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Meet The Oath Keepers

Submitted by Kyle on February 22, 2010 - 9:32am

Justine Sharrock has a long article on The Oath Keepers in the latest issue of Mother Jones that notes the organization's ties to Tea Party and 9/12 activists and, by extension, figures like Ralph Reed, groups like the Eagle Forum, and members of Congress: 

Founded last April by Yale-educated lawyer and ex-Ron Paul aide Stewart Rhodes, the group has established itself as a hub in the sprawling anti-Obama movement that includes Tea Partiers, Birthers, and 912ers. Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan have all sung its praises, and in December, a grassroots summit it helped organize drew such prominent guests as representatives Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun, both Georgia Republicans.

There are scores of patriot groups, but what makes Oath Keepers unique is that its core membership consists of men and women in uniform, including soldiers, police, and veterans. At regular ceremonies in every state, members reaffirm their official oaths of service, pledging to protect the Constitution—but then they go a step further, vowing to disobey "unconstitutional" orders from what they view as an increasingly tyrannical government.

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It was while volunteering for Ron Paul's doomed presidential bid that Rhodes decided to abandon electoral politics in favor of grassroots organizing. As an undergrad, he had been fascinated by the notion that if German soldiers and police had refused to follow orders, Hitler could have been stopped. Then, in early 2008, SWAT received a letter from a retired colonel declaring that "the Constitution and our Bill of Rights are gravely endangered" and that service members, veterans, and police "is where they will be saved, if they are to be saved at all!"

Rhodes responded with a breathless column starring a despotic president, "Hitlery" Clinton, in her "Chairman Mao signature pantsuit." Would readers, he asked, obey orders from this "dominatrix-in-chief" to hold militia members as enemy combatants, disarm citizens, and shoot all resisters? If "a police state comes to America, it will ultimately be by your hands," he warned. You had better "resolve to not let it happen on your watch." He set up an Oath Keepers blog, asking soldiers and veterans to post testimonials. Word spread. Military officers offered assistance. A Marine Corps veteran invited Rhodes to speak at a local Tea Party event. Paul campaigners provided strategic advice. And by the time Rhodes arrived in Lexington to speak at a rally staged by a pro-militia group, a movement was afoot.

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Rhodes has become a darling of right-wing pundits. In a column last October, Pat Buchanan predicted that "Brother Rhodes is headed for cable stardom." Glenn Beck has cited the group as a "phenomenal" example of the "patriot revival movement," while Lou Dobbs declared that its platform "should give solace and comfort to the left in this country." Conspiracy-radio king Alex Jones even put an Oath Keepers segment, including footage of the Lexington speech, on his hit DVD Fall of the Republic. "I can't stress enough how much your organization is scaring the globalists," he told Rhodes on his show.

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On the conference's final day, National 912 Project chairman Patrick Jenkins stepped up to talk about the National Liberty Unity Summits his group was organizing in cooperation with Oath Keepers. They would provide a chance, he said, for patriots to forge a common agenda and a plan to carry it out. At the first summit, in December, attendees included representatives of groups from FairTax Nation to the Constitution Party to Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum. On hand were Ralph Reed Jr. (former director of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition and recent founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition), Larry Pratt (head of Gun Owners of America), and Tim Cox (founder of Get Out of Our House, an organization praised on Fox News for its goal of replacing business-as-usual incumbents with "ordinary folks"). Most notable were representatives Broun and Gingrey, who according to summit organizer Nighta Davis have expressed willingness to introduce legislation crafted by summit attendees. (So, Davis says, have Steve King [R-Iowa] and Michele Bachmann [R-Minn.]. None of the representatives agreed to comment for this story.)

As they say, read the whole thing.

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Ralph Reed's Religious Right Tea Party Will Be The "Christian Coalition on Steroids"

Submitted by Kyle on February 11, 2010 - 3:24pm

I've made no secret of the fact that I am amazed to see Ralph Reed continue to be hailed as some sort of political guru despite the fact that his own political aspirations came utterly unglued due to his close ties to Jack Abramoff and his related record of exploiting the very group he claimed to represent.

