Kennedy: Missouri state police have Ron Paul supporters in an uproar
By BUD KENNEDY
[email protected]
Right on schedule, the militia movement is back.
For the first time since the Clinton administration, bubbas in dime-store fatigues are hoarding guns and ammo, issuing paranoid predictions about one-world government and writing that President Barack Obama is "directly linked to Satanic teachings."
Oops! Wait a minute.
That was no bird-brained bubba.
That was an author recommended by the Texas State Board of Education chairman, Don McLeroy.
McLeroy is a Bryan dentist appointed by Gov. Rick Perry. He sent the board a letter this week recommending an anti-evolution booklet by Maryland author Robert Bowie Johnson Jr., who has also written that Obama is connected to Satan through Oprah Winfrey.
But enough about Texas education. (Or lack thereof.)
In Missouri, police are being warned to be on the lookout for maverick bubbas.
A new Missouri law enforcement report describes the dangerous "Modern Militia Movement":
"Extremists will argue that immigrants are taking the jobs of U.S. citizens during times of high unemployment . . . sucking up government resources."
"Militia organizations feel that the U.S. government will fall due to economic or racial issues."
"Conspiracy theorists claim [a North American] Union would link Canada, the United States and Mexico. . . . Associated with this theory is concern over a NAFTA Superhighway."
"Militia members most commonly associate with third-party political groups. . . . These members are usually supporters of former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr."
"Extremists oppose the Federal Reserve System and propose a system that would be backed with gold."
"There is a distrust and anger toward the federal government."
Wow.
Sounds dangerous.
Or like half of Texas.
After two weeks of pained shrieks from Ron Paul voters nationwide, the Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a clarification this week.
According to the statement, the warning was "designed to provide background of possible criminal activity" and is "not a basis upon which to take enforcement action."
Missouri Libertarian Party spokesman Mike Ferguson said party voters are "disappointed."
"This makes it sound like if you’re conservative or pro-Second Amendment or concerned about the government, you’re dangerous."
Or ready to run a campaign in Texas.
