NYT Libertarian News

Good and bad news in today's NYT on a controversial new 
libertarian (I think) community.

Here's the good news, or maybe bad, quote:

Kamiah, Idaho -- Ever since Lewis and Clark sloshed their way 
through this valley 100 years ago, some people have viewed the 
Pacific Northwest as a refuge for the kind of behavior that 
might get a person run out of town in other parts of the 
country.

. . . now comes retired Lieut. Col. James (Bo) Gritz, a 
Vietnam-era Green Beret and onetime Populist Party candidate 
for President, with what is likely to be the first community 
ever built around fear and hatred of the Federal Government.

Mr. Gritz, who discovered Idaho during the Presidential 
campaign, says he is a patriot who has become disgusted with 
the "cesspool" of public schools, the "grip of the 
international bankers" on the nation's currency, and "an 
encroaching, ravenous, predator Government," which wants to 
disarm the citizenry and force people to carry health cards.

. . . in an advertisement for his paramilitary programs, he 
says, "You will learn what weapon and ammunition type is best 
in times of grave peril; how to carry, draw, hold and 
efficiently engage multiple targets.

It is this kind of language that has many people worried that 
their hamlet will become the next Waco.

"The tyrants who ordered the assault on Waco should be tried 
and executed as traitors," Mr. Gritz wrote in a recent issue of 
his newsletter.

. . . Mr. Gritz said, "I want a community where if the F.B.I. 
looks at us, they'll end up saying it's more trouble than it's 
worth."

End quote.

The bad news, or maybe good, is that the Times then goes on to 
ridicule Mr. Gritz and his cohorts.

Anyone want this by e-mail?

John

John Young writes:
 > . . . now comes retired Lieut. Col. James (Bo) Gritz

Mr. Gritz has been usenet flame fodder for quite some time.  He's
either a crypto-fascist (no, not that kind of crypto) or a saviour of
the American Way, depending on your personal leanings.

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Mike McNally says:
> John Young writes:
>  > . . . now comes retired Lieut. Col. James (Bo) Gritz
> 
> Mr. Gritz has been usenet flame fodder for quite some time.  He's
> either a crypto-fascist (no, not that kind of crypto) or a saviour of
> the American Way, depending on your personal leanings.

The word "nut" comes to mind...

.pm

> Anyone want this by e-mail?

Sure, I'd like to see the full text if you have it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin S. Van Horn     | It is the means that determine the ends.
vanhorn@cps.msu.edu   |

Speaking as someone who's been forced to experience far too
much of Bo, _I'd_ ridicule Bo Gritz if I were on the NYT editorial
staff. If you ever get a chance to see him speak live, do it. He's
definitely the Real Deal. Conspiracy theories, thinly veiled racism,
violence poking from everywhere -- why is this kind of personality so
attracted to Idaho?
	I wouldn't even refer to him as a libertarian. He's very much
into family values / universal military training / trade protection
for United States industries. He falls very close, ideologically,
alongside the state "militias" out in this part of the country. Those
groups also profess libertarianism while also advocating extremely
draconian Christian social programs.

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