The Gathering of Eagles prepares to fly off a cliff
By Mike Litt of Lake Oswego, Oregon. Mike is a retired Professor of Genetics from OHSU. He is also a political activist with the Bus Project and the Democratic Party of Clackamas County.
On Sept. 18th, Republican conservatives in Oregon plan to hold a conference in Turner, Oregon entitled “A Gathering of Eagles”. This meeting will be addressed by Tom Delay, Lars Larson, and Oregon Republican Chairman Bob Tiernan, among others. Chris Dudley is listed as an invited guest.
Among this group’s statement of principles are the following:
“We believe People have the right to bear arms and the duty to overthrow their Government when it fails to perform and when resolution and legislation fail to correct it.”
“We believe administrations who violate our constitutional rights and lawmakers who pass laws they do not read should be held accountable and not only sent home for their wrong doings but punished to the full extent of the law.”
“We believe in Vouchers for private education and that government should stay out of education.”
“We the People do not want any more Rinos or half way Republicans. We want true conservative Republicans!”
Given the recent successes of the Tea Party in Republican Primaries, It appears that these radical themes are becoming the dominant ideology of the Republican Party. In particular, the “duty to overthrow their Government..” principle comes close to a call for armed insurrection. And this notion is reinforced by the Republican Party of Oregon’s booth at the recent State Fair, at which they raffled off two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles. One thousand $5 tickets for each weapon were quickly sold out.
I believe that many independent and moderate Republican voters would be horrified if they knew of these goings on. But the mainstream media has generally failed to report these examples of right-wing extremism. All Republican candidates should be challenged to state publicly whether they agree or disagree with the principles expressed by “The Gathering of Eagles.”
|
Sept. 15, 2010
|
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
10:35 p.m.
Sep 15, '10
As honored guest Chris Dudley must be subscribing to all that nonsense, and must be queried about it.
11:02 p.m.
Sep 15, '10
Bill;
He's listed as an invited guest and I'd be extremely surprised if he shows up. But i agree that he should still be queried about "all that nonsense."
10:23 a.m.
Sep 16, '10
Why would it be surprising?
Dudley, the GOP and the "tea party" in Oregon are the same team.
11:12 a.m.
Sep 16, '10
How, in your mind, is Dudley linked to the teabaggers?
BTW, the living in the Portland house story has just collapsed.
2:14 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
Not "in my mind"... in my email inbox.
The Oregon Tea Party and the ORGOP are all the same team.
1:45 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Mr. Gore, the Democratic Party is next on our list.
5:00 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
"Next on your list"...?
What exactly does that mean?
10:00 a.m.
Sep 19, '10
You mean you're going be recruiting volunteers for call centers & canvasses to support Democratic candidates?
6:07 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
It's not in my mind. He attended a teaparty earlier this year.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704414504575244343492446122.html
And then there are his supporters, the Freedom Works people. Check out the list of Slogans spotted:
http://blogs.eugeneweekly.com/content/presidents-day-tea-party
8:02 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
The "tea party" is a rebranding/marketing front for the GOP since Bush destroyed the GOP brand by the time he left office. It has been an astroturf effort from day one. But they are rapidly losing grip on the process and too many of them are now believing their own rhetoric.
What is really sad is the Perot/Bircher wingnuts who believe there are leading a "revolution". The GOP however can't seem to get "teh cray" brand of toothpaste back in the tube now, and the GOP re-branding is now wagging the dog.
Here in Oregon, the "tea party" is nothing but a front for the ORGOP to try and corral their tattered and ever shrinking base back onto the reservation and into their GOTV efforts. And Dudley's campaign is right there in that effort.
9:51 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
It explains why the ORGOP website has been missing its party platform for weeks now. I get the feeling they're too busy breaking eggs for the crazy ommelette.
What happened to the 48 pages of nonsense about gun safety in schools as a party platform? "I loved that guy!" :o)
12:00 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Helloooo Michael. Nothing to say about Dudley's link to the teabaggers?
1:44 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Um ... no. Wrong again Mr. Gore.
5:00 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Not wrong at all.
8:00 a.m.
Sep 16, '10
As the scary implications aside, I love that it is a super smart neighbor of Chris Dudley that is swinging this hammer right back at 'em.
Guns + government overthrow = the Oregon GOP needs to be on a terrorist watchlist? Maybe, but I'll ask you if these people were ethnic minorities, would they be treated the same way? Given a free pass to do this stuff?
8:03 a.m.
Sep 16, '10
Sorry "all the scary implications aside" not "At the scary..."
Need coffee.
5:38 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
Oh, this is going on my blog in a special place where I have collected all the things that negate Chris Dudley's claim of being a moderate!
Thank you!!!
