PRESENTLY TENSE
What’s in a name?

Modern Minutemen can’t talk their way out of their moniker’s past

Remember way back in April when creepy paranoids Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox, fabricators of the Minutemen Project, fooled the laziest mainstream media outlets into marketing a couple hundred ignorant, cranky crackers as the vanguard of a bold, new movement of polite vigilantes concerned about immigration issues? In the dominant discourse, the Minutemen’s disavowal of racism went unchallenged. Even the impotent Governator, trying to hustle some California far-right brownie points, felt comfortable claiming the Minutemen were doing a “terrific job.”

For the most part, only astute monitors of hate groups, anti-racist coalitions and independent journalists identified the glaring similarities between the Minutemen and previous racist vigilantes of the Southwest such as the Klan Border Patrol of the early ’80s, whose members bragged to an undercover police infiltrator that they’d beheaded and buried clandestine border crossers. But when the hurricanes blew in, and the 2,000th soldier in Iraq blew up, the Minutemen media blitz blew away.

The Minutemen themselves didn’t, however. Gilchrist came in third, running as an independent in the O.C.’s 48th congressional district primary race in October, receiving nearly as many votes as Democratic candidate Marilyn Brewer, and though he lost the Dec. 6 special election, he polled a disturbing 25 percent.Two nights after the loss, a beaming Gilchrist told border-obsessed Lou Dobbs on CNN that he will announce at the end of January his plan to run again.

Meanwhile, he and Simcox have continued to organize and encourage border rallies and expand their ranks to include even more pistol-toting rednecks to sit in lawn chairs, chug Coors Light and courageously point out poverty-stricken job-seekers to the Border Patrol, whose ambivalence toward such “help” is well-documented.

The racists have also begun to branch out to the non-border states, where they spy on folks being hired for jobs they themselves would never do. At this point, the Minutemen have perhaps enough members to fill a section of the bleachers at a rodeo, but they won’t release a list of their members, so it’s almost as hard to count them as it is to count the men, women and children who’ve died or disappeared as victims of vigilantes at the border since hate groups began patrolling it in the 1920s.

Back in the day, in order to prevent the growing Mexican/Jewish conspiracy to force white Christian Americans into eating tortillas and bagels instead of Wonderbread, the San Diego chapter of the KKK “began to merge with like-minded organizations such as The Silver Shirts League, The MinuteMen and the White Guards.”

You read it right. According to Carlos Larralde and Richard Griswold del Castillo, in their essay on the legacy of our hometown Klan in The Journal of San Diego History, a local, anti-immigrant, racist group identified itself as the Minutemen more than 70 years ago. Turns out our current crop of self-proclaimed defenders of America are by no means the first racists to appropriate the moniker of the young Massachusetts militiamen of the American Revolution—they’re just the first to closet their racism.

How racist were the old-school Minutemen? L. David Russell, who actually criticizes Larralde and del Castillo for a lack of nuance in attacking the KKK, in his Copley Award-winning thesis on the San Diego Klan, agrees with them on at least this point: the Minutemen of the 1930s were a “militaristic, Nazi-inspired [group] dedicated to missions of violence” whose “obvious” similarity to the KKK was “racism.” The Minutemen were even worse than the Klan? Wow.

OK, but have any other local, white supremacist, immigrant-hating groups called themselves Minutemen since then? Why, yes, and, as my uncle used to say, reading from the Passover Haggadah, “I’m so touched by your question.” Seattle-based independent journalist and author David Niewert in his “Orcinus” blog, describes the 1960s incarnation of the Minutemen as extreme right-wingers who stockpiled weapons for an impending war between the white descendants of Adam and the communists who’d taken over the U.S. government. Their founder, Robert De Pugh, a felon convicted on charges of weapons stockpiling and child sexual molestation, led the Minutemen in terrorist acts, allegedly including schemes to blow up summer camps and put cyanide in air-conditioning ducts at a United Nations building in New York. Their plot to bomb a city hall building in Redmond, Wash., got De Pugh and his Minute-henchmen nabbed by the FBI and sent to prison.

Oh yeah, and they really, really didn’t like Jews or people of color. For example, one Minutemen member, neo-Nazi Keith Gilbert, wound up in San Quentin in 1965 for hording 1,500 pounds of dynamite in his Glendale home, with which he planned to assassinate Martin Luther King Jr. Years after his release, in the 1980s, he gained some more notoriety for spitting on a mentally retarded black girl.

Anti-fascist researcher Dave Emory argues that the Minutemen of the ’60s were “the most important of America’s paramilitary organizations” and a “prototype and direct precursor of the modern militia movement [that] overlapped many domestic fascist organizations, such as the American Nazi Party, the Christian Defense League, Ku Klux Klan and National States Rights Party.” That overlap is well-represented by 1960s Minutemen member and local crackpot Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance, former Grand Dragon of the California Klan, and felon convicted in 1990 of inciting skinheads to murder an Ethiopian man in Portland, Ore.

