It's been fascinating to watch Republicans in Missouri attempting to
pass "nullification" laws intended to negate federal authority on gun
control -- because in doing so, they are demonstrating themselves fully
in the thrall of the far-right "Patriot"/militia movement of the 1990s,
and are indeed enacting some of its fondest fantasies.
The
New York Times has the story, though of course not the
whole story:
Unless a handful of wavering Democrats change their
minds, the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature is expected to
enact a statute next month nullifying all federal gun laws in the state
and making it a crime for federal agents to enforce them here. A
Missourian arrested under federal firearm statutes would even be able to
sue the arresting officer.
Lawmakers are considering whether to override a veto of a gun bill by
Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri, who considered the bill unconstitutional.
The law amounts to the most far-reaching states’ rights endeavor in
the country, the far edge of a growing movement known as “nullification”
in which a state defies federal power.
The Missouri Republican Party thinks linking guns to nullification works well, said
Matt Wills, the party’s director of communications, thanks in part to
the push by President Obama for tougher gun laws. “It’s probably one of
the best states’ rights issues that the country’s got going right now,”
he said.
So this is an official Republican effort. And sure enough,
the story eventually gets around to hinting at where this is all coming from:
Still, other states have passed gun laws that challenge
federal power; a recent wave began with a Firearms Freedom Act in
Montana that exempts from federal regulations guns manufactured there
that have not left the state.
Gary Marbut, a gun rights advocate in Montana who wrote the Firearms Freedom Act,
said that such laws were “a vehicle to challenge commerce clause
power,” the constitutional provision that has historically granted broad
authority to Washington to regulate activities that have an impact on
interstate commerce. His measure has served as a model that is spreading
to other states. Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit struck down Montana’s law, calling it “pre-empted and
invalid.”
A law passed this year in Kansas has also been compared to the
Missouri law. But Kris W. Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state,
disagreed, saying it had been drafted “very carefully to ensure that
there would be no situation where a state official would be trying to
arrest a federal official.”
Longtime Orcinus readers may recall just who Gary Marbut is. He first popped up on our radar here in 2009,
when he appeared on a Glenn Beck show on Fox promoting these same "nullification" concepts
(see the video above). But he has been on the radar of people who
monitor far-right extremists for many long years, because he is in fact
one of the founders and earliest proponents of the "militia" concept:
Marbut, you see, has been a fixture on the far right in
Montana for many years. He's never actually been elected to any office
at all, though he has run numerous times, because Montanans are all too
well aware just how radical a nutcase the guy is.
For instance, Marbut in the 1990s tried organizing Patriot neighborhood watches:
Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA),
outlined the basics of his plans in an message distributed by the
Militia of Montana's e-mail list. He suggested that when "patriots" form
groups they shouldn't call themselves gun clubs. Instead they should
adopt the label of neighborhood watch. Marbut said this title will not
"raise nearly as many red flags" in communities. Neighborhood Watch
could also be used for "organizations formed for RKBA [right to keep and
bear arms] political-action."
Marbut, a frequent contributor to MOM's e-mail list, didn't stop
with just gun issues. He said firearms, along with "communications,
organizations, and supply" could also be incorporated into Neighborhood
Watch. Within Marbut's concept, being a good neighbor appears to takes
on a certain level of survivalist mentality. Marbut urged people to
coordinate these activities with the local sheriff. Randy Trochmann, one
of the militia's co-founders and the moderator of MOM's e-mail list,
said Marbut's suggestions were "good advice."
MSSA has promoted several other interesting ideas over the years.
In 1994, MSSA proposed an initiative to revitalize the Montana Recall
Act. The act would have allowed voters to "throw the rascals [public
officials] out" in Marbut's words. MSSA was trying to recall Sen. Max
Baucus because of his support for a ban on certain assault weapons.
Later that year, MSSA suggested Montana secede from the United States
because the federal government had banned the possession of assault
rifles by civilians. In 1995, MSSA supported a resolution that would
have legalized "unorganized militias," another term for groups like the
Militia of Montana. MSSA's public battle against Baucus returned in 1996
when it ran a full-page advertisement in the Helena Independent Record.
The ad featured a picture of a saluting Adolf Hitler with the words
"All in favor of 'gun control' raise your right hand" printed
underneath. The ad then ridiculed Sen. Baucus, inaccurately comparing
his position on gun control to Hitler's and asking readers to "Ban
Baucus, Not guns."
