Wolverines!

Here's a photo from Michigan, the state of my birth. It is enough to make a fat old man's eyes grow misty.

"WOLVERINES!"

"A mere wisp of wind." -- David Gregory pimps possibility of new Oklahoma City bombing. What does he know that you don't? Plenty. Just ask his wife.

Reichstag Fire, 1933.

DAVID GREGORY: In that vein, House Speaker Pelosi worried about the opposition, the tone of it, perhaps, leading to violence as it did in the 70s. There's more recent examples of antigovernment violence— occurring even in the mid 90s. Do you worry about that?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look— I think that we have an obligation in Washington, as leaders, to make sure that we are sending a strong message. That we can disagree without being disagreeable. Without— you know, questioning each other's motives. When we start caricaturing the other side— I think that's a problem. -- Meet the Press, 20 September 2009.

Later in the show, he asked the GOP the same question:

MR. GREGORY: This question about the role of the government, and, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying this week what she worries about in terms of the tone of debate is that it could lead to violence, as it did in the ‘70s; you know, there was anti-government violence in the ‘90s in Oklahoma City, as well. How much of a concern is that? Do you share it, or do you think that that was an overstatement on her part?

SEN. GRAHAM: Well, quite frankly, I mean, the whole idea of the role of government needs to be debated. . . But I’m not so worried about—you know, her criticism about the opponents of the plan don’t bother me. The fact that we’re broke...

MR. GREGORY: She’s talking about violence, though.

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. I don’t...

MR. GREGORY: I mean, we’ll get to the health care. You don’t buy that.

SEN. GRAHAM: I don’t think any responsible person is asking for a violent response.

MR. GREGORY: Do you—is that hyperbole?

REP. BOEHNER: David, I’m, I’m not concerned about violence.

SEN. GRAHAM: No.

REP. BOEHNER: I mean, I’m sure Speaker Pelosi was sincere in her concern. But let’s remember something. The debate that we’re in here is not just about health care, it’s about the, the trillion-dollar stimulus that was suppose to be about jobs and turned into nothing more spending—than spending and more spending. . . You add to that this whole question of health care and the government option, the government involvement, and Americans today are getting more news about what’s happening in their government than they have ever gotten before, and Americans are genuinely scared to death. Scared to death...

Now here's something some of you may remember. Gregory covered the Oklahoma City bombing trials for NBC. There, he met and later married Beth Ann Wilkinson, Assistant U.S. Prosecutor in the case. Of course, I'm certain that dating the fed's cover-up queen there in Denver didn't bias his coverage one bit. Journalistic ethics being what they are, and all.

David Gregory and Beth Ann Wilkinson. She wears the pants in the family.

Now Beth Ann is a piece of work. From Wikipedia:

Beth A. Wilkinson is a prominent Washington, D.C. lawyer, and partner in the New York City-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She works in the firm's Washington, D.C. office focusing on white collar criminal defense. Wilkinson is well-known for successfully arguing for the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. She has also been a critic of unfair administration of the death penalty.

Wilkinson graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University in 1984,and from the University of Virginia Law School with a J.D. She joined the United States Army's Honors Program and served as a captain and assistant for intelligence and special operations in the office of the Army's general counsel. That office detailed her as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida to assist with the use of classified information in the prosecution of Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega. After completing her four-year obligation to the Army, Wilkinson became a full-time Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in 1991, prosecuting various kinds of cases including narcotics, white collar offenses, and violent crimes. Among her cases was the first United States prosecution of a bombing of an airliner—the 1994 case against Colombian narcoterrorist Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera, whom she successfully prosecuted for the bombing of an Avianca civilian airliner as well as murder of U.S. citizens and other drug-related crimes.

Wilkinson won the Justice Department's highest honor, The Attorney General's Exceptional Service Award, for her work on the Mosquera case. She then became special counsel to the deputy attorney general, advising the top management of the Department on criminal policy and investigations. She was promoted to principal deputy of the Department's Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, and it was in that capacity that she participated in the trial team in U.S. vs. McVeigh and Terry Nichols. She won the Attorney General's Exceptional Service Award an unprecedented second time. . .

In 2006, Fannie Mae recruited Wilkinson as parts of its effort to rebuild its relationship with regulators after accounting scandals and complaints about its corporate culture. Her compensation at Fannie Mae was not disclosed when she was hired. She served as Fannie Mae's executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary from February 2006 until September 2008. She resigned her position at Fannie Mae along with three other senior executives on September 19, 2008, after the troubled mortgage giant was taken over by the government.

In 2009, Wilkinson was elected to partnership in the prominent New York City law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. According to the firm's website, Wilkinson's practice will focus on general litigation. She is married to David Gregory, the moderator of NBC News' Meet the Press. They have three children.

Described by even her friends as "tough as nails," Wilkinson was entrusted with keeping the secrets of the OKC Bombing conspiracy that the Clintonistas wanted kept out of the courtroom. Those secrets included anyone who had evidence of a wider conspiracy, but especially Carol Howe, paid confidential informant for the ATF who warned them about another federal informant and provocateur, the German national, Andreas Carl Strassmeier. After the ATF began to act on her information and planned a raid of Elohim City, the FBI and the US Attorney's office for Oklahoma City had a meeting with the ATF in Tulsa at the end of February, 1995. The ATF was told to "back off, Elohim City is our operation." So they did. Eventually, a federal building with a lot of innocents in it blew up. (This is one you can't blame the BATFags for. The FBI owned this one from the beginning.)


"Andy the German," Security Chief at "Elohim City," an Indentity compound in eastern Oklahoma, and base of the Aryan Republican Army.

To see how this fits together with Wilkinson, Gregory and Company, read this story from years back by my friends J.D. Cash and Roger Charles. It is long, certainly, but worth the read. I'll have comments on the other side.

Southern Poverty Law Center tracked bomb plot around the globe

By J.D. Cash and Lt. Colonel Roger Charles (U.S.M.C. retired)

Newly released documents received by a Salt Lake City attorney in his suit against the Oklahoma City FBI office provide the strongest evidence yet that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been conducting a well-orchestrated cover-up of evidence linking Timothy McVeigh to subjects that frequented, and in some cases resided, at an eastern Oklahoma paramilitary compound called Elohim City.

At the center of this cabal were numerous informants. At least two of those providing critical information about the Elohim City conspiracy reported to a tax-exempt civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), headed by Morris Dees.

Perhaps even more surprising is evidence in these 87 pages released by DOJ on behalf of the FBI and the Oklahoma City FBI office, is documentation showing that top FBI agents assigned the bombing case lacked authority to conduct interviews at Elohim City or to go after a leading suspect in the case, Andreas Carl Strassmeir, also known as "Andy the German."

While the state's media ignored (and some even attacked) evidence this newspaper presented nine years ago linking McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Mike Fortier to Strassmeir and other radicals at Elohim City, these new but heavily redacted documents should provide a starting point for a real investigation into the horrific crime and apparent government sponsored cover-up.

Morris Dees, malignant Federal running dog whose informants knew about OKC conspiracy. Morris did nothing with the information, before or after the slaughter. (My apologies to honest Oompa Loompas everywhere.)


Trentadue suit

After months of legal wrangling in a Salt Lake City courtroom, the DOJ reluctantly turned over 17 FBI-generated documents Friday, to the plaintiff in a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit n Jesse C. Trentadue.

Trentadue, a well-respected Salt Lake City lawyer whose client list is made up of members of the insurance industry, became embroiled in the Oklahoma City bombing case after his brother was found beaten to death in his jail cell at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center in August 1995.

Initially, the federal government ruled Kenny Trentadue's death a suicide, in spite of many indications that pointed to his having been beaten to death. The Trentadue family and local investigators tried to obtain definitive proof of his murder, but were thwarted by actions of FBI and Bureau of Prison employees who allegedly destroyed evidence in the case.



After information was passed to him from an intermediary serving time at a Terre Haute, Ind., federal prison with McVeigh, Jesse Trentadue sought evidence of his brother's death inside the OKBOMB investigation files.

McVeigh's message offered an explanation as to why such extreme measures had been undertaken by federal officials: Kenny Trentadue was tortured by federal agents who may have mistakenly thought he was a member of the bombing conspiracy.

