Thom Hartmann: If y'all come to get me - bring body bags!

[thomhartmann]

For a grim snapshot of America - check out the front page of today's USA Today. There - you'll see two stories - one above the fold - one below the fold - and both relate to the death of the American middle class. First - there's this story out of Texas - where Sheriff's deputies are trying to figure out a way to end a stand-off that's been going on for 12-years. John Joe Gray - a self-identified "Sovereign Citizen" who believes the government has no legitimacy and thus no authority - has been holed up in a fortified compound in the woods daring police to come and arrest him on felony assault charges that are more than a decade old. Back in 2000 - Gray wrote a letter to police reading, "If y'all come to get me, bring body bags." Police have resisted moving in on the compound - knowing that any attempt will certainly end in violence and death.

For John Joe Gray - and many other Americans - the militia movement is their last refuge when they've given up on the American Dream - and realize the United States is not a land of opportunity like it was before Reaganomics took hold. These Americans - mostly men - watched their fathers and grandfathers come of age during the New Deal era in America - when men were able to raise families on a single paycheck working in a factory. They learned what it meant to be a breadwinner - to be a provider for their families. And whether it's politically correct or not - being the sole provider for the family - was an important part of what being a man was all about for most of American history - and still is for most men. Unfortunately, today - with millions and millions of manufacturing jobs shipped overseas - and tens of thousands of factories that once supported these middle class breadwinners closed down - these men have lost their manhood.

Which is why a 2004 report by the National Institute of Justice found a link between high unemployment rates and increases in domestic violence. The stress of being unemployed - mixed with the feelings of a loss of masculinity - makes men look for other ways to "be a tough guy man" - and strapping on all sorts of phallic-like guns and joining a militia movement, for many of these men, is the only way they can get back their sense of identity and empowerment. The only way many of these men feel like that can get their "manhood" back is by themselves - essentially going to war against an enemy called "big government." Thus, there's been a drastic uptick in militia groups operating in America since the economy tanked in 2008 - hitting the male working class the hardest.

As the Southern Poverty Law Center points out - there were 149 known militia movements operating in the United States in 2008. But as job losses mounted over the next few years - that number soared to 1,274. The working class isn't just dying off today - it's arming up. But Americans who aren't into joining militias have pinned their hopes on a different way of getting by in this post-Reagan era. Which brings us to the second story on the front-page of today's USA Today - tonight's Mega Millions lotto jackpot. USA Today describes a ticket-buying frenzy to hit the record-breaking lotto jackpot tonight. Look at these lines of people buying tickets today in Mountainview, California. And look at this line in California, just over the Nevada border where the lottery is shockingly not for sale in the XX State. Since more and more Americans can no longer support a family with a decent home, health care, a good education, a vacation, and a reasonable retirement - then the only other way to get that American Dream is to get lucky and guess six numbers right. Even if you're chances of hitting the lotto are one in 176 million.

Tragically, many Americans who're just scraping by think they have better odds reaching the American Dream by winning the lotto than working in a dead end service sector job. And tragically - they're probably right. So that's where we stand today - with once-proud working class Americans being wiped out - and joining radical militias to reclaim a little dignity - or put themselves at the mercy of the weekly lotto drawing. Not only that - these same people are now dying on average seven years earlier than the rich. Even the disappearing middle class Americans - people who have what looks like a decent job - are dying two years earlier than the rich. And this working-class death spiral will continue until we reject supply-side Reaganomics. So let's roll back the Reagan tax cuts - drop out of these so-called Free Trade agreements - and once again begin investing in the American social safety net.

Then working class people will take up jobs and lay down their guns - and no longer need to pray to win the lottery to make it in America.

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[bongbong]

1. If....

> where Sheriff's deputies are trying to figure out a way to end a stand-off that's been going on for 12-years

If John Joe Gray was African-American, his compound would've been blown to bits 11 years & 363 days ago.

[CAPHAVOC]

2. The whole fucking thing is coming down....Punk Patriot

Says it all.

[marble falls]

3. John Joe Gray is no middle class victim of the economy.......

leaving him alone in his self built prison is a good idea. He is a hater and a "miltiaman", farther right than the minutemen or the posse comittatus.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/john-joe-grays-militant-group-texas-compound/story?id=9819578&page=2#.T3r-RNm8qV8

http://www.no-debts.com/anti-federalist/johngray.html