Election Controversy or Grand Conspiracy?
The Radical Right's Views on the Presidential Election
As we go to press, Americans are waiting to see who will be the country's next president based on Florida's election results. Experts on the American political process say we are in the middle of a Constitutional crisis. Like other Americans, people in the radical right are closely following the proceedings in Florida. However, their analysis is quite different than the perspective of mainstream America. White supremacist and anti-government types are incorporating this year's presidential election into the conspiracy theories driving their movements.
White Supremacists: "It's the Jews"
An integral ingredient in the white supremacist movement is anti-Semitism. For years, racists have declared that Jews control the government and the media. The 2000 Presidential election has become part of this anti-Semitic viewpoint.
The World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) began commenting on the presidential election after Al Gore named Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, his running mate. WCOTC's leader Matt Hale, who has applied to the Montana Bar Association, said racists should celebrate "Jew Lieberman" running on a ticket to control the "Jewish Occupational Government." Hale declared, "The more Jewish the government obviously is, the more the people will wish to overthrow such an alien government."
The rhetoric describing the illegitimacy of the government and the need to overthrow it increased once the votes in Florida came under question. Hale said "Jew election board personnel and citizens of the parasitic state of Israel" were ultimately going to decide the election, because "if the Jews can't win the support of the people, they will redefine it [the political process]." If Al Gore wins the election, Hale said it would start a second American Revolution.
Hale isn't the only racist to invoke violence when talking about the outcome of the presidential election. Tom Metzger, leader of White Aryan Resistance, has said the election will lead to "blood in the streets." Aryan Nations Ambassador and Posse Comitatus leader August Kreis "believe[s] a Revolution is fast approaching." He urged racists to "stand up NOT with bibles... but with sword in hand and march on Washington D.C."
Kreis also revealed the anti-Semitic lens with which he viewed the Florida recounts. Kreis is a follower of Christian Identity, a racist theology depicting people of color as subhuman beasts and Jews as the literal children of Satan. Kreis said the votes are being recounted by "hooked nose kikes," and the votes were from "demon-cratic counties in Florida." Kreis claimed, "This parasitic devil Gore will NEVER be the president elect of the masses."
Anti-Government Patriots: "It's the New World Order"
For most of 2000, the "patriot movement" promoted a conspiracy theory ending with President Clinton remaining in office and ushering in one-world government. All of the uncertainty in Florida caused this conspiracy to explode in patriot circles.
The Sons of Liberty claimed the recounts are "orchestrated chaos and deception by the Secret Masters" who control the media. It is through this chaos that Clinton will retain power and declare martial law.
As for Clinton staying in office, Michael Heit, vice chairman of the Constitution Party of Montana, wrote, "We know the direction this beast from hell is headed." Heit wrote a letter to every Florida legislator urging them to "hang the [Florida] Supreme Court bastards for the treasonous traitors they have shown themselves to be." The Militia of Montana distributed e-mail addresses for the Florida legislators.
The Sierra Times, a patriot Internet publication, has been preparing its readers for another Civil War. J.J. Johnson, the paper's editor, is the former leader of the Ohio Unorganized Militia and was a major player in the militia movement in the mid-1990s. He has relayed stories about Clinton staying in office and urged readers to quit paying their taxes, because the government is no longer legitimate. Johnson believed this nation was run by "a tyrant or a beast," and it was only a matter of time before "shooting starts and the blood begins to flow in the streets." Johnson wrote, "If you want Peace, Prepare for War." In Johnson's view, one way to stop another Civil War was for America's rural states to secede from the nation. If a war breaks out, Johnson said "patriots" will take up arms, and the government "will not wage war against the Îunsuspecting.'"