With this tenuous lead from McVeigh, the dead man's brother filed a FOIA request for documents that could shed light on his brother's brutal murder and the OKBOMB case.

In the course of his investigation, evidence emerged in documents Trentadue received that the FBI was using the SPLC to gather information on Elohim City n both before and after the bombing.

After months of legal maneuvering by the DOJ and the FBI, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball ruled on May 5, 2005, that the Oklahoma City FBI office had to search for documents linking the SPLC to Elohim City and/or specific individuals connected to the April 19, 1995, bombing.

With national attention on the case provided by several news agencies, the FBI released a small portion of what may prove to be a large reservoir of hidden documents that could reveal more sensational details about a widespread cover-up.

The DOJ cover letter accompanying the newly released documents claimed the release to Trentadue was done as "a matter of discretion, in the interest of resolving the litigation in good faith." The earliest date on these documents is a teletype transmitted on April 24, 1995 n only three days after McVeigh was first publicly identified as a prime suspect in the bombing of the A.P. Murrah federal building.

While each of the 17 reports is heavily redacted, central to these-never-before-reported-on documents is evidence that the Southern Poverty Law Center headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., was monitoring neo-Nazi radicals closely associated with McVeigh, if not McVeigh himself, shortly before McVeigh's deadly attack.

Leaked teletype first disclosed SPLC connection

What started this latest litigation was an article first reported by this newspaper on Dec. 14, 2003. The copyrighted article provided details of a teletype sent by the director of the FBI to a select few FBI offices, disclosing that Morris Dees' SPLC had at least one informant at Elohim City on April 17, 1995, when McVeigh called the camp.

The name of the individual to whom McVeigh placed this call is redacted in the FBI teletype, but a phone card shows at another time McVeigh called Elohim City to speak to Strassmeir.

Strassmeir was providing paramilitary training to the neo-Nazis who frequently cycled through Elohim City. This January 4, 1996, FBI teletype also documents an April 5, 1995, telephone call from McVeigh to Elohim City, characterizing this call as an attempt by McVeigh "to recruit a second conspirator to assist in the OKBOMB attack.

One of the newly released FBI documents, dated January 26, 1996, provides support for the accuracy of the SPLC informant's characterization of McVeigh's April 5 telephone call as a "recruiting" call.

In this newly disclosed report, the FBI notes that Fortier, identified as "the OKBOMB cooperating subject" (but with his name redacted), as having said that, "April 5, 1995, was around the time that he backed out of the plans to bomb the federal building. McVeigh may have been trying to recruit other individuals to assist him."

This new evidence from the top echelons of the FBI directly contradicts many statements made in federal court by top DOJ officials, who told federal judges they were not aware of any government information about any informants operating inside Elohim City before the bombing.

In closed chambers, DOJ lawyers told U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch that they had no evidence linking anyone at Elohim City to McVeigh, or the bombing, other than a calling card record showing McVeigh had called the camp a single time on April 5, 1995.

Furthermore, these same DOJ attorneys said absolutely nothing about an April 17, 1995 call by McVeigh, while at least one operative from the SPLC was present at Elohim City, monitoring the compound, when McVeigh called.

Stephen Jones, McVeigh's attorney at that trial, indicated that the new documents show prosecutors violated ethical standards.

"These hand-picked DOJ lawyers were obligated by law and by their professional code of ethics to provide this information to Judge Matsch in order for him to determine if the material should be turned over to the McVeigh and Nichols defense teams. They did not do so," he said.

Conspiracy closely monitored

Taken in their entirety, Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue's latest documents clearly place the role of the SPLC and its own undercover operatives at the center of unresolved issues about federal law enforcement's prior knowledge of the conspiracy to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

In addition, the documents also show that members of the DOJ prosecution team misrepresented to U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch the true extent of government files about McVeigh's ties to Elohim City, potentially opening them up to criminal prosecution and disbarment for these misrepresentations.

One of those documents indicates that on April 24, 1995, a top DOJ lawyer in the civil rights division, Barry Kowalski, reported that he was seeking an interview with a key undercover SPLC source about relations the source had developed regarding, "relationships, activities, and/or associates of subject number one, Timothy J. McVeigh."

Indeed, the FBI was using a spy network operated by the SPLC to do what many in the FBI were afraid to do because of guidelines in place during the Clinton administration.

According to a highly placed confidential source in the DOJ at the time of the bombing, Attorney General Janet Reno would not allow the FBI much latitude in developing intelligence inside the far-right due to concerns that such activities might violate existing departmental guidelines on "domestic spying."

To skirt Reno's policies, the FBI developed a relationship with cutouts such as the SPLC that could use their own spies to do what the FBI could not. These non-government agents then passed their intelligence products back to the bureau.

Dees confirms relationship

In December 2003 this newspaper presented SPLC co-founder Morris Dees with information that linked his organization to the FBI and to McVeigh's conspiracy in the months before the Ryder truck exploded.

Dees confirmed to the Gazette a role in the surveillance operation at Elohim City (and other places) when reporters interviewed him at a press conference in Durant.

Dees was initially taken aback when he learned that the newspaper had obtained an officially released FBI teletype from director Louis Freeh, including information attributed to an SPLC informant who was present Elohim City on April 17, 1995, when McVeigh called him to seek help in the bombing.



Dees admitted that he had an informant at Elohim City as the teletype said. However, the coy attorney refused to elaborate on the situation, except to say he had warned then-attorney general Reno, six months before the attack, that, "(A)n attack on the government is planned by members of the far right."

Dees went on to say that after the attack he immediately called Reno to say the media had it wrong.

"I told her the attack was domestic, not foreign," Dees said.

The co-founder of the SPLC also said that he did not know McVeigh by name before the blast. However, Dees did become visibly shaken when asked what he thought of German-national Andreas Strassmeir.

"I won't ever discuss that man," Dees said as he spun away from the interview and left the press conference with his armed bodyguards in tow.

Book discloses informant

In the newly released April 24, 1995, teletype, the FBI and DOJ redacted the name of the SPLC agent, but described him as "acting in various undercover capacities for the purposes of gathering intelligence for that organization [the SPLC]."

Dees, on the other hand, had no such concerns about identifying this operative in his 1996 book, "Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat." There he described Mike Reynolds as "one of our [SPLC] Militia Task Force investigators." Dees' description of Reynolds' itinerary for the period in question perfectly fits the description in the April 24 teletype.

The EC connection

An appraisal of the new documents shows that almost immediately after the bombing, elements within the FBI sought information about Strassmeir, the paramilitary leader at Elohim City. And the information was sourced through Dees' information network at Elohim City, according to these same FBI documents.

The first report provided by the Oklahoma City FBI office concerning the SPLC's intelligence operation was prepared on April 24, 1995, and discusses McVeigh's links to the Michigan Militia and to the Arizona Patriots militia group n a group that the SPLC informant stated had evolved into the Constitution Ranger's militia group.

The informant cited this latter group's involvement in white supremacist activities in the Kingman, Ariz., area and claimed to be knowledgeable "of the identities of various members who had association with Timothy Jack (sic) McVeigh."

The FBI document said this SPLC informant had just attended an neo-Nazi movement rally and as of April 24 was staying at the Hilton Inn in Little Rock when the FBI attempted to make contact, but had departed for the Montgomery, Ala., area "within the past one hour."

But the initial report from the Oklahoma City FBI office does not mention the fact that at least one, and very likely two informants for the SPLC were at Elohim City on April 17, 1995, when McVeigh made the call never disclosed by the DOJ to Judge Matsch.

Those details would not come out for many months, and then only after the FBI learned that one of the reporters for this story (J.D. Cash) and an investigator for McVeigh's defense team were making regular visits to Elohim City.

In January 1996, this newspaper began preparing a series of articles about Elohim City. Those articles were based upon multiple trips to the compound in late 1995.

According to people at the compound, McVeigh had visited the camp several times. The leaders of the camp, though, would make that information only on a non-attribution basis n out of fear, they said, that they would be linked to the bombing and arrested for conspiracy.

