Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The X-Files

Years ago during the Clinton administration, I got all the militia-type questions from puzzled staff who'd get bizarre letters from constituents. Gold fringe on the flag. Admiralty law. The corporate United States. Sovereign citizens. The federal reserve. Zip codes and contract law. It was all rather fascinating stuff.

What really got me was that these people expected the legislature--supposedly part of the vast conspiracy--to just admit it is all a vast hoax and fraud. Yeah, good times. Good times. I still have my "X-files"  and related folders.

So it is with some foreboding over the effect on my work load to see the loonies back:

More than 30 governors, including Robert F. McDonnell (R) of Virginia, received letters from an anti-government group this week demanding that they resign within three days or face removal from office.

The letters from the group, Guardians of the Free Republics, do not threaten violence, according to officials in Richmond and Washington. No arrests have been made.

Our governor got a letter, too.

My first thought, based on my past experience, is that these document-fetishists would use color of law to advance their cause. The letters were just the first step in their "legal proceedings," to destroy the "corporate" United States.

These guys are loons. So of course, the press calls them "right wing." Enjoy the full flavor of the whackiness.

Still, I expect these guys to hold hearings that eject the governors from their offices after nobody responds to the first letter. No doubt, they'll then send a copy of these "proceedings" to the governors and demand they leave.

Then it could get interesting. Mostly, these are harmless loons who enjoy spinning their conspiracies and citing federal law and regulation as proof of their ideas. But what if they round up a posse to eject a governor from their office?

You know, in college I had a lot of fun in the alternate universe of  the game Traveller, and even Dungeons and Dragons on rare occasions. It is somewhat encouraging to see that people can enjoy fantasy role playing even into later adulthood.

But I'm not interested in playing now. So run along, Guardians, and make your saving throw without me.