6:44 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
The sad thing is, that the second amendment is precisely about overthrowing your own government, but the conditions for armed resistance have to do with tyranny and violation of the US Constitution.
The problem for a lot of these folks is exemplified by a lady that attended a recent Van Orman event who (discussing taxes and fees) compained thatt that was taxation without representation. To which Suzanne replied, "There was an election, and I was elected as your representative."
As to the rest of it: No public education, jailing legislators for passing laws with which the self described Eagles disagree, or even better, jailing them for "not having read the bill", and the excommunication of insufficiently militant Republicans, are all standard on Limbaugh, Beck, etc.
8:08 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
Not sure how you think maintaining a well regulated militia is "precisely about overthrowing our own government" through use of arms, but the rest of your points are solid.
7:09 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
There is nothing wrong with making people read a bill before it is passed. That would be a fair law if it were to be enacted.
8:54 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
You do realize that legislators have staff who specialize in the various policy areas, read the bills for their area and give/create briefings for their boss?
This notion that somehow lawmakers are just running around passing stuff without knowing what's in it is, in general, BS. Are there some instances? Yes--I believe the Patriot Act is one them. But that had more to do with GOP rushing it through than anything else.
8:02 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
I notice that this site does not have any paying advertisers or "sponsors" currently advertising. What does that tell everyone? Socialism is great until you run out of other peoples money to spend.
8:05 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
Huh?
You mean the GEICO ad I am looking at on the right side of this page as I type this?
8:55 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
There's paid advertising all over the place on this blog--but even if there wasn't, how is the private ownership of a blog "socialism", exactly?
Clearly you have no idea what the term means.
12:18 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Carla, "socialism" is the latest "gay marriage" to rail against by the fear-based loons.
Our failure is to try and find rational thinking to be undergirding t. It is like trying to find rationality in mental illness.
12:41 p.m.
Sep 19, '10
Right to the name calling ... well played Mitchell
8:11 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
I see nothing under under "our sponsors?"
8:20 p.m.
Sep 16, '10
Odd, I see four different ads.
9:16 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
Maybe you have some ad blocking software enabled. I see 4 as well.
10:03 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
Looks like wingnuttia brings its own pair of glasses that see the dreaded "socialism" everywhere.
7:57 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
Thats why they hide behind the facist eagle.
10:11 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
I guess for these people Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield, Bob Packwood, and even Gordon Smith were not real Republicans.
When is the official rite of excommunication going to happen? In addition they will have to excommunicate that famed progressive environmentalist and corporate buster, Teddy Roosevelt, liberation theologian Abraham Lincoln, and that socialist Republican president who tried to put through a National Health Plan, and started the Environmental Protection Agency, Richard Nixon. Chris Dudley as guest of honor needs to have rites of initiation and baptism into the truth following the cleansing and purifying rites of exorcism to rid himself of any RINO tendencies and proclaim himself saved by Tom Delay.
10:29 a.m.
Sep 20, '10
"A growing political movement is busy winning converts. A dying political movement is busy purging heretics." I don't remember who said it, but it's very true.
10:14 a.m.
Sep 17, '10
The real problem here is the National Republican Party denying Oregon Republicans the opportunity to come up with uniquely Oregon solutions for Oregon problems. This state has a history of coming up with rather original solutions to our problems -- but Oregon Republicans will now be punished if they participate.
7:52 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
Oregon is the test tube for republican statagies it is a fairly small state with a decent number of red voters. It gives them a chance to run theories and see if they will work before mainstreaming it in large costly states.
7:34 p.m.
Sep 17, '10
Am I the only one, to find the close proxmity of this event to the destruction of the Mill City government building to be curious?
8:04 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
We are 50 miles from Mill City, there is no proximity question with this. I would check with the locals before even considering this event decided to breed a petty arsonist.
7:48 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
The worst part of it they are branding themselves as average citizens. Good ole boys who are suffering just like us. The only problem, they are sitting in a house this after noon, wait that is no house it is one of Oregon most expensive homes. I can really feel their pain.
So today I sit here with the new fasicism party set to start on the other side of my fence and wonder if I should practice my private property rights, my 1st and 2nd admendment.
But I know full well if I was to protest them from my own property the way their tea parties protest i would be jailed.
Lars, your state is bankrupt leave Oregon politics to Oregon and go back to your home to Washington.
Tom we have enough crooks in Oregon leave back to Texas and screw with their politicians.
I know I will be watching for Dudley today, it's funny that he is attempting to turn himself purple and sound more democratic but Oregon does not need another purple politician. We purged ourself of Gordon Smith we don't need one in the governor's seat.
8:51 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
Wow my yard signs lasted not even 5 minutes
8:56 a.m.
Sep 18, '10
Wow so much for my first admendment rights. Republician hide behind a badge of constitutional rights and love the right of free speech but don't say anything against them.