The Mad Hatter & Christian Militias

We are reading increasing reports about the growth of Christian militias in the country. We have the story of the Hutaree group, intending to kill policemen and spark a general uprising against . . . against what is not clear.  The groups seem to be against the United States broadly, the government more specifically. I guess Christian militias are vaguely anarchic, favoring only Christian forms of government, much as the Taliban in Afghanistan favor Islamic governments. We might properly refer to the Christian militias, therefore, as the military wings of the Christian Taliban.

It is worrisome that the United States, in the midst of The Great Depression: Act Two, brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Republican Party, would now be facing groups that desire either a schism, or a revolutionary takeover by religious fundamentalists. Like it’s not enough to have to worry about  the collapse of the global financial system, we now have to worry about crazed religious groups armed to the teeth.

Apparently, nobody told these groups about the wars we have been fighting for the last nine years, wars that continue to kill American soldiers almost daily, and that are being fought to contain, if not eliminate, precisely the same groups of religious fundamentalists from taking power in places like Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen.  One can only look on in awe at the gradual deterioration of the overall sanity of the American body politic.For a close look at the most likely results of armed and dangerous extremists, one might listen to Rachel Maddow's tape recordings of the extremely crazy Timothy McVeigh--remember old Tim who killed innocent kids and adults in Oklahoma City??

Meanwhile on another front, the Mad Hatter and his teabag express continues to roar around the nation in its quest to eliminate all federal taxes, while meanwhile yelling about the growing federal deficits and the mountainous national debt.

One can only wonder . . .

Getting a Grip

Getting a Grip
I have begun thinking that Republicans have lost their grip on reality altogether. In watching the most recent episode of the Jon Stewart show, he played a few bits from recent Fox “News” shows. Glenn Beck yells in rage that this is no longer “his country.” People attending the pseudo-town hall meetings are seen yelling about how they are scared of Obama, with one woman yelling that she “wants her country back.” Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a congressman who has been compared with Jesse Helms, informs his constituents that the United States is now like Germany under Adolph Hitler.
They seem vaguely psychotic, or simply good actors feigning rage.
I started thinking that these crazed people need to get on the road and begin driving.
First, I thought, they need to drive all the way out to Arizona, to Canyon de Chelly, where the Navajos have a reservation, with a history dating back to 950 AD, when the Anasazi lived in the pueblos there. It would be useful for these people to ask permission to attend a Navajo council meeting, so they could address the assembled Navajo people on their fervent wish to “take back their country.” I am left wondering what the assembled Navajo people would say to them.
Then, after they leave the Navajo reservation, I would suggest that they drive East, maybe going first to Detroit . . . inner city Detroit. I would suggest that they attend a Sunday church service in a black church there, and that they address that assemblage on how scared they are of President Obama, and how they want their country back.
Then perhaps they might drive to another city, I’m thinking maybe Atlanta and the Ebenezer Baptist church, where they could inform the mostly black audience there about their great fears of this first Black President, and how he resembles Adolph Hitler, and how they feel like the residents of Jewish Ghettos, just before the Jewish residents were hauled off to concentration camps to be gassed.
After those experiences, perhaps these crazy people might begin to understand just how far out of touch with reality they have moved. They might then be able to consider driving to the nearest dump and offloading their mostly racist attitudes and detritus. Then I would suggest they attend their neighborhood church and ask God for forgiveness.
Couldn’t hurt.