Metzger bemoans today’s Minutemen for going “out of their way to claim not to be racist. They are hypocrites of the worst order. They go on and on that they want no racists among them. What a joke.” Metzger must be delighted that members of racist groups like the National Alliance show up at Minutemen rallies and fly swastika flags; that Bill Parmley, former Texas Minutemen leader, quit a few months ago and denounced the Minutemen as racists, citing comments made by members in support of shooting and dehydrating border crossers; and that our local Minutemen leader, Oceanside’s Jim Chase, admitted that his armed patrolling attracted “rogue” elements, likely responsible for the shootings that wounded two men at the border this summer.

What’s in a name? Sometimes a hell of a lot. Simcox and Gilchrist claim that their Minutemen “have no affiliation with, nor… accept any assistance by or interference from separatists, racists or supremacy groups or individuals,” but that’s lip service, public relations, a scam—and some mainstream media and right-wing politicians have fallen for it. They quote Sam Adams and paste illustrations of American revolutionaries on their website, sidestepping nearly a century of border-patrolling, immigrant-bashing, like-minded, bloodthirsty Nazis calling themselves Minutemen, as if they could start over fresh with the same name—not to mention tactics—and supposedly expunge it of its racist heritage.

But names gain their meaning in real, not ideal, contexts. Nobody would believe your swastika tattoo represented a lucky Indian sun sign if you were a white, jack-booted, skinhead leader of an Oi! band. Think a Muslim political party could call itself “Al-Qaeda, but not that Al-Qaeda?” It just means “foundation,” right? Wrong. It means flying planes into buildings in the same way Minutemen means harassing and attacking people at the border. Names, words, symbols and signs get wrecked. Ignoring their history is disingenuous.

No doubt, if they had contrived a less historically dubious euphemism like “Citizens in Favor of Building a Giant Electric Fence Around the U.S.A.,” the vigilantes still would’ve attracted separatists, racists and supremacy groups because, as we all know, that’s who vigilantes are. But that they can so un-problematically call themselves Minutemen proves that these assholes are either closet Nazis or selectively ignorant of U.S. history or, most likely, both.

D.A. Kolodenko resides in Ocean Beach, teaches writing at several local colleges, lives with a Senegal parrot named Mango, drinks scotch and votes Democrat. “Presently Tense” will appear semi-regularly in these pages. Write to dakolodenko@gmail.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
12/21/05

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=3886

"by D.A. Kolodenko (reposted by Jammer CC) Friday, Dec. 23, 2005 at 4:44 AM"
_____________________________________-

Recycling the effluent. Just like the networks do this time of year. Re-runs. Could the Crockster be working for the same people who control the bigger portion of the US media?

He says "a couple hundred ignorant, cranky crackers"

... and he's calling other people racists?

The artile was written a couple days ago.

Looks like we've got homework. Time to research the "Minutemen" of the 20th century.

That was a good article with lots of interesting details.

The only thing he forgot was the great punk group from San Pedro, The Minutemen. Those guys were for open borders, open minds, and open hearts. They were the west coast's best anti-imperialist, anti-war band.

Wow; What a great essay! Really fine work.

I would just like to point out one thing for those interested, though. Gilchrist didn't run for office as an independent, he ran with the American Independent Party, founded by arch-racist Governor George Wallace of Alabama.

That party ultimately split, and Gilchrist is aligned with the branch that has roots and loyalties to the deepest Old South racists, and to the Christian fascist Constitution Party.

Here's a little more on them from Wickipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Independent_Party

American Independent Party is a United States American political party. The party was established in 1968 by Alabama governor George Wallace. Wallace was on every state ballot. Wallace and his running mate Curtis E. LeMay received 13.5% of the popular vote and 46 electoral votes. The party was opposed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and opposed to federal government welfare programs.

In 1969, representatives from 40 states established the American Party as the successor to the American Independent Party. In 1972, the party nominated former Congressman John G. Schmitz of California for president. In 1976, the American Party split into the American Party, which included more northern conservatives and Schmitz supporters, and the American Independent Party, which focused on the deep South. Both of the parties have nominated candidates for the presidency and other offices. Neither the American Party or the American Independent Party have had much national success.

The American Independent Party has had ballot status in the state of California since 1968 and is still active there. It is the state affiliate for the national Constitution Party, formerly the U.S. Taxpayers Party. Many political analysts have theorized that the Party, which has received very few votes in recent California elections, maintains its state ballot status because people join the Party mistakenly believing that they are registering as an "independent.".

The Constituion Party is a Christian fascist organization.

