Posted on 11/15/2009 3:22:17 PM PST by smokingfrog
Some members of local veterans groups who attended an Every Day is Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 8 in Berwick, Maine, said they were surprised to find it was a kickoff for a new Maine affiliate of the national Oath Keepers organization, which has been described as part of a rebirth of the nation's right-wing militia movement.
An August report from the Southern Poverty Law Center describes the parent organization as a "particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival," involving groups with a virulent anti-government sentiment, though organizers of the newly formed Maine affiliate say they are far from being an extremist group.
About 50 people gathered at Berwick Town Hall for the Nov. 8 event, which was billed as honoring the "defenders" of the United States Constitution. The event was put on by the Maine Center for Constitutional Studies and the Oathkeepers Project of Maine, which spells its name differently than the national organization.
The ceremony included speeches from Maine veterans, but also featured information supporting the Oathkeepers Project, which recently formed as an offshoot of the MCCS. Attendees were shown a "Not On Our Watch" Oath Keepers video that depicted U.S. soldiers denouncing government tyranny and pledging their oath to defend the Constitution.
The ceremony also included a political speech by Saco, Maine, resident Brad Watts, a Marine sergeant who recently returned home from Iraq and is running as a Republican for a seat in District 133 of Maine's Legislature.
Watts urged attendees to be wary of politicians, calling them "bullies." He told the audience the country is at war on the domestic front with its government and described America's leaders as being no better than Somali warlords.
He said he wasn't urging the audience to act violently against public officials, but asked them to get involved ->
(Excerpt) Read more at fosters.com ...
The SPLC probably thinks anyone who actually holds their hand over their heart and says the Pledge of Allegiance out loud also fits that description.
Well, the SPLC calling anyone an extremist is kinda a joke.
Right! Didn’t the Oathkeepers start as a protest against Bush & the Patriot Act?
People spewing their bs as usual.
I do think it should be spelled out what people will be exposed to, when these meetings take place. I do find it difficult to to understand why people who swore to uphold our Constitution would somehow be offended by folks restating that goal, and asking them to join in.
Let's look at this one series of comments by Potoc.
Potoc — who recently debated Rhodes on MSNBC's "Hardball" program — said he has no problem with the Oath Keepers defending the Constitution, but noted that they appear to be motivated by irrational fears.
"The point is that these are men and women who are armed and given special powers by society in order to protect the rest of us, and in this case they are animated by completely false conspiracy theories about nefarious enemies preparing to do in the United States," Potoc said.
He said the Oath Keepers' fears aren't unlike those found in the 1990s militia movement, which portrayed the federal government as part of a wicked conspiracy that would impose martial law on the country and force the U.S. into a one-world government.
Okay, then can Potoc explain why we need to have an active arm of the military assigned to the soil of the United States for active military service specifically on that soil? The National Guard is tasked with that, and there isn't any reason why that shouldn't continue in the same manner it has.
Perhaps he can tell us what submission to NAFTA, the WTO, the U.N., and Agenda 21 type agreements is, if not international governance? Why are our federal parks referred to as International Biosphere Preserves?
This group was described as supporting the U.S. Constitution and asking those in attendance to please become involved to defend our Constitution over people.
How dare they! Now there's a radical idea if I ever heard one. /s
They always report the liberal spin, not the original news story.
Even talk radio news does the same thing.
Good response DoughtyOne! I’m impressed.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is nothing but a racist hate group.
Americans want their country back, and back from hate groups like the Southern Poverty Klan Center
Outside of “waiting rooms”, nobody that I know here in NH reads Foster’s.
It’s fair to point out, though, that the coastline and close suburbs have been taken over by Massholes...
I find it a badge of honor to be considered an extremist by the SPLC.
Yeah, these “veterans” were confused. They didn’t expect to find anything even remotely patriotic at a Veterans Day event in Maine.
Thanks. Glad it made sense to you.
Ah yes, the new and fashionable pejorative for non-statists, (genuine)anti fascists, and those who oppose socialism, leviathan central governments and planned economy's.
Isn't that a quote from King George III? < /sarc>
I've seen videos of the event, and there was something immensely moving about seeing a hundred men and women who had "been there; done that" standing proud and saluting. Some of the salutes were pretty shaky -- but that made it even more poignant...
I daresay that, if I had projected on the overhead screen the oath that we all took to "defend the Constitution against all enemies -- foreign or domestic" there would have been the same number of patriots renewing our oaths!
We all swore to defend our Constitution. None of us swore to defend the marxist, usurping regime that now infests our Capitol.
And that is precisely what has the Slimy P-whipped Loser Communists getting "all wee wee'd up"...
Would I swear that oath again? You bet I would!
Foster’s Daily Democrat has nothing to do with the Democrat Party. You have assumed something you should not have. I don’t get the paper because it’s more regional and I don’t live in that region of the state but you have taken their name as meaning something it doesn’t.
I didn’t charge any affiliation at all.
I still cannot come away from an article this devoid of rationality and with this level of manipulation, and not give it at least some pause as to what the name of the paper is.
I’m sure the paper sees no conflict of interest. Perhaps I’m being unfair, but I do.
No, I have taken the name of the paper to mean that the paper is not worried about appearing to have a conflict of interest.
I haven’t attributed anything more than that to this.
If you disagree, that’s okay.
Maine. Let’s see. That’s Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, right?
Those folks wouldn’t know a patriot from a Marxist.
God bless the oath keepers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.