Matthews Allows Gun Rights Protesters to Show Their Blind Hatred for President Obama
Chris Matthews allows 2nd Amendment protesters Larry Pratt and Skip Coryell to dig their own hole while trying to get them to explain what freedoms are being taken away from them and what right the 2nd Amendment protects. The one thing that's obvious from watching them is that their irrational fears and blind hatred for the President has little to do with anyone taking away their guns.
For a reminder on who these guys are, here's what David Neiwert shared with us on Pratt back in August of 2009.
But then, that shouldn't be terribly surprising. As hate-group expert Brian Levin, the second guest, tries to explain, the GOA has a long history of right-wing extremism, dating back to the days in the 1980s when it was part of Willis Carto's white-nationalist operation. The main figure in all this was GOA's longtime and current leader, Larry Pratt.
Moreover, as the ADL explains, Pratt actually played a critical role in the formation of the militia movement in the 1990s:
In 1992, Larry Pratt, leader of a radical gun- rights group [the GOA] and an advocate of the formation of militias, issued a statement in the wake of the Rodney King riots urging the Los Angeles Police Department to "take advantage of what the Founding Fathers called the unorganized militia" in order to forestall further unrest. Many people initially joined the fledgling militia movement largely as a way to protect more aggressively their right to bear arms; even today, gun-related issues dominate many of the newsletters published by militia groups.
David Corn has this on Skip Coryell:
On April 19, an assortment of gun-rights groups will mount the Second Amendment March at the grounds of the Washington Monument. On the Web site for the march, its founder, Skip Coryell, calls it a "peaceful" event. But these folks, as the Violence Policy Center points out in a new report, are pushing a virulent strain of anti-government extremism that certainly could drive a body to take violent action.
Last month in an article for Human Events, a conservative magazine, Coryell noted that one aim of the march is to imply the threat of violence:
My question to everyone reading this article is this: "For you, as an individual, when do you draw your saber? When do you say "Yes, I am willing to rise up and overthrow an oppressive, totalitarian government?"
Is it when the government takes away your private business?
Is it when the government rigs elections?
Is it when the government imposes martial law?
Is it when the government takes away your firearms?
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating the immediate use of force against the government. It isn't time, and hopefully that time will never come. But one thing is certain: "Now is the time to rattle your sabers." If not now, then when?
... I understand that sounds harsh, but these are harsh times. ...
I hear the clank of metal on metal getting closer, but that's not enough. The politicians have to hear it too. They have to hear it, and they have to believe it.
Come and support me at the Second Amendment March on April 19th on the Washington Monument grounds. Let's rattle some sabers and show the government we're still here.
Notice that Coryell says he's not advocating the immediate use of force against the government. That sure makes it sound like he's revving up the gun-rights troops for possible rebellion down the road.
Transcript below the fold.
