Alamogordo Gun Rights-Tea Party Protester Hints Armed Violence to Come if Obama Doesn't Change

Video from report by Chris Dudley on NMI about protest

How many people showed up in Alamogordo, New Mexico yesterday to join an "open carry" gun display and protest against the Obama administration organized by the Otero Tea Party Patriots, the Alamogordo Second Amendment Task Force and the Sons of Liberty Riders? According to a news report on KOB-TV, there were about 200. The Alamogordo Daily News claimed 350, while a New Mexico Independent report says it was about 300. 

Whatever the turnout, it's clear that many of those assembled are all about taking their country back from communists or socialists or fascists -- take your pick. They feel their Second Amendment gun rights are threatened -- although there's no evidence of any intent on the part of the Obama administration to do anything like that -- and they blame President Obama for a bad economy and the "socialist" plot represented by his proposed health care insurance reform and his actions to counteract the deep recession that began in earnest before he took office.

I can understand how right-wingers might be critical of President Obama and the Democrats in Congress. It's true that a Democratic agenda is being advanced, though many Democrats aren't pleased about the reluctance of Dems in Washington to push for deep change, instead of nibbling around the edges of the status quo. It's not surprising that Republicans, especially right-wing members of the GOP or those who support more libertarian policies, would be displeased with Democratic overtures. What IS surprising is how far out on the fringes some of the critics are about what's really going on in the federal government.

That Old Familiar Communist Threat
What year is it again? You'd swear we were back in the 1950's when Sen. Joe McCarthy was leading a witch hunt against alleged communists in the U.S. government, while the lunatic-infested John Birch Society was harping on the same issue and going so far as to claim that President Dwight Eisenhower was a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy." 

Although we're now moving into the second decade of the 21st century, many right wingers apparently are convinced that communists are on the attack once again -- from within the White House and the halls of Congress. I guess they haven't noticed that the USSR is kaput, Red China really is no more and, if anything, unregulated capitalism has grown in power and impact everywhere. I have no idea how these protestors define communism -- but a Google image search on "communist Obama" turns up a wealth of imagery equating the President with Karl Marx. It would be funny if it wasn't so disturbing.

Protestors Explain
Clearly, some on the right believe that Obama is anti-American in some way and that another witch hunt or a possible armed insurrection might be necessary to preserver our constitution. Take this guy, quoted in the Alamogordo Daily News article:

Jim Kizer, of Alamogordo, carried his .444 Marlin rifle and .41 Smith and Wesson Magnum pistol to the event.

"I don't like what the Democrats are doing to our country," said Kizer. "I'm a Korean vet and I grew up in Alaska during World War II. I've fought Communists all my life, and now our government is being taken over by them. That's why I'm here."

In the video above, gun rally-Obama protest participant James of Tularosa explains why he's upset:

"I'm everything Obama hates. He's not too supportive of Israel, he's not too supportive of the Second Amendment. He's definitely not too supportive of the American flag ... A lot of the government now is intimidating people, that we're the criminals, we're the terrorists, not the terrorists."

A man from Las Cruces comments on his decision to openly carry a gun at the demonstration:

"It's a very open threat. If they try to take over the country completely as a socialist communist then they're going to have to answer. Political power comes from the barrel of a gun as their own people said.

... They're pushing us to our limits, that's why we're out here.

When asked what the limit would be that would trigger barrel of a gun type action, the same man replies,

"... I'm not saying what that is because the element of surprise is the main thing in any military victory, which we will do with the constitution if we have to. It's up to them to listen to us now to avoid that."

In other words, the federal government will have to obey the dictates of this guy and his pals or their guns will be used to strike back and get their way without the formality of an election or a ballot box.

An Unasked Question
If I had been there I would have asked the protestors if they would support a move to close down White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base and other employers in Otero County that provide government jobs -- along with substantial spin-off money that goes directly into their communities. If they're so against what the government is and does, how do they justify so many in their communities living off the government dole, so to speak?

I wonder if they recognize that a very high percentage of the good-paying jobs in New Mexico are funded by the government with tax dollars paid by those who live outside the local tax base -- oftentimes on the East or West Coasts. According to the Otero County Chamber of Commerce, almost 30% of the jobs in the county are provided by the government. Well, there's socialism, and then there's socialism, right?