Case in point: his recent appearance on "The Brody File", the new half-hour TV program from CBN's David Brody, where Reed explains that GOP losses in 2008 convinced him of the need for a "21st Century version of the Christian Coalition on steroids, married with MoveOn.org, with a sprinkling of the NRA" and led him to create his Faith and Freedom Coalition. 

He goes on to report that the recent Citizens United decision will allow them to play an even more direct role in upcoming elections, and that the organization has 100,000 members and activists and 15 state chapters and predicts that it "will be a major force for good" and become a "permanent fixture on the American political landscape."

Reed's mission is to harness grassroots energy by merging the fiscal conservative agenda with the social conservative agenda ... which is pretty much the mission of every other Religious Right group already in existence. Please, try and name one socially conservative group that does not also support the standard fiscal conservative agenda.

Reed's real focus seems to be on merging Christian conservatives and Tea Party activists, as he reports that he has several Tea Party organizers who are also active in his Faith and Freedom Coalition, that he is personal friends with several national Tea Party leaders, and that he has personally participated in several high-profile Tea Party events. 

Reed says that a significant number of Tea Party activists are also social conservatives and that what the entire movement is really concerned about is "moral issues":

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Ralph Reed's Slow, Sad Decline

Submitted by Kyle on February 9, 2010 - 8:56am

Once upon a time, Ralph Reed was known as "The Right Hand of God," a man whose political genius was unmatched and whose power and influence was unquestioned. 

Then he left the Christian Coalition to strike out on his own, only to see his former organization collapse and his own political aspirations go up in smoke thanks to his deep ties to corruption [PDF].

But he's still around and active in right-wing politics via his Faith and Freedom Coalition, from where he continues to dispense pathetically cliched political analysis such as this about Sarah Palin ... or, as he calls her, "The Palinator":

This may be Palin’s unique strength. She understands the fiscal and values agendas of conservatism are reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. A nation that relies on God and family for its strength does not seek to expand the federal government to meet every need. Fiscal responsibility and small government are not merely economic principles, they speak to the moral character of a people that believes government has an important but limited function. In this sense, Palin is a fusionist who weaves the various strands of conservatism into a coherent whole.

This is why Palin can act as a bridge between Tea Party activists and the Republican Party and have credibility with both. For now the media is fascinated with whether she will run in 2012. They hope she does, if only because it will make for the most interesting political story since the Obama-Hillary rumble in the 2008 Democratic primaries. That decision is probably a year away. Meanwhile, the MSM is missing the bigger story, at least in the short-term: Palin, who they tried to drive out of respectable political discourse, is re-energizing the grassroots of a Republican Party that they dismissed as dead. Their attacks against her—and the values she symbolizes—not only backfired, they are now working in her and the GOP’s favor.

What ultimately drives the media crazy is they know instinctively they are co-conspirators in her rise. From the Katie Couric interview to the over-the-top attacks by the likes of Shrum, by overplaying their hand they made Palin a bigger force than they ever intended. Had they simply been fair to Palin when she ran for vice president and treated her with decency, she would not be viewed now by so many grassroots conservatives as a victim of irrational elitist hatred. As much as John McCain in selecting her as his running mate in 2008, the MSM made her a force, and she is proving she can use that platform very effectively indeed.

Apparently, providing expert conservative analysis now consists primarily of regurgitating nonsensical right-wing fantasies about how Sarah Palin "is a fusionist who weaves the various strands of conservatism into a coherent whole" who symbolizes everything great about America and will rise of to save this nation.

Amazing.

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The Alice-in-Wonderland Universe of Ralph Reed

Submitted by Kyle on January 20, 2010 - 2:01pm

Am I the only one who finds it absolutely amazing that Ralph Reed, a man who saw his own political candidacy was ruined by his deep ties [PDF] to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and who is still so radioactive that John McCain could not be seen with him, is somehow still dispensing political advice on television, at tea parties, and in campaigns with his new Faith and Freedom Coalition?

