Virginia Republicans Plan For ‘Armed Revolution’ If Obama Wins Re-election [Update]
The Greene County, Virginia Republican Committee has sparked outrage by releasing a newsletter which calls for an “armed revolution” if President Obama is re-elected.
The monthly newsletter, which was first uncovered by Right Wing Watch, tends to be filled with inflammatory right wing rhetoric. But the March edition went a little further than usual.
“We have before us a challenge to remove an ideologue unlike anything world history has ever witnessed or recognized,” editor Ponch McPhee wrote. “An elected leader who shuns biblical praise, handicaps economic ability, disrespects the honor of earned military might.”
From there it only gets crazier:
The ultimate task for the people is to remain vigilant and aware ~ that the government, their government is out of control, and this moment, this opportunity, must not be forsaken, must not escape us, for we shall not have any coarse [sic] but armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November ~ This Republic cannot survive for 4 more years underneath this political socialist ideologue.
McPhee’s poor spelling mirrors his poor grasp of history; aside from the notion of the president as history’s greatest ideologue, McPhee would do well to remember that Virginia’s last armed revolution didn’t exactly work out.
McPhee should expect a visit from the Secret Service in the near future, given that they investigated Ted Nugent last month for his similar threats against President Obama.
The newsletter contains a disclaimer at the bottom noting that the opinions of the contributors “do not reflect the opinion of the Republican Party whole or in part.” Still, unless Republican leaders step forward to denounce McPhee’s rant, this episode will go down as yet another instance of Republicans failing to stand up to the fringe.
UPDATE: Right Wing Watchreports that McPhee now claims that the “armed revolution” was just a metaphor — he only wanted angry Tea Partiers to arm themselves “with a spoken word:”
~ all this rip roar Media hype….. is all about…..being armed with the voices of We the people…..you must arm yourself with a spoken word to be heard ~ just as the founding fathers spoke out during the revolution……So, Yes, arm yourself with many voices for the people and by the people….as your constitution allows….should the vote fail ….this November or at anytime……
His backpedaling appears to have been in vain, however. The Greene County Republican Committee has posted a note on its website which refers to McPhee as the “former Newsletter editor” and insists that it “denounces such language and does not subscribe to that thinking…we do not believe that if the results end up with the re-election of Barack Obama, that will necessitate what the author suggests.”
