United States: April 19th is a Dangerous Time

On March 28th and 30th, nine members of the extremist Hutaree militia, suspected to have planned an assassination attempt on police officers to provoke a widespread uprising against the government, were arrested. This makes a big chill run up our spines. Despite the lack of absolute certainty on the exact motivation of the militia, we can only note the link between their violent project and the poisonous atmosphere that currently reigns in the United States.

Hardly a year after Barack Obama became president, the opposition, promoted by the Tea Party phenomenon, became strong. Big and popular rallies demanded a tax cut and a control on public expenditures. With the rallies, people who were all clearly anti-government, often conservative and sometimes racist and homophobe came to incorporate their complaints of every sort. The speeches are becoming harsher and the protest signs more radical. It is not rare to see the American president with a Hitler moustache or accused of transforming America into a communist country.

The arduous and never-ending negotiations around the health care reform, named Obamacare by his critics, fuels the distrust in the government. The American right, which is lacking voters, is not afraid to satirize the law and its effects. The littlest problems were announced a hundred times over by the radio commentators, on the Internet and on television, where commentators talk about “death panels” or public health insurance for illegal immigrants. Relying on a strong anti-government sentiment, the talk-show demagogues make this a big deal, from the stars of the Republican Party and commentator Rush Limbaugh to the conspiracy spouting Alex Jones and Glenn Beck, the new face of radicalism on Fox News.

If, on one hand, the rise in power of the anti-Obama movement restores the tarnished image of the Republican Party, it also nourishes a climate of suspicion and hate that could easily transform into a violent outburst. The day after the adoption of the health care law by the House of Representatives, many elected officials from the left and right were victims of tentative intimidation. At the beginning of April, governors received menacing letters from a group that identifies themselves as the Guardians of free Republics. It seems that the “patriot” phenomenon, which is fundamentally violent, racist and anti-federal, is in a state of renewal today. In February, a 53-year-old man flew his plane into an IRS building, the American tax service, making them as well as himself a victim. Even though this was an isolated individual act, it is revealing as to the actual vigor of the anti-governmental movement. The Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama organization that monitors the development and activities of extremist groups in the United States, affirms that the number of “patriot” groups that risen 244 percent between 2008 and 2009.

The actual climate reminds some people of a darker time in recent American history. On April 19th, 1995, Timothy McVeigh, a veteran of the Gulf War, set off 2.3 tons of explosives in front of a building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. The author chose the perpetuate his terrible act exactly two years after the tragic events in Waco, Texas where some 76 members of the Davidien sect perished in a fire in their residence following an assault of the FBI. April 19 assumes a particular symbolic force for extremists, a mix of struggle against the all-powerful federal government and against religious persecution. The approach of April 19th, 2010, the date when many “patriot” organizations are calling for an armed march on Washington, makes people question a possibility of a domestic terrorist attack. While President Obama addresses other big issues, such as the immigration reform and the struggle against the climate change, the American security services should increase in their vigilance, as long as the news of the home front is not reassuring.

But, in view of the current situation, it is up to the Republican Party to own up to its responsibilities. A few months away from mid-term elections, the majority of its members benefited from the deleterious climate in order to mark the political points that accused the federal government of all current problems. This being said, Republican America is overwhelmed with the Tea Party movement, militiamen, patriots, libertarians, people who are pro-arms and people who are anti-immigration. And yet, the political ambitions of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman must not lose sight of the graveness of the actual situation. If the leadership of the Republican Party is proven incapable to put a rapid end the radical view that poisons political debate, they run an immense risk to find themselves the involuntary accomplices of a national tragedy.