rather than domestic or foreign troops, rounding up antigovernment patriots.

http://splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/fear-of-fema

This is the age of the Internet, guys. You could at least be a little original, instead of just whiting out "Clinton" and putting in "Obama", huh?

When do the black helicopters start showing up?

[gateley]

1. This type of fear and hatred doesn't need common sense logic. Any little "boo!"

will suffice.

[blm]

2. The pathetic part is that they don't KNOW that it was GHWBush who put New World Order into play

and, in fact, he referred to New World Order at least 45 times in speeches he made as President.

The dumbed down masses have no clue that it is Bushes and their fascist cronies whose agenda need be feared. Clinton was just another cog and a great diversion. I hope Obama's commitment to open government is strong enough to keep him from acting as a cog, too.

[northofdenali]

3. Fear. Wingers are consumed with fear. n/t

[givemebackmycountry]

4. I have a small lavender dot on MY mailbox....

So, when martial law is declared, foreign troops serving the “New World Order” will know what’s to be done with the people at my address.
We'll all be declared... "FABULOUS"!

Just a guess.

Fucking whackjobs, I swear.

[backwoodsbob]

5. go back and search about three years ago here

we had people saying THE EXACT SAME THING about shrub and Cheney.

just proves there are nuts on both sides

[givemebackmycountry]

19. I know Bob, I was one of them...

BUT...

You have to admit that with the Monkey and Darth Vader manning the helm it sounded acceptable to me.
I never predicted they would decide to wait a few elections out.

I used to think we never thought ahead in this country.
These guys, they give an election or two up, but they are going to get what they want sooner or later.
Rove and his "permanent majority" bullshit?

That's what they have in mind and they are willing to wait a bit to get it.

[damntexdem]

6. Why make up new lies when the old ones still serve?

For one thing, that would take thought -- a horrible drain on the mental resources of the types involved.

;-)

[anigbrowl]

7. Funny, I seem to remember the same conspiracies being attributed to the Bush admin

Try searching on 'FEMA camp' or 'martial law' in DU using the search box in the corner. When you go to the extremes of the political spectrum, the identity of the good/bad guys changes but many of the conspiracies are the same on both left and right. the Fed is a big plot, there are secret detention camps being set up all over the US, black helicopters are everywhere, martial law is just around the corner.

I'm opposed to conspiracy-mongering, which is often carried out by a few in order to milk cash from the gullible. Indeed, it's often the same people - Alex Jones, for example, doesn't really care who's in power in DC, but has made a bundle of money by pandering to people's fears about secret elites etc.

[MichaelHarris]

8. as long as we let them

buy weapons and ammo unregulated and unchecked at gun shows we're safe.

[Rage for Order]

9. LOL! This exact same meme was circulating on DU 2-3 years ago!

"It looks like nothing more than a 2,500-acre military complex, but sinister plans are afoot. One day soon — if it hasn’t happened already — law-abiding U.S. citizens will be rounded up and imprisoned here by their oppressive federal government. It’s perfectly obvious to anyone with eyes to see the traffic signs that direct FEMA trucks this way and that: This is one of the 800 or more detention camps being built by a government gone mad."

Seriously! this was discussed when shrub was in office, except liberals were the supposed target of the roundup.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[jberryhill]

11. The reason is...

These things are recruitment hooks into the same mess of crap. The strategy is to pick off angry, scared or otherwise upset folks. The same yarns get recycled as "left" or "right" depending on prevailing conditions, when they are just plain looney.

[jberryhill]

10. I'm getting me a mess of colored sticky dots...

...oh boy, this is going to be fun!

[Grand Taurean]

12. Strange how these kooks show up everytime a Democrat is in power.

[ThoughtCriminal]

13. Now I know what to do with the drawer full

of blue, pink and red dots.

[nemo137]

14. I'd say that would make a great april fools' joke

but I also would not want to do anything to set these wackos off.

[Odin2005]

15. Time to have some fun with blue, pink, and red stickers.

:evilgrin:

[TexasObserver]

16. Yes, the same FEMA that delivered Katrina ice to New Hampshire ...

FEMA can't respond to emergencies, but we're supposed to believe they can round a million Americans and care for them in camps.

[Statistical]

17. You mean like these camps? (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/searchresults.html?q=FEMA+detainment+camps&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&sa=Search&domains=democraticunderground.com&client=pub-7805397860504090&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en

Just shows you what fear does to people. The idea of FEMA camps under Obama seems silly but to at least some (a minority but still some) it was perfectly logical under Bush.

[agentS]

18. hey! I was one of those left wing "NUTS"

I admit I was a bit concerned over the whole FEMA camp roundup thingie under Bush. Not so much as to lose a lot of sleep, mind you. But enough to believe it. But, in the end, either saner voices in the Bushturd admin nixed the idea or there never was a coherent plan to begin with. So we worried over nothing. But with Bush there always was potential for serious harm. Whereas under Obama for 1 year, there has been no traffic or indications of a large scale camp system being built. In other words, no smoke, no fire.

These right wing nuts are losing sleep and buying guns over dots? I admit I was worried, but not so much to panic over "dots". That's the problem with the right-wing nuts: They're making the smoke and acting like the fire's coming. Why? To sell guns 'n gold to idiots.

This is how McVeigh got started.

BTW, right wingers: If these FEMA camps ever get built and stuffed with "hardcore patriots"(which they're not) I'm first in line at the camp for a job application. Your asses will be grass and I'll be the lawnmover!

[snooper2]

20. It will always be like that because a large chunk of the population

is pretty fucking stupid...