He has some deep research but comes up without the deeper connections that trace the fascist state into its present configuration.
Example.
He still refers to the Atta gang as actual persons from The Muslim Brotherhood when they ere obviously staged patsies and nothing more; all trained at secure military bases, with planted, ridiculous evidence to support any such non sense that they were the actual perpetrators of the entire chain of events and cover ups, is absurd. As same as the proposition that there is ANY verified chain of evidence or material evidence that would hold up to scrutiny from independent analysis, and support the official government conspiracy theory. I keep thinking of that car stuffed with flight manuals that were left in the airport parking lot. Ha ha.
Don't get me wrong. His monotone puts me to sleep many a night. I can never remember more than the second half of side two...Check him out.

http://wfmu.org/playlists/DX

I don't like him mainly, as he referred to Nader following the fraud of 2000, as 'comrade Nader' and it pissed me off 'cause he should have known better. To me he seems to lend support to the official and perforated " 19 Savage Arab" theory.
Nuf said.

I fell so sorry for you.

A long time ago, I read a book called "Blood in the Face" by James Ridgeway about WS and American fascism. That's got a lot of information. Also, rationalrevolution.net has an interesting perspective on fascism and America. Lots of solid research there too. Also, the fascists have their own websites, so you can read up there, as well.

"The only thing he forgot was the great punk group from San Pedro, The Minutemen. Those guys were for open borders, open minds, and open hearts. They were the west coast's best anti-imperialist, anti-war band."

I've heard of them.

Who's David Emory?

"That was a good article with lots of interesting details. "

Thanks. I didn't write it, it was D.A. Kolodenko. :-)

I emailed him and we may do an interview.

JohnK you should call out THe Miinuteman (the band i mean) to come out to protest SOS and MMP.

.... D Boon died 2o years ago.

That's unfortunate. It would be something to see though. To see the Minutemen protest the Minutemen. And see if the Minutemen would counter-protest the Minutemen. I wonder if that former Rage Against The Machine singer would be interested in reincarnating the band?

They didnt all died. I am not saying they should play or something.

I know, it's probably not feasible or necessary. Just thought it would be something to see if it did happen.

open thighs.

:)

my bad.

Open thighs? I don't think I quite follow that...

I asked who David Emory is, I didn't realize until now that it's a name in D.A. Kolodenko's article! And yes I read the article, just didn't remember that name there.

Not David.
I cited a link up there to his web archive.
here it is again:
http://wfmu.org/playlists/DX
He's an anti fascist researcher and some of his stuff is well known
among progressives circles for exploration into the Martin Borman treasury and the underground reich. My opinion not withstanding.

All this research to read, I wonder if it will all add up to the equivalent of a semester in college.

And Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, was an anti-communist researcher.

If you conduct witch hunts, all you see are witches.

I take his stuff with a grain of salt. A lot of times, he seems to treat a link that's two or three steps removed as being as important as a link that's one step removed.

The research he has done on The Muslim Brotherhood and the Green Quest
financial investigations stop at the point where the factors of CIA funding comes up. And information on who exactly was doing the investigations while at the same time DEFENDING, as the principle attorney, the subjects of the ( Green Quest, the terrorist money seizure ) investigation.
Curious yet? You should be.
Michael Chertoff and Patrick Fitzgerald.

It's official... Sheepdog will soon be fitted for a straight jacket.

Sheepdip claims above that Mohammed Atta and his psychotic buddies were trained by the US military to attack the WTC and is paranoid about "the underground reich".

Small, Medim or Large?

And that tin foil hat... buckle that chistrap!

is that it? Reads like a newspeak release.
Well, get it right. What do you want, me to give you the size ( XLG- 18 collar longish sleeves single breasted, I'm partial to camel hair for warmth in those cement cells) of a jacket or tighten a nonexistent chin strap on some head gear you're familial with?.

And exactly what does that have to do with Dave Emory or anything else?

In 2 separate posts above you expressed a paranoia of "the underground reich" and, in a post before that, suggested that Atta and his cohorts were trained at secret military installations.


You brought these topics up, Sheepster, not me.

But now that you've done so (germane to the core topic or not) at least you've revealed what a complete and self absorbed paranoid lunatic you are. It will be impossible to take you seriously from this point forward.

And keep looking over your shoulder for well dressed men riding in black cars. THEY'RE AFTER YOU!

Geez that was days ago. Try to keep up.
I had finished with that. You still believe in the government conspiracy theory eh? That's for you to flail away at. It's still a conspiracy theory.

And a weak one.
Just like the disappearing Anthrax probe.
And the SEC probe into stock put option buying spikes etc...yawn...
And you want ME to wear an aluminum foil cap? Repeating a lie often and loudly is still lying.
Don't waste my time.
Pick a section of your house of cards called 9-11 that you hide inside of.
I'll play the Big Bad Wolf.
Ha ha ha ha.

I thought you would like a bit of primary source information.