At one point in the questioning of Rev. Robert Millar, the aging patriarch of the Christian Identity community of about 80 persons, he admitted to McVeigh defense investigator Richard Reyna in the presence of a reporter for this newspaper that McVeigh's initial visit to Elohim City had been with former KKK leader Dennis Mahon of Tulsa.

Before long, several others provided the same details. McVeigh had traveled to Elohim City for meetings inside and outside the compound well over a dozen times, beginning in the fall of 1993.

One of the sources, an Oklahoma state trooper, had informants inside the neo-Nazi compound. A second source is none other than Morris Dees himself.

Reported by veteran reporter Howard Pankratz in the Denver Post, on May 16, 1996, Dees was quoted as saying that McVeigh has visited Elohim City,"…. on a number of occasions."

Sometime after that article appeared, Dees attempted to recant his declaration, claiming he had been misquoted, but the reporter who wrote the article was adamant that Dees had spoken as quoted in the article.

Contacted this week, Pankratz said he recalls attending the press luncheon and may even have Dees' comments on a tape.

"I kept all my Oklahoma City interview material," Pankratz noted. "Dees certainly never asked us to print a retraction of our story."

Suspects flee Elohim City

By the late summer of 1995, because of increasing media interest and law enforcement attention on Elohim City, several young men, including German National Andreas "Andy the German" Strassmeir, fled Elohim City n a neo-Nazi paramilitary camp in eastern Oklahoma.

Three of these men n Scott Stedford, Kevin McCarthy and Michael Brescia n were subsequently arrested for participating in a series of bank robberies in the Midwest and attempting to overthrow the government. The gang called itself the Aryan Republic Army (ARA). All three of these men shared living quarters at Elohim City with Strassmeir.

While the FBI for years told the media that the agency had no interest in Strassmeir and any alleged connections to Tim McVeigh and the OKC bombing, these new documents establish that some key officials inside the FBI were monitoring Strassmeir's escape from the U.S. n but were doing nothing to stop him from leaving.

Contained in an unclassified teletype marked "Priority" from the London FBI office to the director of the FBI on Jan. 4, 1996, the OKBOMB case number is referenced and the following information is provided:

"Poverty Law Center, Montgomery, Alabama who had received the following information from various confidential sources: [redacted name] white male, date of birth [information redacted] he was helped with [information redacted] also defends [information redacted]. Additionally in November of 1993, [name redacted] met subject Tim McVeigh (and) [name redacted] and thereafter, became associates with McVeigh because of their common background [information redacted] in the military. [name and information redacted] for the past few years at Elohim City, Oklahoma (a religious white supremacist community in a remote area) McVeigh attempted to call [name redacted] in April of 1995 prior to the bombing, according to this source. [name redacted] went on to provide additional information from his sources regarding [names and information redacted. Name redacted] concluded by advising that he has provided this information to the FBI because he has heard that LEGAT [legal attaché], London (FBI London) is doing background investigation on [name redacted]. "

LEGAT is the short name for the office of the FBI's Legal Attache at the specified U.S. embassy. The LEGAT is an FBI agent assigned to the staff of the U.S. ambassador for liaison duties with law enforcement officials in that foreign country.

The DOJ acknowledged that McVeigh called Elohim City on April 5, 1995, asking for Strassmeir. Both Strassmeir and McVeigh had common military experiences. Other sources confirm that LEGAT London was tasked to do a background investigation on Strassmeir. Given these facts, and the limited pool of "players," it is clear that the teletype mentioned above can only refer to Strassmeir, who was expected to flee the U.S. shortly, and did.

The document goes on to say: "Will advise Oklahoma City command post whether LEGAT is aware of any investigation [name and information redacted] by LEGAT, London, Scotland Yard, Interpol, or any similar agency in your jurisdiction."

Referring to the November 1993 trip McVeigh made to Elohim City, this newspaper broke a story on July 1 about an interview Terry Nichols gave Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

That jailhouse interview included Nichols' admissions for the first time that in the fall of 1993 he and McVeigh traveled to Elohim City. During the course of the Rohrabacher interview, Nichols also told the congressman that it was clear to him that McVeigh had been to the compound before and knew Strassmeir and others there "very well."

DOJ officials hamper probe

Many of those new unclassified documents also establish that the OKBOMB task force was unable to interview subjects connected with Elohim City, because of conditions set forth by FBI director Louis Freeh and possibly other high ranking DOJ officials.

As an example: In a very unusual teletype, Jan. 29, 1996, marked "Priority" from the OKBOMB command post, which was headed at the time by Supervisory Special Agent Danny Defenbaugh, the commander of the massive investigation asked Freeh to locate Strassmeir in Germany and have someone question him about the numerous details set forth in newspaper articles detailing Strassmeir's connections to the bombing conspirators.

Not only were many of the names redacted from this priority teletype to Freeh; even the name of the newspaper breaking the Strassmeir/McVeigh/EC connections was withheld by the Oklahoma City FBI office.

However, based on the teletype's description of one of the informants providing information to the bureau, it is likely that Dennis Mahon is one of the sources referred to. The memo notes that Mahon (whose name was redacted) had a long history of contacts with members of radical rightwing and the skinheads. It also notes that the informant was recently barred from a particular foreign country he visited and stirred up trouble.

Indeed, Mahon had been barred from Germany for participating in Ku Klux Klan activities there during the timeframe mentioned in the teletype.

The FBI's Oklahoma City Command Post also said its informant provided information that Strassmeir had left Elohim City in the past few months and moved to Black Mountain, N.C.

The information was further verified by a "CW" n a Cooperating Witness n informant from the FBI's Cincinnati division n a man closely allied with the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) and a longtime source of information to the FBI.

That man's name is also known to this newspaper. He is Shawn Kenny, the former head of an Aryan Nations chapter in Ohio and a close associate of ARA bank bandits Peter Langan and Richard Guthrie (deceased). In fact, Kenny's work for the authorities in the OKBOMB investigation is mentioned several times in the new documents.

Referring to a number of newspaper articles linking Strassmeir to others, (whose names and locations at the time were redacted by the FBI) the Oklahoma City Command Post also lists a number of reasons why Strassmeir should be located by the FBI and questioned about the bombing and his alleged long association with McVeigh. Central to this plea by the OKBOMB case FBI commander is the evidence presented by this newspaper about Strassmeir and his associates, at Elohim City and elsewhere.

It is clear in January 1996 that members of the OKBOMB task force were very agitated about Strassmeir's flight from justice after they learned the news from an SPLC source.

Dated Jan. 26, 1996, the command post told Freeh and a select group of other FBI agents the following:

"As Charlotte [FBI office in North Carolina] is aware [name redacted] is of particular interest to this investigation because of his association to Elohim City (EC), a paramilitary survivalist compound located in eastern Oklahoma. McVeigh called the compound on April 5, 1995. As indicated in referenced teletype, information has been received from sources of [name redacted] indicating that [name redacted] met McVeigh [information redacted] and that McVeigh called the compound prior to the bombing asking for [name redacted].

"On January 26, 1996, Special Agent SA [name redacted] Mobile division, Montgomery resident agent advised she had received additional information from [name redacted] Southern Poverty Law Center, who advised the following: "He had just obtained information from a highly reliable source that [name redacted] had fled [location redacted] about seven days ago. The same source also said that [information and names redacted].

"Quoting another confidential informant [Kenny] based in Cincinnati, Ohio said he/she saw [name redacted] at [information redacted] in [location redacted]. At that time [name redacted (Strassmeir) said he left Oklahoma because, "things were too hot out there." Confidential informant clearly understood that [name withheld (Strassmeir) was referring to the bombing.

Defenbaugh's teletype next set forth a series of questions that Strassmeir should have to answer, if anyone could find him.

Regardless of the situation and Defenbaugh's pleas for assistance in the investigation, the Oklahoma City FBI documents do not provide any evidence that any FBI agent ever went to Berlin to do a face-to-face interview with the subject of so much pre- and post-bombing attention by federal agents and informants.

Instead, on April 30 and May 1, 1996, DOJ lawyers Aitman Goelman and Beth Wilkinson made two conference telephone calls from Denver to Berlin to interview Strassmeir. An FBI 302 obtained by this newspaper quite some time ago reveals only the most cursory interview of the subject, a conversation that Strassmeir later told a media source "lasted all of about five minutes."

