Leave a Comment
1 comment
Friday, June 5th, 2009, 10:29 pm
Uncle Herman says:
Well, I think this is an interesting article but I find it unlikely that anarchists were responsible for the arson fire at the mansion. I mean, this is all conjecture. No one has been arrested yet. But my reasoning is based in the fact that anarchists don’t really operate like this. They are capable of resorting to violence, most definitely, but they generally do so in two circumstances and pretty narrowly at that: a) against fascist and racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi organizations, at political demonstrations by racist and fascist groups, b) at major meetings of financial institutions, political parties, where a lot of media attention is concentrated. In other words, the Republican National Convention, the meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999, and so on. Otherwise, they’re more likely to hand out food to the homeless or loiter under bridges than strike out at historic buildings.
Again, this is all conjecture.
What strikes me as disturbingly likely was that this arson attack was an example of far right nationalist violence. You mention Alex Jones in the article -- a lot of his listeners have been very upset with Gov. Perry over his highway program -- they fear that further links with Mexico is part of a conspiracy to undermine the strength of the nation and that through revolutionary violence the nation can be cleansed of undesirable influences. More than that, though, this could have been a response to the raid on the fringe Mormon splinter sect in El Dorado, Texas. Far right nationalists saw the federal raid on the compound as a repeat of the raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. As we should be well aware, the Oklahoma City bombing was carried out as a response to the raid. There has been a lot of talk of far right violence recently, and there have been many examples: neo-Nazis arrested for plotting to kill the President, the recent shooting of the late-term abortion doctor by a right-wing anti-abortion activist, and so on. I haven’t seen any examples of anarchist violence except at the 2008 political conventions, which is ordinary for radical leftist groups. What I’m saying is that there is a pattern here of "lone wolf" style attacks by nationalists, and the fire at the governor’s mansion might fit the pattern. Yes, Austin is a left-wing kind of town. But there’s a significant presence of extreme nationalist politics, the kind of people who wave Revolutionary War flags and think they embody the mythical spirit of the Founding Fathers -- and are willing to engage in redemptive violence for the sake of violence as a result. I.E. fascist violence, Alex Jones, etc.
I’ve said this before to friends, and they look at me and say: Rick Perry is a right-wing crazy person! Why would the far right have a problem with him? A cursory study of the far right terrorists I’m talking about shows that they view "the system" as corrupt, and that only a revolution against both major political parties, a complete upending of the government, can save "the nation" from disaster. The movement around Ron Paul is a good example of this sentiment.
My Library