Marbut wasn't merely involved in the militias -- he also played footsie with Christian Identity activists:
One of Marbut's columns appeared in the
January/February issues of The Jubilee. The Jubilee is a white
supremacist newspaper which caters to Christian Identity followers.
Christian Identity, based on a racist interpretation of the Bible, holds
that Jews are the literal children of Satan, and people of color are
subhuman "mud people."
Attributed to the Sierra Times, Marbut's article is about Montana
rejecting the Gun Free School Zones Act -- the federal law that made it
a criminal offense to travel within 1,000 feet of a school while
possessing a firearm. Marbut claims the MSSA drafted a successful bill
declaring that the Montana Constitution guarantees the right to keep and
bear arms to all law-abiding adults thus exempting them from the
federal law. Marbut writes that "the people of Montana remain protected
from the silliness of the Congressional act by the intervention of the
Montana Legislature." He also said the new law "pulls the rug out from
under any would-be federal prosecution."
In February, a column by Marbut was published by the Sierra
Times. Based in Nevada, the Sierra Times is the newest project of
long-time militia activist J.J. Johnson. In the mid 1990s, Johnson was a
regular in militia circles. He was the main force behind the Ohio
Unorganized Militia, and, since he is African American, the militia
movement uses him to deflect charges of racism.
And he's actively promoted tax-resistance-style jury nullification:
Gary Marbut, founder of the Montana Shooting Sports Association
(MSSA) and Republican candidate for Missoula's House District 69, wants
people to educate themselves in anti-government ideology. MSSA now
includes a link on its website to the Fully Informed Jury Association,
along with a note from Marbut saying FIJA is "the last peaceable barrier
between innocent gun owners and a tyrannous government." FIJA promotes
"jury nullification." The concept says individual jurors can judge, not
just the evidence in a court case, but the constitutionality of law. In
essence, it allows jurors to ignore laws they don't like, undermining
the judicial system. The Militia of Montana has sold videos by FIJA
"experts" like anti-Semite Red Beckman of Billings.
You can also see Marbut in this video:
As you can see, he remains very active in the "Tea Party" front, and indeed uses that platform as a significant way of
promoting his extremist ideas into the mainstream.
One of the originators of this legislation in the 1990s was a fellow named Charles Duke, as we
explained then:
This legislation is neither new nor innovative. It was
first proposed in the 1990s by Charles Duke, then a Republican state
senator from Colorado. Duke's blueprint has been picked up by all of
these would-be legislative insurgents. If you look, for example, at the
Minnesota effort, you'll find that Duke's thinking is guiding them on
this.
Who is Charles Duke?
A Colorado electrician turned politician, Charles
Duke was truly the militiaman's representative. Serving six years in the
state House and almost four in the state Senate, the Republican from
Monument was also honorary chairman of the National State Sovereignty
Coalition, a Patriot outfit. He wrote a weekly column for a key Patriot
publication, The Free American.
CharlesDuke_a3e94.JPG Duke once outraged constituents by asking a
crowd how many thought the federal government was behind the Oklahoma
City bombing. He told The Wall Street Journal that "an executive order
is being prepared by President Clinton to suspend the Bill of Rights."
He suggested that GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich was involved in
bugging his home.
And he tried to broker an end to the Montana Freeman
standoff.
Then came an epiphany. After a summer in a cabin hidden deep in
the woods, Duke emerged to say "the Lord God almighty" had suggested
that he drop out of politics and instead learn "how to survive in a
country devoid of freedom."
For a time, he did. But last year, he was spotted at "America's Tea Party 2000," a kind of conspiracy theorists' convention.
As you can see, the "Tea Party" idea isn't exactly new, either. But
even more disturbing was how Duke went about promoting his proposals.
The Anti-Defamation League has a rundown:
Duke, a Republican State Senator in Colorado, has spoken at
rallies of far-right anti-government activists and has made supportive
statements about the activities of militia groups. Duke has been
described as a leader of the Tenth Amendment Movement, which refers to a
provision of the Constitution that addresses the relationship between
the Federal Government and the states. According to The Wall Street
Journal, the Tenth Amendment Movement is "an amalgam of small-town
populists, gun enthusiasts, old Ross Perot supporters and private
militias who share a deep distrust, almost a hatred of the Federal
government."
Duke has stated: "The few militia people I know practice a policy
of nonviolence... not altogether different from a Boy Scout kind of
idea."
He has described himself as a "zealot" and a "revolutionary."
