by
Matt Giwer (c) 1995 <5/22>
There are many people who want to know what the militia movement is. The media is creating a caricature of them with its piecemeal and hatemongering representation of them. Let me tell you what the militia is.
The militia is thousands of people who feel they are being unjustly treated by the federal government. They are people who feel they have no way to obtain redress of that injustice. They are people who know they are too few in their particular injustice to ever use the ballot box.
These are people who know they politicians and the media portray them as in some manner evil, wanting to destroy the environment, wanting to go on a killing rampage, wanting the have the honor of killing the last bald eagle. These are people who know they are regular people, with regular jobs just like everyone else save they are in some manner not the mainstream.
In this feeling of injustice they have found a common thread, simple injustice. And in that common thread all feelings of injustice motivate participation and none are rejected as long as there is the one oath, to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States.
And of course these people have some ideas that are more common among them than in general population as to other groups. They are concerned about black helicopters. There are other groups that believe corporations are trying to enslave the working man. There are groups that believe there are people trying to turn the poor out into the streets. To everyone his personal paranoia.
The majority of these people really do not charge around in the woods on weekends. There are more than enough ex-military among them to know that is a joke. Nor are they rationally expecting to face down the US Army and win.
Rather they are people, as the head of the Texas Militia said, "if the BATF tries another Waco in Texas they will have a small war on their hands." They are in fact a tripwire for the excesses of the Federal Government. And in that regard the only question is how tightly that tripwire is set.
As their common issue is injustice that can not be redressed they have a legitimate position. The issue becomes what degree of perception and type of injustice will trigger them to react.
Take for example, there is another Waco. This is hard for most people but let us go back to the first few days and review the perceptions of the time. The BATF was making obviously false and impossible claims. It refused (sealed the warrant) to make public the cause for the raid, and was clearly stating it had authority to attack because of polygamy and child abuse.
Those claims were clearly unjust then and they would be clearly unjust today. Were Waco to be repeated today these tripwire militias would likely act against the BATF on the grounds that it was an unwarranted and violent exercise of federal power out of control. The justification would be obvious lies and no authority to act. And they would be correct in those determinations.
In that case a group like the BATF would be faced with a poorly trained (if trained at all) group but it would have superior numbers and firepower. At the point of such a confrontation it would be a violation of federal law to call in the Army and it would be up to the state to use the state National Guard against the militia. Were the Guard to be nationalized it would become the Army and illegal to use.
And thus we would be presented with a de facto confrontation between the citizens of a state against the federal government. Where events would go from there is anyone's guess. This scenario is merely one of the tripwire functions of the citizen militia. It certainly could rout the BATF and the government would certainly have to make some response. And from there on it is a matter of who flinches first as to the future course of US history.
If the president were to order the Army to deal with them then everyone from the President on down would have violated the law and therefore their oaths of office and be not fit for office. Should the government retreat it will certainly be taken by many to be retreat and thus a loss of political standing which is equally unpleasant as it will lose voluntary the voluntary compliance with laws upon which the country rests.
If the militia uses excessive force rather than simply saying stop it will be viewed in the same light as the BATF. If is uses any force, dispersing before there is an agreement with the government to absolve them means they can be arrested individually at home so that is not viable.
The militia is a new factor in the civil life of America. It is a force that stands against the injustice imposed by partisan politics as a matter of policy. It is hoped their sense of injustice can be addressed before it results in a confrontation that gives neither side a means of retreat.
The militia will not go away and it never should have gone away. It is the balance of justice that has been missing for decades in our partisan system of injustice. It should be welcomed. back.
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