OKLAHOMA CITY - Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty. Tea party movement leaders say they’ve discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force. They say the unit would not resemble militia groups that have been raided for allegedly plotting attacks on law enforcement officers…. State Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, a Republican candidate for governor who has appealed for tea party support, said supporters of a state militia have talked to him, and that he believes the citizen unit would be authorized under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The founding fathers “were not referring to a turkey shoot or a quail hunt. They really weren’t even talking about us having the ability to protect ourselves against each other,” Brogdon said. “The Second Amendment deals directly with the right of an individual to keep and bear arms to protect themselves from an overreaching federal government.”
OK…so let me see if I have this straight. Conservatives were soundly defeated in the 2008 election. Instead of accepting the results as the decision of a majority of millions of Americans in a clean, democratically valid election, Conservatives have decided that power (which in their minds rightfully accrues to themselves) was usurped by an evil Liberal cabal bent on stripping good, God-fearing Americans of their constitutionally-guaranteed liberties. This evil cabal, lead by the Chief Usurper, the nefarious Kenyan impostor Barack Obama, wants to take away the freedom, liberty, and guns of Americans who simply want government out of their lives.
So, does that sound about right??
In light of the grave peril (however inaccurately perceived) facing American patriots these days, Real Americans find themselves faced with the knowledge that the time has come to take action. No longer can good, God-fearing Conservatives depend on government to protect their interests (as if they ever could). No, the reality that a (GASP!!) Black man (and, even worse, a Liberal Democrat) sits behind the big desk in the Oval Office is enough to fry the synapses of those who still believe that American is, and must remain, a White, Christian nation.
In other words, the time has come to take back this country. By any means necessary. Democracy be damned.
So, what’s a committed American patriot to do? Well, if you live in Oklahoma, you’re talking about creating your own militia, and you’re even managing to convince Republican state legislators that it would be a good idea for the state to provide funding and support.
Here’s the problem with Rep. Brogdon’s argument, though: he doesn’t have a clue as to what the Second Amendment means. Think I’m kidding? Here’s the text of the Second Amendment:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
A careful reading of the above will reveal that nowhere does the Second Amendment corroborate Rep. Brogdon’s contention that it addresses “the right of an individual to keep and bear arms to protect themselves from an overreaching federal government”. An overreaching federal government? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Or is it merely that things are happening politically that some find offensive and disagreeable?
What’s happening is that a segment of the population is deciding that resorting to violence might just be a good way to get what they want. The election didn’t give them the results they believed they deserved, so now they’re going to look at ensuring their version of democracy is achieved by other means.The fact that people like Brogdon are willing to twist the Constitution to their advantage only reveals the threat to democracy that they truly represent.
This isn’t about Socialism, or the President’s birth certificate, or any of the other “reasons” people like this use to justify their activism. What it’s actually about is making sure that they are the ones in power, and doing so by force if necessary. Of course, blowhards like Brogdon talk a good ball game, but I’m not certain they have the balls to follow through on the verbal machismo. If they can intimidate enough voters to get their way, great. If it actually came down to putting their threats into action, I’m not certain they’d be able to man up and do it. Bullies are generally all talk and precious little action.
Memo to Brogdon and others like him: if you’re going to use the Constitution to buttress your “argument”, at least make certain that you understand that know what you’re talking about. Then again, ignorance has never been, and likely never will be, an impediment to your desire to threaten American democracy.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