At a meeting of far-right activists in July 1994, Duke said: "We
need some ability to get some firepower to protect the citizens. I would
like to see a militia... [the type] that functions as a sheriff's posse
and has sufficient training."
... In March 1995, he was a featured speaker at the Voice of
Liberty Patriots conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The event was planned
by Rick Tyler, a leader in the anti-tax Constitutionalist movement, who
has told listeners of his shortwave radio show that government agencies
are "ruthless, they are cunning, they are cutthroat, and furthermore, we
are their target."
In June 1994, Duke spoke at a conference sponsored by the
Kansas-based "Constitutionists," whose leader, Evan Meacham, is the
impeached former governor of Arizona. Duke promoted the formation of
militias as an effective way for citizens to protect themselves from the
government.
In June 1995, he attended a Nevada Sovereignty Committee
conference in Las Vegas, where he harshly criticized the federal
government: "The tyranny of King George is alive and well and living in
America today."
Most notably, Duke found an ardent following with the
white-supremacist Christian Identity movement, appearing on the
movement's main shortwave radio program and submitting to interviews
with its newspaper, The Jubilee:
Duke was a featured guest on The Jubilee's shortwave program,
"NewsLight," when he promoted the Tenth Amendment Resolution. The
Jubilee is a bi-monthly newspaper filled with anti-Semitic, racist and
anti-government rhetoric. The newspaper is also affiliated with the
Identity movement, which identifies whites of European ancestry as the
"true chosen people," blacks as "mud people" and Jews as "Satan's
spawn."
Duke was scheduled to be a featured speaker at The Jubilee's 1994
"Jubilation Celebration" conference. He backed out at the last minute.
Duke also was brought out to Jordan, Montana, in 1996 during the
81-day FBI standoff with the Montana Freemen to negotiate, since he was
one of the few public officials the Freemen trusted. Duke failed, though
of course the Freemen eventually surrendered peacefully anyway.
A third major figure in promoting "nullification" has been another far-right legislator named Charles Key, who appeared
back in 2009 on Neil Cavuto's show:
Cavuto's segment featured an interview with Charles Key,
an Oklahoma legislator who has been similarly involved with
Patriot-movement radicalism since the 1990s.
For instance, Key was heavily involved in promoting conspiracy theories in the 1990s
that claimed that the federal government was actually behind the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing that was in reality perpetrated by an adherent of
Patriot movement ideology. He even convened a grand jury to investigate
the matter, and when the resulting investigation completely debunked his
theory, he denounced it:
The county grand jury orchestrated by a
conspiracy-minded former state legislator and the grandfather of two
bombing victims has concluded that there was no evidence of a larger
conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Even before the report was made public in December, former state
Rep. Charles Key was attacking the body he helped to create by leading a
petition drive, claiming jurors had ignored evidence of a government
coverup. The grand jury found no evidence that federal agents had prior
knowledge of the plot; that members of a white supremacist compound in
eastern Oklahoma were involved; or that two bombs, rather than one, were
used — all key conspiracy theories.
The state attorney general and the local district attorney, who
both had opposed formation of the grand jury, welcomed the results, as
did the grand jury's presiding judge, William Burkett.
As it happens, these activities were underwritten by a rich right-winger who subscribed to the conspiracy theories.
Now, it's one thing to point out the radical origins of these
"constitutional theories." But it's also important to understand where
they want to take us -- to a radically decentralized form of government
that was first suggested in the 1970s by the far-right Posse Comitatus
movement.
They essentially argue for a constitutional originalism that would
not only end the federal income tax, destroy all civil-rights laws, and
demolish the Fed, but would also re-legalize slavery, strip women of the
right to vote, and remove the principle of equal protection under the
law.
That's what Missouri Republicans have now aligned themselves with.
Indeed, the Patriot movement is being mainstreamed in front of our very
eyes, and yet we have a media incapable of recognizing this phenomenon,
let alone reporting on it.
As for those Missouri Democrats who voted for this abomination, well,
as the NYT story says, they have one last chance to redeem themselves:
In Missouri, State Representative Jacob Hummel, a St.
Louis Democrat and the minority floor leader, said that he was working
to get Democrats who voted for the bill to vote against overriding the
veto. “I think some cooler heads will prevail in the end,” he said, “but
we will see.”
It will be as fascinating to watch how the mainstream media cover
this as it will be to watch the descent of the Republican Party into the
abyss.
Cross-posted at Crooks and Liars.