I mean, a right-wing activist who can't even get himself elected thanks to his own ties to corrupt lobbyists probably shouldn't be telling Democrats how to respond to Scott Brown's victory ... but he is anyway: 

When millions of average Americans poured into the streets to protest Obama’s out-of-control spending at “tea parties” beginning last April, the White House and its liberal allies denounced these protesters as “astroturf,” “tea-baggers,” “evil,” and even compared them to Nazis. House Majoirty Leader and FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey organized opposition to Obama’s policies, so White House allies pressured his DC law/lobbying firm to dump him. I saw Dick at a rally opposing Democratic health care reform the weekend it happened, and he joked: “They made a big mistake. Now I can spend all my time fighting them.”

With each defeat and setback, the Obama political team and the Democrats engaged in spin, finger-pointing, leaks to an adoring press corps, all the while ignoring the warning signs. As late as yesterday, while the Democratic establishment hung black crepe and mourned the impending loss of “the Kennedy seat,” a Democratic official was telling Politico with a straight face that Organizing for America—Obama’s campaign political operation now housed at the DNC—“is a winner” in Massachusetts, “that’s clear, win or lose.” Win or lose? Only in Alice-in-Wonderland universe in which the Obama political team lives is someone who suffers an historic defeat proclaimed a winner. So I suppose Obama should have gotten a gold medal for flying all the way to Copenhagen on bended knee before the IOC, even if Chicago did lose the Olympics.

Is the Obama team still in denial? One wonders. Does Obama have the capacity to listen to the voters, call an audible, and adjust his policies and trim his ambitions? I doubt it. Obama has always struck me as a committed liberal, a true believer, and he will try to salvage health care and get whatever extreme policies he can passed before the 2010 elections. If other Democrats watch their careers go up in smoke and suffer the loss of their offices as a result, so be it. We shall see ... But after last night, Obama is not looking like a political savior anymore. In fact, he looks like the kiss of death. Massachusetts was opening volley of the 2010 elections, and Democrats are bracing for more defeats of historic proportions.

Only in Alice-in-Wonderland universe can a man whose own ties to rampant corruption have utterly destroyed his own political aspirations still make a living dispensing political advice to others.

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Tea Partiers Declare "One Year To Judgment Day"

Submitted by Kyle on November 3, 2009 - 3:56pm

Even by the Tea Partiers' standards, hosting an event entitled "One Year To Judgment Day" seems rather extreme.

But not too extreme for Ralph Reed apparently, who was a featured speaker at the event, along with conservative wunderkind Jonathan Krohn and right-wing radio host Herman Cain.

If you aren't familiar with Cain, perhaps this post we wrote back in 2006 when he was the face of America's PAC will refresh your memory:

A group called America’s PAC has raised almost $1 million to run highly inflammatory radio ads targeting African American voters, urging them to vote Republican in November, according to the New York Sun.

One ad, called “Don’t Go There,” features an exchange between two men. The first man says the second man has no reason to vote Republican because he is unemployed, an adulterer, and won’t serve in the military, and finally he comes to abortion:

Michael: And if you make a little mistake with one of your ho’s, you’ll want to dispose of that problem toot sweet, no questions asked, right?

Dennis: Naw, that’s too cold. I don’t snuff my own seed …

Michael: Huh. Really? (pause) Well, maybe you do have a reason to vote Republican!

Another ad on abortion accuses the “Democrat Party” of “decimating our people” by supporting abortion laws. Over the sound of a thunderstorm and a crying baby, a woman says, “Democrats say they want our votes. Why don’t they want our lives?”

In another ad, “Hazardous Dukes,” the “Michael” character says David Duke visited Syria to support terrorists in Iraq. The speaker continues,

Now, I can understand why a Ku Klux Klan cracker like David Duke makes nice with the terrorists. They fight voting rights in Iraq, just like he does back home. But what I want to know is why so many of the Democrat politicians I helped elect are on the same side of the Iraq war as David Duke.

Duke, the founder of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was a Republican state representative in Louisiana and ran for governor as a Republican.

Other ads blame Democrats for Hurricane Katrina and voting irregularities in Florida in 2000, call Social Security “the most discriminatory government program we have,” invoke Martin Luther King, and assert that “it’s only the Republicans who support our troops.” 

