Meet the Oath Keepers - Defenders of White Middle America?
Conservative icon Pat Buchanan, writing in the World Nut Daily, has seen fit to introduce his readers to a new group of conservative activists called the Oath Keepers. Think of them as Teabaggers on crack.
According to Buchanan's article, the Oath Keepers, "are ex-military and police who repledge themselves to defend the Constitution, even if it means disobeying orders. If the U.S. government ordered law enforcement agencies to violate Second Amendment rights by disarming the people, Oath Keepers will not obey." Buchanan quotes the group's leader as saying, "We say if the American people decide it's time for a revolution, we'll fight with you."
Good to know that we have an armed trained group who is willing to take the law into their own hands.
Buchanan's article includes a tired litany of progressives' sins, but he also thinks the Oath Keeper movement might be partly a result of Middle (white) America's perceived loss of a country that once belonged to them. He quoted the National Journal's Ron Brownstein:
"Whites are not only more anxious, but also more alienated. Big majorities of whites say the past year's turmoil has diminished their confidence in government, corporations and the financial industry. ... Asked which institution they trust most to make economic decisions in their interest, a plurality of whites older than 30 pick 'none' – a grim statement."
Of goodly white Middle America, Buchanan opined, "America was once their country. They sense they are losing it. And they are right."
Well, Pat, not really. You see, first of all, America was never really meant to belong to any one particular segment of the overall population. (Okay, those who truly lament the failure of the Confederacy might argue otherwise...) And secondly, the fact that white Middle America must coexist with other races and creeds is a threat only to the most ignorant and fearful. Finally, that Wall Street is fleecing America left and right and American jobs are being off-shored while illegal immigrants undercut low-skilled job seekers are all really just byproducts of an environment of deregulation and the high cost to American workers of the "free" market; traditional conservative bastions.
In short, these fearful and paranoid white Middle Americans who have supported the Republicans and their polices for decades are the very people who helped create the mess we're in. If they feel that they're losing their way, perhaps they should stop blaming the nameless faceless Others and look in the mirror.
Oh, and I have just one question: Who will keep the Oath Keepers honest?
