MQAblog 03.01.05 MQAblog 03.02.05 MQAblog 03.03.05 Be sure to visit all the links in today's headline story.  Each tells the important story of the domestic terrorist listed. 03.05.05..The killing of an Illinois Judge's husband and mother may be tied to a right wing white supremacist group.  If this turns out to be the case we may be facing a resurgence of domestic terrorism that so shocked the nation in the 1990's.   It is important to remember the political climate that was present during the time right wing domestic terrorists last made the news.  In the early 1990's President Clinton had just taken office - soundly defeating the first President Bush by 5 percentage points. Many disgruntled voters chose to vote for Ross Perot in 1992 rather than Clinton or Bush. Republicans were determined to attract as many of those voters as possible and attract new voters who were historically out of the American mainstream. The Red Media was still developing so the ideas of contemporary conservatism were being primarily cultivated on local talk radio programs and in Militia groups.  Conservatives, who were selling the story of a society overwhelmed by liberals, used these forums to embrace the anti-government, anti-abortion, pro Fundimentalist agenda that is now mainstream Republicanism.  Taking control of talk radio stations all across the nation that gave a voice to hateful malcontents would be a sure way of assuring a venue for long term manipulation of enough people to help swing elections in their favor. They realized that militia groups, Christian Fundamentalists and borderline racist groups would have to be brought into the conservative fold if the Republicans were to have any chance at capturing Congress and the White House. By embracing their ideas, Republicans could persuade them not only to vote for the GOP but to become among the most enthusiastic political activists in the country. They not only had to embrace the most angry Americans, Republican knew they would have to generate real hatred to win elections.  Not surprisingly, many took all this to a violent level. Bombings and shootings become a frequent way to emphasize the seriousness these new Republican voters felt about their political positions. Americans learned that this voting bloc would not waiver and would not compromise. It would not be easy for Republicans to accomplish the electoral transition they needed to win elections across the country.  Standing FOR a position had not been enough to motivate people to go to the polls and vote for them.  Ross Perot proved that. So they had to find a way to motivate people to vote AGAINST something.  It would never be enough to simply say you are against abortion, you have to match the true hatred for  "abortionists" expressed by Randall Terry and Operation Rescue.  It was insufficient to only call for smaller government, you had to label 'bureaucrats' as second only to the Devil himself in evilness.   Republicans could no longer simply argue for the right to bear arms, to really motivate these angry voters they had to convince them that liberals were coming any day to take away their weapons. They could not simply call for changes at the United Nations, but had to welcome conspiracy theories about an impeding takeover from the world body.   Helping people move from welfare to work sounds good now - but back then it was 'getting the welfare queens (read: Black people) out of their Cadillacs'.  For those of you too young or who have not followed politics for long this was the strategy, perfected and implemented in the 1980's and '90's,  that launched the Republican Party into the majority they hold today.   The hatred that was being stirred up on talk radio, in secret meetings and on short wave broadcasts, stayed mostly below the radar until the Oklahoma City Bombing by Timothy McVeigh. It was learned that McVeigh, as well as other domestic terrorists, were active in right wing groups being courted by the Republican party.  We saw the Red media at the time give a general condemnation of violence -  saying they felt sorry for the children killed - but many who now make up the base of the party, not so secretly thought these acts were helping to progress the ideas of modern conservatism.   In fact during the height of this activity in 1994, Newt Gingrich and the Republican party won control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years running primarily on the platform of smaller government, outlawing abortion,  preventing quotas for minorities and NEVER, EVER compromising.   The ability to change policy through violence is as old as humanity.   In America however this should never be encouraged. Unfortunately, in their quest for power, the Republican party felt it necessary to embrace the very ideas of these domestic terrorists and simply change the language for larger public consumption.  Domestic Terrorists acts helped to bring these issue to the top of the Republican agenda. They remain there today ( joined by anti-Gay rhetoric). So while President Bush and the Justice department is sure to publicly criticize this latest apparent act of domestic terrorism, they must realize privately that their power base today can be directly linked to the actions of the domestic terrorists of the 1990's and the ideas they   encouraged in order to achieve a Red American.

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