Hutaree

2010_4_03 Hutaree
A week ago a prominent Arizona rancher in southern Arizona, Robert Krentz, was shot to death while out on his ranch of 30,000 acres by himself. He was known to give food and water to illegal aliens crossing his property. It is not known if one turned on him or if the killer was a drug smuggler. Shortly after Krentz’s death 300 ranchers and friends gathered in Portal in the Chiricahuas to discuss the matter and what to do about it. They decided to demand troops along the border as the situation was going from bad to worse. The fear was the violence caused by the drug cartels in Mexico was sweeping across the border. In Tucson home invasions were replacing car-jacking as the fashionable crime of choice. A Mexican American husband and wife were shot to death this week when someone invaded their home looking for drugs. Two children were left without parents. Even in the middle class neighborhood where my daughter Kai lives with her family experienced a home invasion two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the Arizona legislature, a travesty and a joke controlled by Republicans, is trying to pass a law that carrying concealed weapons should be legal. Jan Brewer, the Republican governor who replaced Janet Napolitano, has shredded social services in the state, which were ranked just below Mississippi before that, all in a fanatical effort to cut spending and balance the budget. At the same time she has given the okay to Arizona joining something like 15 other states who are trying legal means to repeal the Health Care Bill that Congress passed last month. Arizona’s attorney general, Terry Goddard, a Democrat, has refused to join the action because he regards it as a futile political gesture that wastes taxpayer’s money, something the Republicans are constantly bitching about. In southern Michigan a Christian militia called Hutaree or “Christian Warriors” was busted this week; nine members of the gang were taken into custody when a mole planted by the FBI reported they were close to killing some police officers in an attempt to start a widespread insurrection against the Feds. They were certain other right wing groups would join in once they saw the battle was begun. Two days after that we received in the mail a special report from a group Sue has donated money to for some time, Southern Poverty Law Center, who were publishing a magazine totally devoted to one issue, “The Rage on the Right: The Year in Hate and Extremism.” I had seen Mark Potok on Rachel Maddow’s Show on Thursday night; he was the main editor of the special report and the writer of two articles in the report. It reinforced the opinion offered last year by Homeland Security that Right Wing groups were increasing in number and virulence. A dramatic resurgence of extreme groups has occurred since Obama entered the White House and after the recession hit the hardest, the totals going from 149 to 512, including 42 new militias. That is an increase of 244%. About 60% of the groups are rooted in the South. The Hutaree were listed as an “active hate group.”
As a token of how aggressive some of the groups are becoming is something exemplified by an article I read in the Arizona Star this morning. The AP reported that a group known as The Guardians of the Republic have sent letters to 30 governors demanding they resign ASAP to reduce the size of government, and if they don’t they “will be removed” by other means. Government is the main complaint among the far right groups. The threat of violence is implicit in the letter so in some states extra security has been put in place. A Republican doctor in central Florida put a sign on his office door that said the following:” If you voted for Obama seek urological care elsewhere.” Not what I would call ethical behavior. It’s just one more indication of the sharp divide between political opinions and groups. And finally there are the demagogues on radio and television, the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and their spawn who roil the base daily with their hothouse opinions and misinformation. They specialize in reckless rhetoric with violent implications for which they rarely take responsibility for. But they could care less what liberal critics might say. Limbaugh, for example, makes millions as an ‘entertainer.’ It’s a perfect cover for a scoundrel.