Look Out! He’s Got a Bob Barr Button!

A few days ago, the conspiracist site Infowars posted a “strategic report” by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a police “public safety partnership” that collects “incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri.” The document is a throwback to the great militia panic of the ’90s, a time when all sorts of libertarian and populist organizations were conflated with domestic terrorists, and when the threat posed by the latter was wildly exaggerated. Among other things, the MIAC paper declares that “It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitution Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material. These members are usually supporters of former Presidential Candidate: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr.” It also warns that the Gadsden Flag, bearing a coiled rattlesnake and the slogan DON’T TREAD ON ME, “is the most common symbol displayed by militia members and organizations.”

I’m not sure which the be more surprised about: the fact that infowars broke a story that was verifiable or that police agencies are targeting people who display symbols of patriotism.

I need to invest in a rattlesnake sticker for my car ASAP.

Related posts:

1. maybe… screw pragmatism?
2. Good news, for a change
3. strange days in this savage land
5. Somewhat Disturbing Numbers