According to the FBI 302, a single FBI agent was allowed to monitor the call and take notes. What few questions were asked of Strassmeir were very general in nature and asked only by Wilkinson and Goelman.

Wilkinson would later make light of Strassmeir's purported importance to the OKBOMB case by telling Judge Matsch that Strassmeir was "a mere wisp of wind." She promised the court that the German was never any interest to OKBOMB investigators.

"We never investigated Strassmeir," she told Matsch during a pre-trial evidentiary hearing Denver, "so we have nothing to turn over to Mr. McVeigh's lawyers about him."

Trentadue says he now intends to go back to court for additional information concerning files the FBI has not yet turned over.

"If the Southern Poverty Law Center was providing information about Elohim City after the bombing to the FBI, they must have been providing it before April 19th, Trentadue noted. Asking further: "So where are those reports?"

Trentadue also says there is considerable information redacted in these latest reports that clearly should not have been withheld.

"The names of certain newspapers were even withheld," Trentadue quipped. "Hell, where does the FBI get the right to withhold the names of the papers it reads?"

Collectivist tyrannies have a play book. One of the plays used by truly bestial governments is the Reichstag Fire scenario. The Russians have recently experienced this with the Beslan school massacre. Putin's poll numbers were failing. His Chechen war was unpopular. Presto! Some Muslim fanatics take over a school, the government's response guarantees a high death toll of children, and Putin's reputation is restored, with the nation demanding vengeance. Pictures of dead babies do it every time. The parents of the dead Beslan children suspect the Putin regime of orchestrating it. A reporer that got too close to the truth ended up dead. This is how tyrannies work.



For his part, Bill Clinton told reporters after his re-election that "Oklahoma City broke the spell."

Now David Gregory, whose wife was deep into the OKC cover-up, predicts another Oklahoma City?

We should take him seriously.

More on this subject later this week.

Mike
III

It's the Liberty, Stupid

Found this at realclearpolitics.com.

Tracinski, though he thinks electoral politics can still save us (I for one do not), is right on target in the rest of his observations.

Mike
III

September 20, 2009
It's the Liberty, Stupid
By Robert Tracinski

Well, it's official. The Obama phenomenon is over. Permanently.

It's not just that Obama's favorite weapon, the Big Speech, no longer moves public opinion. (Last Wednesday's health-care speech produced a slight "bounce" in public support for the health-care bill, but it disappeared in less than a week.)

What really ends the era of Obama is this: a major part of Obama's appeal was his symbolism as the first black president, which was supposed to give Americans an opportunity to put the whole ugly history of racial politics behind them. Yet here we are, less than eight months into Obama's administration, and the racial politics are worse than they have been in a long time.

Within days of Saturday's giant "tea party" rally in Washington, Obama's supporters in the press began denouncing the protesters as racists. That's what Jimmy Carter says, and Time's Joe Klein, and The American Prospect's Paul Waldman, and Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd at the New York Times, among others.

What is their evidence? Well, they don't have any—just over-active imaginations. Krugman opines that the "driving force" behind the tea party movement is "probably…cultural and racial anxiety," while Dowd says that when Joe Wilson told Obama he was lying, "what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!... Some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it." Those are the journalistic standards at the Times nowadays: it's OK to libel half the population based on what you imagine they are "probably" thinking and on words they didn't say.

Along the same lines, Klein attributes opposition to Obama to "implicit" racism, while "social psychologist" Thomas Pettigrew makes explicit what this charge of "implicit racism" means: "The general idea is that people who don't recognize it in themselves look for legitimate means to carry out their subtle beliefs, sometimes even without awareness on their part that they're doing it." That's how a "social psychologist" gets to project onto you his own preconceptions about your character and motives—without actually needing to talk to you and ask you what you think.

And they have not asked us what we think, none of them. It is obvious from all of the accusations of racism that these crack reporters haven't attended the "tea party" protests, haven't talked to anyone there, haven't bothered to find out who we are and what we believe. They have simply projected onto us the ugliest motive they can think of, without the need for any evidence to validate it. It is one of the most gratuitous political smear campaigns I have ever seen.

For a dose of reality, check out this set of photos taken by one of my readers at Saturday's rally. The defining characteristic of the tea party rallies, and especially last Saturday's, is the profusion of signs—the movement's dominant medium of expression. You don't have to resort to imagining words these people didn't say or projecting what was "probably" in their minds. They tell you what they're thinking, with an enormous variety and creativity of homemade signs. A few favorites: "Do I Look Like an ATM to You?" The ever-popular "Give Me Liberty, Not Debt." "Congress Is a Toxic Asset." "Free Markets Not Free Loaders." And addressing the race issue head-on: "It Doesn't Matter the President Is Black. It Matters That He's Red." The most unusual sign: a genuine one-million-Mark banknote from the German hyperinflation of the 1920s, surrounded by the motto: "Never Again."

(If you scroll down about halfway, you will also see a picture of yours truly. I'm the fellow in the blue shirt carrying a big sign with a quote from Ayn Rand expressing this "racist" sentiment: "Your life belongs to you and the good is to live it." Clearly code words for the Ku Klux Klan.)

The common theme of the signs was individual rights versus collectivism, an advocacy of limited government held to the restrictions placed on it by the Constitution. One of the signs in the photo essay sums up the message of the tea party rally: "It's the Liberty, Stupid."

The fact that the tea party had such a clear philosophical message, and that the bogus racism smear so thoroughly evades this message, says a lot about the intellectual confidence of the tea party movement—versus the lack of philosophical confidence on the left. The tea partiers are very happy to have a philosophical debate on the most basic political issues. The left, by contrast, wants to change the subject with personal, ad hominem attacks—which indicates that they are not confident that they can win the debate if it stays on the question of the size and role of government.

To say that the left is resorting to "racial politics" is a bit too vague. Let's define exactly what they are doing: they are resorting to a decades-old politics of racial slander, reflexively accusing any opponent of racism in an attempt to shut down discussion.

Racism is one of the worst insults you can throw at someone today, only a few steps up from accusing him of being a child molester. That this is so is, in fact, a tribute to the heroic change in American culture in recent decades. In less than fifty years, America has gone from a country in which segregation was openly enforced and defended to a country in which an accusation of even indirect racism can ruin a man's reputation and career. Just ask Don Imus. But this has come to be used as a weapon—a bludgeon of intimidation wielded by the left.

Barack Obama's color-blind campaign, the idea that he was running as if race didn't matter, promised us an uplifting break from this history. There were indications from the beginning, however, that he didn't really mean it. Obama had to tap dance around his close, longstanding association with the race-baiting preacher Jeremiah Wright, and he sat back while his proxies used accusations of racism as a weapon against the Clinton campaign.

If he could do that in the Democratic primary, there's no reason to think he'll object to those who are doing it again now. Obama allegedly wants to stay out of the current racism smear campaign—but leaders don't get that option. By remaining silent, he is signaling his approval; he is voting "present" on the revival of the racism smear in American politics. This is an enormous disappointment to many people who once voted for Obama—and to many others, like myself, who once saw an element of nobility in his campaign, even if we disagreed with everything else he stood for.

If Obama doesn't immediately and forcefully reject the new racism smear against the tea party movement, then he will have destroyed the last remaining element of his appeal to voters—and he will have made millions of passionate new enemies among the voting public.

Robert Tracinski writes daily commentary at TIADaily.com. He is the editor of The Intellectual Activist and TIADaily.com.

Democrats call down "rain of hellfire" on opponents. (?)

Service Employees International Union, Local 666.

I found this story on Politico.com to be a little puzzling at first. Read it, and I'll comment on the other side.

DNC promises 'rain of hellfire'

By MIKE ALLEN | 9/18/09 8:53 AM EDT

The increasingly aggressive Democratic National Committee on Friday launched a new “Call ’Em Out” website targeting prominent Republicans for statements they have made about President Barack Obama’s health reform plans.
“Help debunk the outrageous lies and misinformation about health reform,” the site says.

DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said: “The message to opponents of change who would lie or misrepresent the truth should be clear. We are going to respond forcefully and consistently with the facts, and you will no longer be able to peddle your lies with impunity. Through tools like 'Call 'Em Out,' you will be met with a rain of hellfire from supporters armed with the facts and you will be held to account.”

The website is part of a larger, more aggressive approach taken by the White House through the DNC to push back against smears, distortions and misinformation. It’s taken various forms, including hitting back on Republican Medicare attacks with a TV ad that ran nationally and in 10 targeted members’ districts.

The DNC is focusing more on real-time response, with 18 e-mails on the night of the president's speech to Congress and 10 real-time responses on White House czars on Wednesday.

“Every Republican that goes on TV or gets on a conference call or steps up to a mic is getting fact-checked,” a Democratic official said.

The new site’s opening target is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. A button urges visitors to “CALL PAWLENTY,” then gives his office number at the Minnesota Capitol.

One of the tools is a Twitter button that can automatically tweet: “Hey @timpawlenty, quit lying about health reform. … #CallEmOut.”

“Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently claimed that health reform will lead to death panels — a claim so thoroughly debunked that [‘Morning Joe’ host] Joe Scarborough called him on his lies,” the site says. “And Pawlenty's extreme behavior didn't stop there. Watch the video, then take action to call him out.”

Alex Conant, a Pawlenty adviser, replied: "Seriously, why is the DNC's attack squad so obsessed with T-Paw recently? The DNC's attacks are a transparent attempt to avoid a serious discussion with Governor Pawlenty and other Republicans over how to fix health care. Rather than blindly trying to undermine Pawlenty, national Democrats could learn something from his record of balancing budgets and reforming health care without raising taxes."

Hillary yuks it up with Old Scratch.

"Rain of hellfire"? How could that be? I wondered. I thought these heatherns didn't believe in the retribution of Hell, what with their support of the murder of millions of innocents every year. But then I remembered, even the Devil believes in God, and in Hell.

So in calling down a "rain of hellfire," Democrats are invoking THEIR deity -- Old Scratch hisself.

Looked at it that way, it makes all the sense in the world.

Mike
III

Inviting Suicide: They mistake the measure of the men and women they are dealing with.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -- Martin Luther King, 1963.

Bob Wright, 1st New Mexico Militia

Folks,

I received a copy of the e-mail exchange below, and mindful of the quote from Dr. King above, I thought of the Obamanoids, "They mistake the measure of the men and women they are dealing with."

To long time readers of my stuff, Bob Wright needs no introduction. He is the man who, when asked by his FBI Special Agent in Charge if he would really go to the rescue of victims of another Waco in another state, replied:

"Why would I want to do that? There's plenty of you federal sonsabitches around here."

My piece on "Dark Thoughts" has occasioned some concern amongst my friends, as expressed by one long-time friend Craig, in an e-mail to Bob. Following that is Bob's reply.

From: Craig (REDACTED)
Re: Fw: Dark Thoughts-- Misadventure, Spasm & Decapitation. How I spent Constitution Day
To: "bob wright"
Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 5:59 PM


Hi Bob,

Good to hear from you. I am hanging on as always here in (REDACTED). Hope you are well.

I am actually kind of worried about Mike sometimes. He lives this shit too much I think, it makes you think dark thoughts. I have been living it too much myself ... I have gotten growly, withdrawn, depressed, pissed. I need a vacation ... I wanted to go to DC but to be honest the expenditure of funds would have left me in trouble for months after.

Don't get me wrong Bob ... it has been my pleasure to raise my son and be here for him and guide him on his path to manhood, it really has. It is going on 10 years now and my restless nature is having a hard time containing itself. I have never been in one place this long my entire life ..... ever. Worst part is I don't know what I would do if I left .... I see things crumbling and think to myself do I want to be away from Luke when he might need me more than at any other time? I don't know what is wrong ... I don't want to go to church anymore. My pastor calls me and talks to me ..... we are actually pretty good friends.

How does one keep dark thoughts out of your very being when you are wrapped up in it all the flippin time. I admire each one of you guys cause you do more than I do and keep a goin. I worry about Mike dabbling in all the ATF secret crap though .... they are going to kill him for it someday.... probably all of us. Know what .... I don't really much care about that either. I have pretty well accepted that .... is that normal?? What's normal???

Happy Birthday Constitution ... I love that sacred document.... it will probably cause us all to die because of it. We will be in good company my friend ... I guess I can't think of a better way to go anyway.

Later,
Craig
III PERCENT

I don't think Craig intended this to get to me, but as it did, I read it, and I post it here now. It duplicates the thoughts of many in this, the darkening hour. But it was Bob's reply that touched me most.

You may be right ol' chum and don't let it get you down.. For me it is like this... I decided in 1993 that I was already dead. Every day after that has been a glorious gift of a merciful god. We are blessed to be here , now. For we will be tested and we will have the opportunity to show who we are.

Most people go thru life never knowing if they have the courage to face real danger living in a twilight Walter Mitty dream world. Never knowing if greatness lies within the recesses of their over managed lives. We will know.

We have been given this great gift and we should embrace it and the circumstances that allow it. Don't despair, rejoice that yours is the chosen generation.

Don't dread but anticipate the day you will be free to strike at the heart of a beast and do your part to add Patriot breath to the flame of liberty. Let your heart pound with enthusiasm for the noblest of all human endeavor , the fighting of evil. The selfless sacrifice of blood , toil, and treasure, that elevate the common and pedestrian citizen to that most honored title of Patriot.

I too want more time to train , to earn money, to watch children and grandchildren grow, but in my heart I know that these are still selfish desires and betrays a hesitancy that has no place in the Patriot Breast.

We face the greatest challenge of our time and it will not be met by timid souls who fear to let go of the hearth, the hem of the skirt or the cradles blanket. We must know and accept that our presence in that world of relations and temporal pleasure make us but temporary lodgers waiting to bid last farewells and shed final tears before we embark on the true reason for our being.

Forgive a sentimental anecdote if you will, but two days before my mother died she overheard me on the phone desperately trying to get someone to fill in for me at a prestigious debate with the head of NM ACLU She called me too her bed side and with angry eyes that reflected a soul awaiting permission to open the door to the next world she demanded to know if I meant what I said or was I full of bullshit. I tried to smooth her feelings and get her to lay back down but she would not be distracted from her piercing interrogatory. Finally in an effort to ease the obvious agitation this was causing her I told her that I sure thought I was honest and damn well meant what I said. I was much distressed that the overheard conversation had caused her so much agitation and distress. She told me that she had on more than none occasion heard me say that we were in a War. Did I believe it or not. I tried to tell her that none of that mattered and she just needed to get as comfortable as possible and not worry about all of this. What she said next crashed through my hard head and lodged in my heart sending out shock waves that gave order to my chaotic emotions and forever cleared up some of my own myopia.

She told me that she knew about men going off to war. She told me that she had watched her father go off to war and then fixing me with those tired , dying eyes that still held enough steel to command attention, told me that her father had not looked back he had gone to the war and done his job until the Nazi was destroyed.

She told me that when her brother died as a child that her father did not "quit" his war and come home but did his job and eradicated the Nazi. She then said that 10 years later she had watched her husband go to war and like her father he never looked back and did his job regardless of what was happening on the home front.She then told me that go or stay it meant nothing in relation to her dying, that would happen in it's own time regardless of my activities. But if I failed in my duty then no one would be there to battle the ACLU.

I cannot tell you the emotions that swept over me, pride in her, a sense of brotherhood with my forebears who had abandoned hearth and home to fight evil, and shame in my self that it took a dying old woman to clarify my duties as a man.
Less than 30 hrs later she had gone. I lifted the gurney into the hearse, went to her closet and got her "burying Dress" went to my house and slept a couple of hours dropped the dress off at the funeral home and drove 300 miles to do battle with the ACLU.

Craig, we are a special people who have a destiny to fulfill and are allowed to enjoy this life at its fullest until that call comes.

Bob Wright

As I said, the Obamanoids mistake the measure of the men and women they are dealing with. For in choosing such men to attack, they have picked an enemy that will not quit until they are dead or their enemies are dead. To attack such men and women as Bob and Mrs. Wright, is quite simply put, to invite suicide. They should understand that before we go too far down this road they have chosen for us.