Here's Reed hobnobbing with Cain at the event:

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Reed and Robertson Take Care Of One Of Their Own

Submitted by Kyle on November 3, 2009 - 10:44am

A few months back I wrote a post about how when Bob McDonnell won a seat to the Virginia House of Delegates back back in 1991, Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition cited that victory as proof of the effectiveness of their "guerrilla warfare" election strategy.

So that explains why Reed has been so active in Virginia now that McDonnell is seeking to become Virginia's Governor ... and also why Pat Robertson and his family have dumped tens of thousands of dollars into his campaign:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell received a trio of last-minute donations totaling $40,000 from religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, his son and daughter-in-law.

Robertson contributed $25,000 on Oct. 20, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics. His son, Tim, donated $5,000 Friday for in-kind services (listed as catering) and his wife, Lisa, donated $10,000 to McDonnell today.

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Ralph Reed Is Back In Business

Submitted by Kyle on November 3, 2009 - 8:30am

Yesterday we noted that Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition has been extremely active in mobilizing conservative voters ahead of Virginia's election and had even gotten Sarah Palin to record a robocall on its behalf.

Today, via the Brody File, we find out that Reed has also gotten Mike Huckabee to do the same:

We told you yesterday that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recorded a phone message encouraging Virginians to get out and vote on Tuesday.

Now, we have learned that a conservative group affiliated with former Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed asked both Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to make calls to nearly 700,000 voters in Virginia.

The Huckabee calls were made Saturday and the Palin calls were made Sunday and today.

You can hear the Huckabee calls here:

Hello, this is Mike Huckabee and I'm calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote for the candidates who reflect your values. Virginia, and America, are at a crossroads. The future of our nation is at stake, and on the issue of taxes and spending, the sanctity of life, and marriage, there are very clear choices.  Be an informed and educated voter and be sure and vote your values this Tuesday.  Thank You. Paid for by the Virginia Faith and Freedom Coalition.

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Reed and Palin Team Up in VA

Submitted by Kyle on November 2, 2009 - 10:13am

Ralph Reed was in Virginia this past weekend with the state chapter of his Faith and Freedom Coalition mobilizing conseravtive voters heading into tomorrow's election:

Check out these cool pictures and video of Virginia Faith and Freedom chairman Steve Martin and VFFC president Jack Rohrer, accompanied by national Faith and Freedom chair Ralph Reed and dozens of volunteers participating in the Virginia Grassroots Blitz Team, this Saturday, October 31. Literally hundreds of members of the Faith and Freedom Grassroots Blitz Team poured into neighborhoods and precincts throughout Virginia, including in Prince William, Spotsylvania, Chesterfield, Hanover, and the city of Lynchburg.

Faith and Freedom volunteers passed out specialized Halloween door hangers telling voters “Don’t be tricked, Stand up for your values. Vote Tuesday, November 3rd.” These get-out-the-vote door hangers also featured a voter guide displaying the positions of the candidates for Governor on key issues. Some of the issues that this year’s voter guide highlighted were taxes, environmentally sensitive offshore oil drilling, spending, transportation, marriage, and the right to life.

On a related note, Sarah Palin is featured in a new robo-calls being funded by Reed's VA state affiliate, as Greg Sargent reports: 

A local affiliate of NBC has the audio of the call, which was paid for by a conservative group called the “Freedom Coalition.”

The script makes no mention of McDonnell:

“Virginia, hello, this is Sarah Palin calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote to share our principles. The eyes of America will be on Virginia and make no mistake about it, every vote counts. So don’t take anything for granted, vote your values on Tuesday, and urge your friends and family to vote, too.”

 

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$25 Worth of Faxes Will End Obama's Presidency!

Submitted by Kyle on October 26, 2009 - 9:00am

Ralph Reed is back with his Faith and Freedom Coalition and their first order of business, according to this recent email, is ending Barack Obama's presidency once and for all with a flurry of faxes, warning that if Obama is not stopped, he's going to personally deny you access to live-saving healthcare and turn this nation into a socialist nightmare.  So it is up to you and your $24.95 to "save freedom in America":

My name is Ralph Reed. I am the Chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition -- a new organization dedicated to lifting high the values that made America great. We are mobilizing millions of Americans to OPPOSE and DEFEAT President Obama's far-left agenda for America.

