-Caveat Lector- Washington Bulletin: National Review's Internet Update for June 11, 2001 http://www.nationalreview.com By John J. Miller and Ramesh Ponnuru THE END OF MCVEIGH [Whatever happened to the militias?] This morning, Timothy McVeigh became the first federal prisoner to die by execution in nearly four decades. A particular interpretation of politics should die with him, too. There's a school of thought that the Oklahoma City bombing prevented conservatives from making more of their 1994 election sweeps. (Only last month, with senator Jim Jeffords leaving the GOP, were they partially reversed.) Republicans were still compiling lists of which federal departments to disband when McVeigh struck, and killed 168 people in a downtown office building. President Clinton seized an opportunity to thrust Newt Gingrich off center stage and hug his way back into the spotlight. He became one of many people who tried to link McVeigh's hostility to government with conservative visions of limited government. It was a breathtaking show of demagoguery. Clinton's backers included men like Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Four years ago, Dees co-authored a book called Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat. Kirkus Reviews hailed it at the time as "a convincing brief for the argument that the extreme right poses a serious, ongoing danger in this country." Here was a storm that never really gathered. Dees today seems like one of those "Storm Desk" meteorologists who frighten television viewers into watching the 11 o'clock news with dire predictions of blizzards that usually don't materialize the next morning. Dees himself implicitly conceded the point yesterday in a New York Times op-ed co-written with Mark Potok: "In the last few years, the militia movement has practically evaporated. Today, there are fewer than 200 such groups, most of them small and fragmented. Just recently, a once robust Michigan militia, which in 1995 claimed thousands of members, announced its demise." It's time someone acknowledged that there really was no militia threat: The whole thing was an illusion created by conservatism's enemies for the specific purpose of halting the movement's political momentum. How well it succeeded is open to argument. What can't be in dispute, however, is the extent to which men like Morris Deeks--who now gets to opine on McVeigh's legacy in the Times--eagerly thrust this fraud on the public. TIMES AND AGAIN Has the New York Times editorial page gone pro-life? From this morning's lead editorial: "As a society, we must value life more than he valued the lives he destroyed." Oh wait. They're talking about preserving the life of Timothy McVeigh, not unborn children. Apparently some lives are more valuable than others. ======================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ======================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