Mike
III

Flying the battle flag.

This just in from Neal R. --

I took the image of your flag and had this made. The guy who made it was wondering what it meant as he had seen it on images from tea parties.

Hope you don't mind the fact that I took the liberty of using it for my truck. I also ordered 2 of the originals.

Neal

I certainly don't mind. I think it is GREAT.

Mike
III

David Codrea on Commie Times Columnist "Mr. Moustache."

This is Thomas Friedman, senior foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times.

No, wait, THAT'S Joseph Stalin, collectivist butcher of millions. THIS is Thomas Friedman, modern-day apologist for collectivist butchers.

Friedman, like Stalin before him, is very proud of his moustache. This has caused a number of people to make him and his "I know better than thou" attitude the subject of cartoons.



Sorry, folks, I picked up another bug on Friday and I've been knocked for a loop -- temp, alternate freezing and burning up, sensitive skin (?), nausea, etc. Didn't even look at the computer all day yesterday. Awoke today feeling better, but with 400 plus e-mails in the in box. One of the first I saw was this from David Codrea about a Thomas Friedman column in the New York Times.

"One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century."

Attached to the quote was David's reaction:

Shameful and treasonous. Typical unmasked New York Times apologia for tyranny. This almost makes me want the commies to take over just so they can enact their predictable purge of the "intelligentsia."

Anybody still think we can reason with cancer?

David Codrea

Friedman strikes a dictatorial pose.

Well, scratch a liberal, get a communist, I always said. And, no I don't think you can reason with cancer or any other type of collectivism.

Mike
III

This is where Thomas Friedman, advocate of the common collectivist dictator, lives.

"What does he eat for breakfast?" asks Michael Collins.

"Why does he want to know what I eat for breakfast?"

PS: Best "get well" call from yesterday. At the height of my misery, Bob Wright called me. His question: "Nobody came up behind you and stuck you with an umbrella, did they?"

Very funny, Bob. Very funny.

"The stuff of her nightmares." Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Oliver, Hanging Effigies and Political Solutions by Small Arms Fire.

Andrew Oliver was the lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 28, 1706; died there, March 3, 1774. . . Oliver graduated from Harvard in 1724. He was chosen as a member of the general court, and afterward of the council. In 1748 he was sent with his brother-in-law, Governor Thomas Hutchinson, as a commissioner to the Albany congress that met to conclude peace with the heads of the Six Nations and arrange a rectification of the frontier. In 1756 he was appointed secretary of the province.

When the British parliament passed the stamp-act he made himself odious to the patriotic party by accepting the office of distributor of stamps. He was re-elected a councilor by a bare majority on August 14, 1765. An effigy of him was hung between figures of Lord Bute and George Grenville, on the large elm called the “liberty tree.” In the evening the multitude, with cries of “Liberty, property, and no stamps!” demolished the structure that was being built for a stamp office. Oliver’s life was in danger, and the next morning he signed a public pledge that he would not act as stamp-officer.

A few months later there was a rumor that he intended to enforce the stamp-act, and on the day of the opening of parliament the Sons of Liberty compelled him to march to the tree and there renew his promise in a speech, and take oath before a justice of the peace, Richard Dana, that he would never, directly or indirectly, take measures for the collection of the stamp duty.

In 1770 he was appointed lieutenant-governor, his letters, with those of Hutchinson and others, recommending the dispatch of troops to this country, and the criminal prosecution of Samuel Adams and other patriots, were shown to Benjamin Franklin (q. v.) in England, as expressions from Americans of weight and station. Party feelings ran so high at the time of his death, that Hutchinson says “A large mob attended upon his interment and hurrahed at the entombing of his body, and that night there was an exhibition at a public window of a coffin, and insignia of infamy.”

I thought about Andrew Oliver when I read this by Glenn Thrush at Polico.com.

September 17, 2009

Categories: Bad Behavior

Pelosi warns right of inciting "violence" — invoking Harvey Milk murder

An uncharacteristically emotional Nancy Pelosi is warning Republicans — and other groups getting whipped up over the health care debate — not to incite unstable supporters who might repeat acts of violence that struck San Francisco in the 1970s.

A top Pelosi aide later confirmed reporters' suggestions that her statement was a reference to the City Hall murder of gay rights activist Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in November 1978 — an earth-shattering experience for Bay Area Democrats like the speaker.

Pelosi stumbled when asked about Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst and its impact on civility in the House, momentarily overcome by emotion.

"I think we all have to take action and responsibility for our words — we are a free country and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we, um, have to carefully balance," said Pelosi, who made no direct mention of Republicans.

A House leadership aide later told me that Democrats have become increasingly concerned by the ratcheting up of rhetoric on both sides — and particularly alarmed by the recent hanging in effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) by a tea party activist on the Eastern Shore.



"I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco, this king of rhetoric. ... It created a climate in which violence took place. ... I wish we would all curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements and understand that some of the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statements may assume."

Pelosi, according to her spokesman, Nadeam Elshami, was referring to Supervisor Dan White's murder of Milk and Moscone, the basis for last year's film "Milk."

She added: "You have to take responsibility for any incitement that [the speaker's words] may cause."

The speaker, who served as California state party chairwoman before being elected to the House, was a gay rights advocate who attended Milk's funeral.

Ironically, the most notorious act of violence to afflict the health care debate was the recent scrum between a pro-reform protester and a tea party activist in which the liberal bit off part of the conservative's finger after being punched in the face.

The Pelosi scrap mirrors an earlier fight. In April, the Department of Homeland Security set off a firestorm of protest when it acknowledged it had produced a report titled: "Right-Wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," which warned that right-wing groups could be spurred to violence by the election of the nation's first African-American president.

Republicans — still upset at Pelosi's charge that disruptions by town hall protesters were "un-American" — were quick to take issue.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) is the first House GOPer to take issue with Pelosi's contention that the vehemence of anti-health care reform rhetoric could lead to a wave of violence akin to that which hit San Francisco in the '70s:

“Speaker Pelosi is right that the American people are upset, but it is her own words that continue to fuel voter frustration in America," Sessions said in a statement sent to POLITICO. "No longer content with criticizing concerned citizens for being ‘un-American,’ the Speaker is now likening genuine opposition to assassination. Such insulting rhetoric not only undermines the credibility of her office, but it underscores the desperate attempt by her party to divert attention away from a failing agenda."

Sessions, who raised eyebrows earlier this year by suggesting the House GOP minority needed to adapt the insurgent politics of the Taliban, added: "During one of the most important policy debates of our time, the American people have been completely abandoned by those elected representatives under her control. Voters are justifiably frustrated with Washington, and the Speaker's verbal assault on voters accomplishes nothing other than furthering her reputation for being wildly out of touch with the American people.”

Of course, as we see above, hanging in effigy is a grand old American free speech tradition. Here's a recent example of a leftie hanging Sarah Palin in effigy:



Now this is fair, although neither side will admit it when they themselves are hung in effigy. I wouldn't be surprised if "Waco Jim" Cavanaugh, Jody "The Witch" Keeku or James P. "Little Jimmy" Vann didn't each keep some sort of hanging effigy, or, in the case of Keeku as a rumored practicioner of the dark arts, a voodoo doll, of yours truly. I don't bother with hanging effigies of them, of course. What could surpass my words as weapons? ;-)

But it is, I think, more than hanging effigies that move Nancy Pelosi to becoming "uncharacteristically emotional." Pelosi could care less if people came to her funeral to cheer, as they did with Andrew Oliver.

No, Pelosi is concerned about something near and dear to every heathen politician's heart -- her own life. This is her concern: that Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk were killed before their time (ironically by another Democrat, but I'm sure in Pelosi's mind that fact is conveniently forgotten). As her memory contracts to that one vignette -- standing by their graves, with dirt soon to be shoveled over the coffins containing their dead faces -- I'm sure that even today, Pelosi brushes a few stray particles of the imaginary dirt from her own face with a shudder.

She should not be so revealing about the stuff of her nightmares.

Someday, as the result of the deadly policies she endorses and advances, someone might, with justice on their mind, introduce her to her own personal boogeyman.

