Militia Land

by Donna Schoenkopf

My brother, Bobby, was driving past the Murrah Building fifteen years ago on his way to drop off his little boy at day care. He used that day care facility because it was close to his law office which just happened to be diagonally across the street from the doomed Murrah building. He passed that building just barely ten minutes before it blew up.

If you watch MSNBC as I do (all day long) you will have seen Rachel Maddow's teaser for her program on Timothy McVeigh, American Home-Grown Terrorist who blew up the Murrah Building fifteen years ago, this April 19^th. Timothy McVeigh loved militias. He thought of them as the most American of all human endeavors. His serious face speaks to us, full face, all these years later during his questioning. He thought of militias as being the most American thing you could do. He is righteous. And, he says, he's not sorry.

And if you are a regular watcher of MSNBC, you also would have seen Chris Matthews this past week on his Hardball show interviewing Al Gerhart.

Al Gerhart is an organizer for the Oklahoma Tea Party and lover of the Oklahoma State Militia.

It seems that Oklahoma is the only state in the Union that has an actual state militia AND has the Oklahoma State Constitution to back it up. If you are a male (how old school is THAT?) and between the ages of 17 and 70 you are automatically part of the Oklahoma State Militia.

What the HELL am I doing here?

Anyway, good old Al can only be described as scary-crazy. His bald head and heavy set body lends him a power that is formidable, but his eyes – oh, his EYES – are the really frightening thing about him. They are dark and dart here and there, as if he is a predator looking for prey.

I went online to find that interview and after looking at it again thought, “This is just a bunch of really mixed-up crazy talk.” And it was boring watching Al trying to be mainstream and not copping to his real proclivities. So instead I kept looking for Al on Youtube and finally came up with a scene that was recorded outside the office of Senator James Inhofe – yes, THAT Inhofe, global warming denier and member of a family that has NO homosexuals or divorce – or so he says.

The cast of characters includes some very angry Oklahomans who badger and taunt a woman. The woman happens to be a person who was part of the rescue effort on 9-11 inside the World Trade Center. As a result of her efforts she now has irreversible lung damage and a host of other ailments and she was at Inhofe's office to try to persuade him to vote for the Health Care Reform Bill. She is also in the Michael Moore movie, Sicko, and is featured during scenes in Cuba, where she finally got some treatment for her conditions.

Anyway, here it is. (The sound is awful. You might have to watch it a couple of times to hear everything.)

Comments

Comments closed.