:>)

Alleged Hijackers May Have Trained at U.S. Bases
The Pentagon has turned over military records on five men to the FBI

By George Wehrfritz, Catharine Skipp and John Barry
NEWSWEEK

Sept. 15 [2001] ? U.S. military sources have given the FBI information that suggests five of the alleged hijackers of the planes that were used in Tuesday?s terror attacks received training at secure U.S. military installations in the 1990s.

THREE OF THE alleged hijackers listed their address on drivers licenses and car registrations as the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.?known as the ?Cradle of U.S. Navy Aviation,? according to a high-ranking U.S. Navy source.

Another of the alleged hijackers may have been trained in strategy and tactics at the Air War College in Montgomery, Ala., said another high-ranking Pentagon official. The fifth man may have received language instruction at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Tex. Both were former Saudi Air Force pilots who had come to the United States, according to the Pentagon source.

Man.,.. you really do have a reading comprehension problem.

It is YOU, not I, who subscribe to conspiracy theories, Sheepdip. You're no different from any other raving Leftwing conspiracy nut. You're garden variety. You can hide from facts all you want, but the longer you hide the further from reality you get (and look).

But you know what? I say keep it up. Reading wild conspiracy theories foisted by Left wing imbeciles like you has great entertainment value.

And remember... THEY ARE OUT TO DECEIVE YOU. THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOU. THEY ARE WATCHING YOU. ... THEY CONTROL YOU!!!!

"You still believe in the government conspiracy theory eh? That's for you to flail away at. It's still a conspiracy theory.

And a weak one. "

good old sheepdog. Trying to brighten things uo around here with an bit of year end amusement.

Letting us all know that the "conspiracy theory" that pretty much everyone on the planet, regardless of political leanings, holds as fact , has been secretly debunked by the likes of himself asnd a few other cyber paranoiacs.

Good stuff.

i always get a laugh when i hear tell of the magic put options.

That and the dancing Israeli's are two of my favorite cyber myths.

Thanks sheepdog and Merry Christmas.

And you can't keep up.

In reference to:

Sheepdog has a reading comprehension problem
by Tramp Monday, Dec. 26, 2005 at 12:22 PM

In 2 separate posts above you expressed a paranoia of "the underground reich" and, in a post before that, -
********
[ reformatted for episodic context due to adversarial jet lag suffered by weasel crew]
*******
(*)-suggested that Atta and his cohorts were trained at secret military installations.
************
You brought these topics up, Sheepster, not me.
But now that you've done so (germane to the core topic or not) at least you've revealed what a complete and self absorbed paranoid lunatic you are. It will be impossible to take you seriously from this point forward.

And keep looking over your shoulder for well dressed men riding in black cars. THEY'RE AFTER YOU!
***********************
So what?
by Sheepdog Monday, Dec. 26, 2005 at 1:00 PM
Geez that was days ago. Try to keep up.
I had finished with that. You still believe in the government conspiracy theory eh? That's for you to flail away at. It's still a conspiracy theory.
And a weak one.
Just like the disappearing Anthrax probe.
And the SEC probe into stock put option buying spikes etc...yawn...
And you want ME to wear an aluminum foil cap? Repeating a lie often and loudly is still lying.
Don't waste my time.
Pick a section of your house of cards called 9-11 that you hide inside of.
I'll play the Big Bad Wolf.
Ha ha ha ha

this ones for 'Tramp'
by Sheepdog Monday, Dec. 26, 2005 at 1:16 PM
I thought you would like a bit of primary source information.
:>)

Alleged Hijackers May Have Trained at U.S. Bases
The Pentagon has turned over military records on five men to the FBI

By George Wehrfritz, Catharine Skipp and John Barry
NEWSWEEK

Sept. 15 [2001] ? U.S. military sources have given the FBI information that suggests five of the alleged hijackers of the planes that were used in Tuesday?s terror attacks received training at secure U.S. military installations in the 1990s.

THREE OF THE alleged hijackers listed their address on drivers licenses and car registrations as the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.?known as the ?Cradle of U.S. Navy Aviation,? according to a high-ranking U.S. Navy source.

Another of the alleged hijackers may have been trained in strategy and tactics at the Air War College in Montgomery, Ala., said another high-ranking Pentagon official. The fifth man may have received language instruction at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Tex. Both were former Saudi Air Force pilots who had come to the United States, according to the Pentagon source.
**********
[yer welcome] :>)

When you say skin heads your referring to neo Nazis,but skin heads are originally Ska punks.The neo dumb fucks took the name and perverted it to stand for racist stupidity.We call them Boneheads now.Also Oi bands are anrachist punk bands.The punk community do not except these Racist Neo Nazi Dumb Fuck Bitches as one of thier own.

the term skinhead is orginally from the hey days of ska during the 60's in jamacia. it is no way a reference to punk from the start. the neonazi took the name, skinhead from the subculture in england around the music of ska.