And THAT would be a tragedy for all concerned.

Mike
III

Obama channels Animal House in foreign policy. The thing is, only the Russians are laughing.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact dividing up Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Otter: Flounder, you can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f-cked up - you trusted us! . . .

Bluto: [thrusting six-pack into Flounder's hands] My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.

-- Animal House, 1978.

Folks,

I predicted this over a year and a half ago. It gives me no solace to see that I was right. After the Peters' article be sure and read Brian Faughnan's comments over at RedState.com.

Mike
III

Obama feeds allies to bear

By Ralph Peters
New York Post, September 18, 2009

STILL determined to "push the reset button with Rus sia," President Obama hit the delete key on our allies in Eastern Europe.

Obama's decision to abandon missile defense as we know it, cutting the throats of Poland and the Czech Republic, handed Moscow's hard-liners their biggest win since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin insisted all along that we'd never be permitted to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in the former Soviet empire. He was right.

And Obama got nothing in return. No Russian commitments on Iran's nuclear program. No sovereignty guarantees for Georgia. No restrictions on arms sales to Venezuela. Not even a bearhug.

Yesterday, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained the rationale for ending our plan to deploy a high-tech radar system and anti-missile interceptors to Eastern Europe, every military argument he advanced was absolutely correct. But, in strategic terms, the decision's a disaster.

The move to kill this program was a White House attempt to toss a bone to the extreme left, which has always hated missile defense. (Why defend ourselves, when we're the enemy?) For that, Obama betrayed the trust of allies who'd done all they could to please us.

The Poles spent enormous political capital to convince their citizens to risk this deployment. They've backed us consistently in NATO and the UN. They sent combat troops to support us in Iraq.

The Czechs also fought our political battles for us, supporting our foreign wars and siding with us in international forums -- angering West European powers.

Now add Poland and the Czech Republic to the list of allies, such as Israel and Honduras, that we've thrown to the wolves. Obama's foreign policy embodies a line from "Animal House": "You [screwed] up -- you trusted us!"

But the worst thing is how this decision's read in Moscow. Putin, Russia's new czar, sees this as a triumph of his will over Obama's weak, retreating US. And he's right.

Thus it came to pass that, 70 years to the day after the Red Army invaded Poland, Warsaw's residents heard the news of this US betrayal and the implicit message that, yes, Eastern Europe still belongs in Moscow's sphere of influence.

If you're a citizen of Ukraine, Georgia or even the NATO-member Baltic states, you must be shuddering. You thought NATO and the US were serious about your right to live in freedom?

Better dig that Latvian-Russian dictionary out of the attic.

The last thing we needed to do was to further encourage Putin to believe he's all-knowing and invincible. But that's just what we've done.

To be fair, the entire debacle has been a bipartisan mess.

I, for one, never believed this was the right system at the right place and time.

The technology was immature, and Iran's a regional, not an intercontinental, problem. But conservatives who believe that any hyperexpensive weapon system deserves automatic support shoved it down our throats and those of our allies. (It's not just the left that damages our defense.)

Once the Bush administration committed to the deployment, I grudgingly supported it: We couldn't hang the East Europeans out to dry after strong-arming them for commitments.

Now the Obama administration's made the mess immeasurably worse. It's a lose-lose situation for us -- and for our allies.

Moscow believes we just signed over a new lease on Eastern Europe. And we didn't even get a tin of caviar. Will the Obama-Putin Act go down in history as the post-modern Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

And here are Brian's comments.

Obama Loses Poland

Posted by Brian Faughnan

Thursday, September 17th at 12:15PM EDT

No commentary necessary:

Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Lech Walesa, has spoken out about media reports that the US has scrapped plans to install a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“Americans have always cared only about their interests, and all other [countries] have been used for their purposes. This is another example,” Mr Walesa told TVN24. “[Poles] need to review our view of America, we must first of all take care of our business,” he added.

“I could tell from what I saw, what kind of policies President Obama cultivates,” the former president added. “I simply don’t like this policy, not because this shield was required [in Poland], but [because of] the way we were treated,” he concluded.

Why can’t Lech Walesa get a little perspective? After all, Poland isn’t the first US ally to go under the Obamabus. As one friend of mine said:

Honduras, Colombia, Poland, Czech Republic - If you’re a small country menaced by a big tyrant, we’ll kick you right in the teeth.

I suspect Taiwan, South Korea, and Israel are taking note.

A Cautionary Note on ACORN's Public Defunding.

This is all very well, to be sure, and we know that more spectacular headlines are coming from the efforts of the dynamic duo of guerrilla film makers. But though ACORN may no longer DIRECTLY receive tax dollars and even if a politician or two who got too close to their corruption pit gets dragged down into the excrement, ACORN, under whatever name, WILL GO ON.

They only get something like 2% of their funding from the government anyway, and George Soros will certainly make up the difference.

Why?

Because ACORN is critical to the overall plan of stealing the 2010 and 2012 elections. It is of a piece with moving the Census into the White House, etc.

So dance and clap as you watch the headlines (and I will join you), especially those soon to come. But know that ACORN is not going away. Neither is the Obamanoids' lust for power. This is a but skirmish in a much larger war.

Mike
III

Threeper Battle Flags: Get 'em while you can.

Folks,

Events, seen and unseen, have been building toward another letter by me to Eric Holder. With it I will enclose a Nyberg Battle Flag. When you read why, I think you will all get a kick out of it. In the meantime, you too can get a flag to hang on your wall, fly at the next Tea Party or put back for that victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue sometime in the future.

My buddy Pete at WRSA has this post offering Three Percent flags for sale.

He says:

III Flags Now Available

As last seen waving in DC on 9/12 in defiance of the national socialists in Congress and the White House, these are the first run of the Nyberg Battle Flag, also known as the III Flag.

As I advised here, the colors are even a little more subdued than they appear above -- both the blue and the red are too faded for the flag to appear new. Hence, we've decided to make these available at the great price below so that the proceeds can be recycled into another run with better colors.

But tell me true -- these III flags look pretty darned good here, don't they?

And they look equally good in person, as well.

Price is $10 USD, including return postage. Cash or USPS money orders only; this is a low-drama enterprise.

Send your order today to:

WRSA
860 Johnson Ferry Road
Suite 140
Atlanta, GA 30342

Turnaround time will be as fast as I can make it, but no promises, other than you will get what you have paid to get. Email questions to westernshooters@gmail.com.

No refunds, either -- you want 'em, you got 'em, as is.

Let's move 'em out, boys and girls.

Buy a couple and fly them to frost the biscuits on Barry and Eric.

You know you want to....

Dark Thoughts -- Misadventure, Spasm & Decapitation. How I spent Constitution Day.

Morgan: They pushed us too far! They didn't think we'd fight, no matter what they did!

Julian Osborne: And they were wrong. We fought. We expunged them. And we didn't do such a bad job on ourselves.

-- On the Beach, 1959.

I am ashamed to admit that Wretched Dog had to remind me that today, 17 September, is Constitution Day. I must also confess my tired skepticism that we will see another such anniversary without violence initiated by an arrogant, ignorant, out-of-control administration who see that tattered, battered old Columbia as just another prospective government gang-rape victim.

Today I read some internal ATF documents that cannot be publicized for now, yet they convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the agency is as rogue at this moment as it ever was.

The failure of successive administrations of both parties to rein in these armed bureaucrats can only lead to deadly, bloody misadventure which will trigger a murderous spasm unlike anything yet seen in this country's long history of periodic civil strife.

The thing is, once started, the regime will find it almost impossible to stop on any terms besides their own unconditional surrender as they would be fighting an enraged but dispersed network insurgency. It is likely that after a few weeks of such blood-letting, the administration will be unable to find anybody left alive with sufficient influence among the insurgents with whom they can negotiate an end to the horror. The fact of the matter is that they would have done their best to kill the folks they would need to stop what they started.

And they will want to stop it, oh, yes, out of concern for their own miserable hides if nothing else.

For they will have provoked a conflict that will not be directed at the war-fighters, the grunts, even those in the outnumbered federal police, but rather at the war-makers, i.e. themselves.