MISSION #1 right now: Defeat "Obamacare."

Over the next 3 days we are aiming to bury Congress with hundreds of thousands of FaxGrams of Protest against "Obamacare."

If we can do that, I believe we have a very real chance to shock Congress with the intensity of public opposition to having government take over your health care . . . and have "Obamacare" declared DOA -- Dead on Arrival.

If we succeed at this, President Obama's disastrous Presidency will be in real jeopardy -- as he will be an immediate "lame duck."

...

The point is we must apply massive and overwhelming public pressure on Congress to REJECT "Obamacare" -- no matter how they try to dress it up, repackage it, or rebrand it as something other than what it is -- Socialized Medicine.

You and I know that "Obamacare" really has nothing to do with fixing America's health care system.

It's all about government bureaucrats seizing control of your life in a scheme so frightening it could only have been dreamed up by the radical left.

What better way to seize control over your life than seizing control over the decision as to whether you or your loved ones receive life-saving medical treatment or not?

Do you think radicals like Van Jones and other far-left activists will burrow their way into the federal health care bureaucracy, rewarding their friends while people like you end up in the back of the line?

...

And that's why Faith & Freedom Coalition has launched this Emergency Campaign to bury Congress with hundreds of thousands of FaxGrams over the next 3 days.

Our goal: To shock Congress into abandoning "Obamacare" (which will also effectively end the Obama Presidency and save freedom in America).

...

We can deliver "FaxGrams" in your name to your Congressman and two U.S. Senators for $24.95 -- which also gives us a few extra-dollars to work with so we can reach many more Americans with FaxGram Authorization Requests like this one.

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Ralph Reed Is Back In Business

Submitted by Kyle on October 5, 2009 - 1:44pm

Earlier this year, Ralph Reed announced the formation of his Christian Coalition, Version 2.0, known as the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Reed vowed that this iteration wouldn't be "your daddy's Christian Coalition," and that it would be "more brown, more black, more female, and younger" than the first version ... also, hipper and even more strident.

Since it's launch, it hasn't made much, if any, national news, but that is in keeping with Reed's style of political guerilla warfare and so it is no surprise that he's been hard at work building up a nationwide infrastructure.

Starting with the Faith and Freedom Rally efforts, Reed has been slowly picking up state affiliates and making inroads in states like Iowa:

FFC Chairman Ralph Reed was the guest speaker at the 9th Annual Friends of the Family Banquet hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition/Iowa Christian Alliance. ICCF is one of Faith and Freedoms newest state affiliates formed in August when the existing Iowa Christian Alliance Board voted to affiliate with the national Faith and Freedom Coalition. Other speakers who addressed the over 750 attendees included, Steve Scheffler, IFFC President, Representative Steve King, Senator Chuck Grassley, and David Barton of Wallbuilders.

Reed and the FFC are also setting up shop in Florida, where they plan on opening chapters in every country in order to play a key role in the Republican Gubernatorial primary:

Florida is the largest of a half-dozen states where the Faith and Freedom Coalition now has chapters, which some have dubbed a 2.0 version of the Christian Coalition, intended to draw younger, Internet-savvy social conservatives.

“Our goal within Florida is to open a chapter in every county and mobilize social conservatives,” said Jack St. Martin, chief operating officer of Reed’s coalition. “We plan to make a difference in many elections in Florida.”

The organization plans to be involved in state legislative races along with statewide campaigns in Florida next year, including the competitive U.S. Senate Republican primary between Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio, St. Martin said.

Along with grassroots organizing, the Faith and Freedom Coalition is forming a federal political action committee to pour cash into campaigns across the nation, including Florida.

Bill Stephens, executive director of the state’s Christian Coalition, is joining the Florida affiliate as its leader.

“We think there are a lot of social conservatives who have stayed at home in Florida the past two election cycles because they didn’t like what they heard or saw from the candidates,” Stephens said. “We hope to change that next year.”

The new organization was created last weekend at the Florida Christian Coalition’s 20th anniversary “God and Country” celebration in Orlando. Speaking at the event was Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who condemned President Obama’s health care initiative as “something like what the Nazis’ did.”

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