The Rage in the Heart of America

The proliferation of anti-tax demonstrations and the violence of the commentary against the reform of the health care system surprised the new administration. Energy tax reform is also being targeted by citizens’ organizations.

“You don’t get it!” “We’re your bosses!” “That’s America!” These are some of the “questions” — shouted more so than asked — which have confronted American elected officials this summer as they attempted to explain health care to their constituents in town halls. Some have been hanged in effigy or characterized as Nazis or fascists. Others, such as North Carolina Congressman Brad Miller, have received death threats. Miller has cancelled his meetings scheduled for August.

Surprised by the size and verbal violence of the demonstrations, the Obama administration is on the defensive about health insurance, one of the president’s biggest gambles. It could soon be on the defensive about another big gamble, energy tax reform, where similar protests are beginning. The group Americans for Prosperity launched its national “Hot Air Tour” on Tuesday, August 18. Meanwhile, Energy Citizens, a group funded by the petroleum industry, is organizing twenty-two meetings.

The “Tea Party” Phenomenon

At the beginning of his term, Barack Obama played the role of teacher. He explained his plans in schools and hospitals, looked good on TV, knew how to use the Internet. But he underestimated the culture of direct confrontation developed by the American “grassroots” movement – “grassroots” loosely translates as “a return to the base.” Drunk with their success, doped up with the fear of seeing Obama the “socialist” bring America to ruin, the grassroots movement is recruiting, and becoming more powerful. You can no longer count the organizations claiming to defend citizens’ freedom and protect them from government takeovers.

In this nebula of organizations, the Patriot Movement is one of the oldest and best known. Its Web site calculates the American national debt to the last 10th of a second. The national debt, which has been increasing at a dizzying pace, plus the $787 billion stimulus bill signed in February, is feeding the people’s anger, which is directed indiscriminately at bankers and politicians.

The first half of the year saw the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Tea Parties explode onto the scene. (“Tea Party” refers to the surprise protest made against the English by American patriots in Boston in 1773.) Organized by the American Family Association, which boasts two million supporters online, these protests were initially ridiculed by the media — except for Fox News, who acted as their propagandist. Even so, the protests attracted tens of thousands of activists all over the country. “Stop bankrupting America!” said the signs. “The government has lost control, they’re stealing people’s futures,” complained a protestor in Atlanta.

Dick Armey, former leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, founded Freedomworks, which is opposed to the energy tax as well as health care reform. Members were advised to “Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.” The organization enjoys the support of, among others, billionaire Steve Forbes.

In the Name of Freedom

Club for Growth, directed by Chris Chocola, ex-congressman from Indiana, has launched a $1.2 million campaign against health care reform. The association 60 Plus, whose spokesman is the singer Pat Boone, has spent $1.5 million toward the same goal. Americans for Prosperity boasts that it has brought together 700,000 members and is organizing protests aimed at lowering taxes.

Though the ideological borders are not always clear, these organizations are members of the same family, defending the spirit of the Constitution of 1776 [sic], which they believe has been “perverted” by politicians, and, in a general way, individual liberties, starting with the right to bear arms. The election of Barack Obama, who is more against than for the right to bear arms, whipped these movements back into action. Among them, March for Liberty cites Thomas Jefferson: “…when government becomes ‘destructive’, it becomes our ‘right’ and our ‘duty’ to remove such government and create a new one.”

Oath Keepers recruits veterans of the armed forces and the police, and has them take an oath consisting of ten commandments, the first of which is, “We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.” On the extreme end of the spectrum are the organizations that uphold conspiracy theories, spread most notably by radio talk show host Alex Jones, and those dressed up as a return to the sacred unity of the days following the attacks of September 11, 2001, such as Project 9-12, lead by Glenn Beck, another radio talk show host.

This libertarian nebula is nothing new, nor its rhetorical excesses, which target the Bush family as well as Obama. Still, the leverage of radio, the Internet and political networks has become more powerful, notes the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Tactics — which the Financial Times points out were inspired by 60s left-wing activist Saul Alinsky — have also evolved. Interrupting and shouting at meetings is just one aspect. There is also “paper terrorism,” a kind of administrative harassment. More than 1,200 cases were noted in 2008.

“We’re frustrated, not Nazis!”

Intimidation is another tactic. While Barack Obama was talking to veterans in Phoenix, Arizona, a few days ago, a group of men carrying their rifles in plain sight slipped into a group of demonstrators and were not disarmed, because carrying weapons is legal in the state. A little earlier, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a protester brandished a sign that read, “It is time to water the tree of liberty,” walking around with a pistol attached to his leg. Deficits, health care, ecology, firearms: this mixture of issues is increasingly the focus of Web sites and demonstrations.

“These people…[are] going to walk taller and louder and prouder now that their bumbling efforts at civil disobedience are being committed with the full sanction and support of the country’s most powerful people,” warns Sara Robinson, of the Campaign for America’s Future, in an essay entitled, “Is the U.S. on the Brink of Fascism?” This kind of speculation makes right-wing activists indignant: “We’re frustrated, that doesn’t make us Nazis or Republican puppets,” says a woman participating in one of the anti-tax “tea parties.”

In any case, the conversation is heating up. Barack Obama’s teaching ability will be put to a tough test when he tries to sell his reforms to the public.