Keeping an oath of bozos
Stewart Rhodes is distinguished — as in identifiable, not esteemed — by his signature black eye patch.
Blinded in that left eye in 1993 by dropping a loaded gun and shooting himself in the face.
That was after he was honourably discharged from the army (fractured his spine in a parachute training jump), but before he studied constitutional law at Yale, put through the Ivy League school by his (now estranged) wife, mother to their six children, who funded her husband’s higher education by working as a stripper.
The missus was a fellow libertarian who has since claimed to be aghast and regretful over helping Rhodes found, in 2009, the Oath Keepers. She’d been under the impression — this is merely her word, mind — that it would simply be a “cigar club” for like-minded civil liberty zealots, albeit of a strongly reactionary bent. “I thought, ‘Wow, we are going to sell a lot of T-shirts and motorcycle jackets!’ ”
The notorious Oath Keepers, however — established in the wake of Barack Obama’s election as American president, indeed, because of his election — are among the most gaga of extremist right-wing cabals.
The group has deliberately recruited heavily from present and past military service personnel and law enforcement, individuals who ostensibly have a clue when it comes to organizing anti-government opposition, with tactical experience.
Rhodes, 56, was among 11 people indicted on Thursday on charges of seditious conspiracy, the first batch of defendants, under that specific and serious charge, for storming the U.S. Capitol last January 6. Which should go a long way toward putting a sock in the mouth of rabble-rousing commentators who insist — bollocks to that! — there was no insurrection, there was no failed coup, there was no dystopian fever dream to “Stop The Steal” by blocking confirmation of President Joe Biden in the U.S. electoral college.
At least, that would be the logical upshot of formal sedition charges, but logic is in precious short supply among the disbelievers and Donald Trump acolytes.
Sedition — incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority — is an extremely rare charge, mostly because it’s so difficult to prove. Characterized as two or more people who conspire to overthrow the U.S. government, or “prevent, hinder or delay the execution” of U.S. law by force. Punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
It was last used, unsuccessfully, in 2010, in an alleged Michigan plot by members of the Hutaree militia to incite an uprising. Last used successfully in the ’90s, against Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine followers, convicted in a plot to blow up the United Nations.
As per this 48-page indictment, “the defendants conspired through a variety of manners and means, including: organizing into teams that were prepared and willing to use force and to transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C., recruiting members and affiliates to participate in the conspiracy; organizing training to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics; bringing paramilitary gear, weapons and supplies — including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection and radio equipment — to the Capitol grounds; breaching and attempting to take control of the Capitol grounds … continuing to plot, after Jan. 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power; and using websites, social media, text messaging and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with co-conspirators and others.”
It didn’t stop with the rampage.
That guy. Self-proclaimed ultra-patriot, arraigned on Friday afternoon in Dallas. He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody.
In fact, there has been a schism among the Oath Keepers over the past year, with some adherents — they boast a membership of 35,000 — peeling away from Rhodes because of his tendency to go dark when the legal documents start to fly. Still, Oath Keepers is very much Rhodes’ invention in a crowded cast of rebels ’n’ revolutionists: Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Groyper Army, Hammerskins, and so on.
Rhodes is adamant that he never stepped foot in the Capitol on that mournful day. But he was definitely there, on the outside grounds, while a band of his agents snaked through the mob, up the stairs and rampaged through the nation’s citadel of democracy.
By his own words, you shall know him. A brief sampling:
■ “This election was stolen and this is a communist/Deep State coup, every bit as corrupt and illegitimate as what is done in third-world banana republics.” (November, 2020)
■ “You need to be raising local militias in your towns and countries, and, like the Founders did, you need to then nullify, refuse to comply, and when they come for you, you defend yourselves.” (January, 2021)
■ “Go armed! Screw their stupid, unlawful orders, edicts, and pretend legislation! Go armed, at all time, as free men and women, and be ready to do sudden battle, anywhere, anytime, and with utter recklessness! That is the price of freedom.” (July, 2015)
■ “We’ve got to declare this regime to be illegitimate, everything that comes out of King Biden’s mouth as illegitimate, null and void from inception because he is not the legitimate president. They have plans for us, that they know where we’re going next, and they’re afraid because there’s 365 million of us, we outnumber them vastly, and we’re well-armed.” (January 30, 2021)
As of this date, more than 700 participants from the Jan. 6 riot have been arrested and charged.
But the crème de la crème of the Oath Keepers, they’re whack-special.
They take an oath, these Oath Keeper bozos: “To protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Note the “domestic,” because that gets to the nub of the thing. With a 10-point addendum, a broad-sweeping vow covering orders they will refuse, including any command to disarm people, to detain American citizens as unlawful enemy combatants. The usual rhetoric and shibboleths of conspiracy theorists.
Trump junkies, disciples who descended on D.C. at his beckoning.
He took an oath, too, remember? Something about defending the Constitution ….