Neo-Nazis, Obama, and the real domestic terrorists

[marmar]

via AlterNet's PEEK:



Neo-Nazis, Obama, and the real domestic terrorists

Posted by David Neiwert, Orcinus at 3:24 AM on November 3, 2008.

Where is the outrage when neo-Nazis plot to murder a black man running for President -- and 102 other people of the same race?



Has anyone else noticed how little coverage the skinhead plot to assassinate Obama has been given?

Eric Ward has noticed:

While the public, political pundits, and even some law enforcement officials have been quick to downplay the actions of Cowart and Schlesselman using words such as “unlikely,” “unsophisticated,” and “bizarre”, these individuals are making a case for who they believe is an American. I can’t help but think back to 2006 when seven men who thought they were working with al-Qaida (but in actuality an FBI informant) were arrested in a plot against Chicago’s Sears Tower.

I can’t help but to ask if Coward and Schlesselman had been self-proclaimed Muslims would these same political pundits and law enforcement officials find themselves so blasé? Would the public write it off as “stupid kids who weren’t serious?”

Doubtful.

I know the looming election has sucked all the oxygen out of the newsroom. And it's true that the plot -- they wanted to kill 102 black people, 14 of them by decapitation, before they culminated their spree with a frontal attack on Obama -- more resembled a dumb fantasy out of a bad action flick than anything likely ever to become a reality.

But that's what anyone who might've stumbled onto Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols prior to April 19, 1995, likely would have concluded too. And the fact is, these guys were serious, they were heavily armed, and they took concrete steps to begin making their fantasy into a reality.

No, they almost certainly would never have reached Barack Obama. But would they have been capable of killing large numbers of black people before the law caught up with them. Just like the three men caught in Denver before the Democratic National Convention, they weren't likely at all to succeed but they almost certainly would have killed innocent members of the public along the way.

And unlike the Denver tweakers, these two young men not only appeared much more capable and competent, but also much more motivated. After all, they were entrenched in the skinhead scene and heavily involved in the white-nationalist movement that inspired them. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/105850/neo-nazis%2C_obama%2C_and_the_real_domestic_terrorists/

[Tim4319]

1. I've noticed the limited coverage of this story.

I was talking about that on Friday with a co-worker of mine!

[frogcycle]

2. the existence of these groups

is largely ignored. When PALIN rails against "libruls" and talks about "real america" she is courting these people.

Most Germans in the 30's weren't vicious racists; they just tolerated them.