Default position: dumb

A few days ago, I ran into a gentleman who identified himself as a member of a militia group that's "mustering and training" somewhere in central Oregon. Apparently, these groups (who were so extreme that other right-wingers noticed) did not, as we thought, die out after the departure of the Clinton Administration.

Some changes have been made, of course. They are better funded, tend to have more up-to-date weaponry, and have dropped some of the Klan symbols for "white power" and "Christian Identity" icons. Thanks to the re-emphasis on "enlist with your buddies" recruiting tactics of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps following the Iraq invasion, A whole bunch of folks came back from their tour of duty with considerably better training and the knowledge of how to procure and repair a staggering array of equipment.

But they still have this cherry-picking approach to the Constitution. They call themselves militias as reference to the line in the Second Amendment. So why is it they ignore the main body of that noble document which defines one of the additional duties of the Chief Executive as Commander of the Militia.

They still parrot the latest mildly insane rumor coming through the airwaves or across the Internet. Most recently, they are putting out rhetoric calling on members of the Military to disobey orders due to a totally unfounded "question" as to President Obama's citizenship. This whole idea is somewhere between laughable and obscene on SO many levels it defies even my well-known verbosity to give a full rendering. Let's just bear in mind a couple of minor details, and leave the rest as an exercise for the student.

Members of the Military Forces of the United States do not swear allegiance to the current President, even though that worthy has the additional duty title of Commander-in-Chief. Enlisted or commissioned, out oath is to the Constitution of the United States of America. We also pledge to obey the lawful orders of the President and of all other officers appointed over us.

During my 26 years in the USAF, the top echelon included one paranoid schizophrenic, a borderline megalomaniacs, a couple really terrible managers/leaders, and one demonstrable genius.

I enlisted in 1966, was commissioned in 1978, and retired in 1992. You can play "guess who" if you wish. The point is, we followed the lawful orders of the President and the officers appointed over us.

Jesse Helms's maundering about President Clinton needing a bodyguard on a military base in his state and similar dreck notwithstanding, we did not have the option of just following the Presidents we liked. It was insulting for Helms to have suggested such a thing, and it is treasonous for Limbaugh, Liddy, Beck, and their brood to suggest it now.

So why do organizations who have a significant number of former military members within their ranks even consider such statements? One might be charitable and assume they were asleep in the briefings that covered the Constitution, the Oath of Enlistment, the Oath of Commission, and the applicable articles of the UCMJ. They might have been in that occasional wave of enlistees where the Army decides to recruit a vast number of people who would normally be ineligible due to academic deficiencies of poor showing on placement/aptitude/general knowledge testing. But I don't think either really applies.

Given the blatant racism and the promulgation of unfounded personal attacks on the President and his family, it appears these people have become so blinded by their rage at the very idea of an African-American in the White House thy are willing to use anything to justify their rage ...... stopping short of "there's one of them folk that used to never get into the White House lessen they wuz a servant, and he's the President!!!!"

As always, the favorite default position of the far Right is simply: dumb.

OK, with a strong shading of poorly controlled racism, but mostly just dumb