In this they have only Bill Clinton to blame. When the Philanderer in Chief, frustrated with Serbian intransigence in 1999, changed the rules of engagement to include the political leadership, news media and the intellectual underpinning of his enemy's war effort, he accidentally filed suit under the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Serbians knuckled under, yes. But the rest of the world took note, including us. I assure you, the appeal to the higher court of history in that case has yet to be decided.



Back in May, the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation held a seminar in the Reuben W. Hills Conference Room on the second floor of Encina Hall.

There, Patrick Johnston, PhD Candidate from the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University and a predoctoral fellow at CISAC, presented a paper entitled The Effectiveness of Leadership Decapitation in Counterinsurgency.

His dissertation examines the military effectiveness of civilian targeting in civil wars. He has published articles on the organization of insurgencies, spoiler dynamics in peace processes, and the political economy of civil war in journals such as Security Studies, Civil Wars, Canadian Journal of African Studies, and Review of African Political Economy. Johnston holds a BA in political science from the University of Minnesota, Morris and an MA in political science from Northwestern University.

Patrick Johnston is considered by some to be the Pentagon's "bright boy of the month." From the first page of his presentation:

Leadership decapitation is a high-profile tactic that involves the the capture or killing of top insurgent leaders. It is frequently used against guerrilla insurgencies: in the past two centuries, top insurgent leaders have been killed or captured in just under 50 percent of counterinsurgency campaigns. Yet we know little about the nature of the relationship between leadership decapitation and counterinsurgency effectiveness. Is capturing or killing insurgencies' leader(s) an effective tactic? Or is it counterproductive, radicalizing insurgent movements, strengthening their resolve, and making them more difficult to defeat? Or does it have no effect at all?

The general consensus is that leadership decapitation of guerrilla groups is ineffective. These conclusions should give scholars pause: they are based on unsystematic research designs, minimal empirical data, and incomparable units -- usually terrorist organizations or foreign leaders.

I argue that leadership decapitation is effective. Decapitation provides numerous marginal benefits, weakening and disrupting insurgent organizations and making them more likely to be defeated.

Go to the link and read if you must, but Johnston is as wrong as he can be when comparing past history to 4th Generation warfare, distributed networks and leaderless resistance, especially as will be practiced in the United States if it ever goes to war with itself.

He is wrong, but the powerful men and women he is writing for think he's right.

Unfortunately for them, in the situation the administration would find itself after Waco Two, the "decapitation" strategy would for them more resemble Russian Roulette played with an automatic pistol.

Hypothetical: They kill some of us, at first accidentally perhaps, but almost immediately thereafter intentionally. The spasm of defensive killing begins, targeted at their leadership. They spasm in return. They would not be able to scuttle into their "green zones" fast enough. For each clumsy attack on us, they receive a lesson in the 500 meter war, one bullet (or many bullets) at a time. They commit "collateral damage" of our innocents, we stay within the rules of engagement and kill only war-planners and war-wagers.

I have asked this question before. They will fight to the last ATF agent or to the last oath-breaking soldier. Will they fight to the first senior bureaucrat, the second Congressman, the third newspaper editor, the fourth Senator, the fifth White House aide? Can they stand Bill Clinton's rules of engagement?

These are the stakes for them, though they do not understand it.

And once they start it, they will find it impossible to stop, until they surrender unconditionally or personally face the music themselves.

Forgive me these dark thoughts, my friends, on this Constitution Day. They are occasioned by my glimpse today inside the minds of some taxpayer-supported jack booted thugs. They really are as venal, stupid, arrogant and dangerous as I feared.

As I read their innermost thoughts, freely expressed among themselves, I realized that all my efforts to prevent this madness from happening will very likely be mere cruel, futile self-deception on my part.

And given the arrogant, narcissistic master they now nominally serve, it is unlikely this will end with mere politics, but rather by what Clausewitz called "politics by other means."

May God forgive them.

For whoever is left standing with a rifle after the initial spasm that they start certainly won't.

"Leadership decapitation" indeed.

Their leadership. . . and their decapitation.

There's a fight coming.

They will start it.

Let's win.

Mike
III

Military to share classified intel with state and local fusion centers: And We Want to THANK YOU, BARACK!

Folks,

I would like to formally thank the Obamanoid administration for the lack of foresight illustrated by the action announced below. Please read this story, and meet me on the other side.

Military to share classified intel with state and local fusion centers

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, September 15, 2009

Correct me if I am wrong, but this must spell an unprecedented level of domestic intelligence sharing. One wonders, is the sharing between the DoD and fusion centers – which incorporate local, state and federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies — both ways? Again, a big disappointment coming from a new President who promised all sorts of sunshine into the creepy darkness of Bush-era law enforcement/domestic security policies, but seems to be instead pushing forward into the gloaming of his own administration full throttle. Considering his justice department has announced it is pretty much all settled to extend the three controversial Patriot Act provisions set to expire at the end of the year, and now this story out of DHS, it is really hard to make out the sliver of sunlight between Obama and his predecessor.

From the ACLU tonight:

Fusion Centers To Obtain Access To Classified Military Intelligence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 15, 2009

CONTACT: Mandy Simon, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that it was giving state and local fusion centers access to the classified military intelligence in Department of Defense (DOD) databases. The federal government has facilitated the growth of a network of fusion centers since 9/11 to expand information collection and sharing practices among law enforcement agencies, the private sector and the intelligence community.

Allowing fusion centers access to DOD classified information appears to be a shift in policy. The New York Times reported in July that “Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, said … that fusion centers were not intended to have a military presence, and that she was not aware of ones that did.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has long warned the government about the dangers posed by fusion centers without proper oversight and, in 2007, released a report entitled, “What’s Wrong With Fusion Centers?” The report, which was updated last year, identifies specific concerns with fusion centers, including their ambiguous lines of authority, the troubling role of private corporations, the participation of the military, the use of data mining and their excessive secrecy.

According to DHS, there were 70 fusion centers in the United States as of February 2009. It is unknown how many include military personnel.

The following can be attributed to Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“As fusion centers gain more and more access to Americans’ private information, the information about them being made available to the American public remains woefully inadequate. There is a stunning lack of oversight at these fusion centers and, as we’ve seen, these centers are rapidly becoming a breeding ground for overzealous intelligence activities. Opening the door for domestic law enforcement to gain access to classified military intelligence coupled with no guidelines restricting the military’s role in fusion centers is a recipe for disaster.

“Congress must take the necessary steps to ensure that a thorough and rigorous oversight mechanism is in place to ensure that Americans’ most sensitive information is protected. Without proper guidelines, fusion centers will continue to threaten our privacy while doing nothing to improve security.”

To read the ACLU’s report, “What’s Wrong With Fusion Centers,” go to: www.aclu.org/fusion

Now this only matters to anyone who thinks that we still operate under the rule of law and the Founders' Constitution where the old rules which heretofore have obtained still apply -- you know, like ACLU bedwetting types. Three Percenters however understand that with the accession of the Obamanoids to power, the war against the liberty and property of the people has begun. We are through the looking glass here, and I for one am grateful that the Obamanoids have taken the decision to open the computer databases of the United States military to US.

Who do you think staffs these "fusion" centers? In most cases, at the grunt level, it is by men and women who still remember their oaths. When the deal gets really raw -- as more and more people begin to see that the feds are indeed waging a war on their own people for the aggrandizement of the power and money of an elite few -- these fusion centers will become a prime source of freedom fighter intelligence.

Databases, like tracers, work both ways -- both for real intelligence and for system vulnerability.

Just as the militarization of the police has put military hardware closer to the hands of the people (it is no longer necessary to raid a military base to get what you may need), the distribution of federal police and military intelligence to the local level makes what they know more easily available to US.

So, President Obama, I want to THANK YOU!

You and I both know that the war has unofficially begun, and I for one am appreciative of the fact that you just opened your fly to critical inspection of the contents therein.

The problem with the criminal, whether he's a freelance pickpocket or a government tyrant operating under color of law is HE NEVER KNOWS WHO HE CAN TRUST.

Inconvenient things, aren't they?

Oaths, I mean.

For an oath to the Constitution is only seditious to tyranny.

So thanks, again, Barack.

And have a nice day!

Mike Vanderboegh
III