The Pentagon Shooter’s Extreme Right-Libertarian Beliefs
I posted a link to the audio of Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell’s “manifesto” last night, but here’s a summary of what’s on that audio recording: Pentagon Shooter Worshipped Private Property Rights, Denounced Government ‘Schemes’ Like Public Education.
The California man who opened fire last night outside the Pentagon was a property rights extremist who railed against the government’s ability to “confiscate the resources of their citizens to fund schemes that need only be justified by lies and deception,” and wanted to “eliminate the role of the government in education.”
In a recorded manifesto called “Directions To Freedom”, the audio of which he posted online in 2006, John Patrick Bedell, of Hollister, California, praised private property as “the most successful basis for structuring society that humanity has ever known.”
Bedell shot two police officers last night during the rampage, before being mortally wounded himself.
“Communist and socialist governments that abolished or disregarded private property,” said Bedell in the recording, “created poverty, repression and murder on a truly enormous scale.” But, he continued, “Even in the United States, however, there has been a continual erosion of protection of private property justified by the belief that government is an efficient instrument for the positive direction of society.”
Bedell added: “Governments lack the profit and loss incentives that individuals and private organizations must use…”
And he warned: “When governments are able to confiscate the resources of their citizens to fund schemes that need only be justified by lies and deception enormous disasters can result.”
Bedell also denounced the monetary system, a frequent bete noir of anti-government extremists. “When the government can control how private property is used,” he said, “and especially when the government controls the monetary system that is use to exchange private property, the government has the mechanisms and the motivation to control individuals to the smallest detail.”
Bedell even railed against the concept of public education. “Government control of the schools that shape minds is pervasive in today’s world,” he said. “The imperative to defend the freedom of conscience must lead us to eliminate the role of the government in education and leave parents and communities free to raise their children as they see fit.” He denounced public education as “no more legitimate than a government-run church for universal religious training.”
If you gave a speech at a tea party rally consisting of nothing but the quotes from Bedell you see above, you’d get a standing ovation.
These statements show an extreme right wing libertarian, the kind of person who posts comments at the Campaign for Liberty website. Hatred for George W. Bush is widespread among this group, so the fact that he was anti-Bush definitely does not put him in the “left wing” camp — as many wingnut bloggers seem desperate to do.
Also very prevalent among the far right Ron Paul contingent — 9/11 Trutherism and support for conspiracy theories of all kinds. So this does not put him in the left column either.
How about the fact that Bedell was angry about anti-marijuana laws? Well, guess who else wants to legalize pot? Yep. Ron Paul.
And let’s deal with one more excuse that’s circulating among those who are desperate to assign Bedell to the “left wing” — that he was registered as a Democrat in California.
Here are some facts. In order to vote in primary elections in California, you are required to do one of two things: declare a party affiliation, or declare yourself “unaffiliated.” If you declare as “unaffiliated,” when you go to vote you’ll receive a ballot consisting of only unaffiliated candidates, unless you specifically request that you be allowed to vote for a particular party.
Bedell, by the way, had not voted in the past five years. And given his extreme right wing variant of Bush Derangement Syndrome, it makes perfect sense that he would register as a Democrat. He certainly wasn’t going to vote for Bush.
To sum up, Bedell’s party registration tells you absolutely nothing about where he lies on the political spectrum. His actual words, however, paint a very clear picture of an anti-government right wing extremist of the Ron Paulian persuasion.
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That’s odd. Michelle Malkin is saying he was a registered Democrat, which seems pretty much non-Paulian.
If you had bothered to read my post first before pointing this out, you would have discovered that I answered this objection already.
As for the voting rules, you’re wrong. Here are the rules at the California Secretary of State website:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_decline.htm
I described the situation correctly.
In response to another comment. See in context »Oh, and in California you no longer have to be listed as Democrat to vote in the Democratic party. They changed it last presidential election. Only if you wanted to vote in the GOP primary, as you would have had to do to vote for Ron Paul, would you need to register by party. In that case, of course, you would need to register Republican.
[...] of paranoid narcissists, remember when Charles Johnson called the Pentagon shooter an “anti-government right wing extremist of the Ron Paulian persuasion”? Wrong again, Chuckles. John Patrick Bedell was a dopehead peacenik loser of the “No Blood [...]
Unbelievable. I read this whole post with my jaw to the ground in complete disbelief. There is simply no way of winning with the likes of Charles Johnson. An anti-Bush, 9/11 truther and registered Democrats is a far-right extremist. Ok, Mr. Johnson, Ok. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
The shooter was insane. People who go on shooting rampages are insane. They are deeply, deeply troubled people who should’ve been in intense treatment. It is despicable to try and find a political angle to this shooting in an attempt to paint an entire group of people who fear government expansion as equally deranged.
But this is all you see when something like this happens. Your mind immediately tries to find a way to score cheap political points.
Drop the hatred, man. It will do you good.
And, by the way, your little “rebuttal” of the shooter’s party affiliation doesn’t rebuke anything. If he was such a Ron Paul fanatic, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to register as a Republican?
In response to another comment. See in context »So are you also going to the dozens and dozens of right wing sites and telling them to stop politicizing this crime, by labeling Bedell as a “left winger?”
This post is a needed counter-balance to the overwhelming tsunami of denial pouring out of the right wing.
In response to another comment. See in context »Almost immediately after this shooting happened, I started seeing posts from left-wing sites branding the shooter a far-right extremist, mainly Think Progress and Christian Science Monitor. They jumped on this and wasted no time in politicizing it.
The vast majority of posts from right-wing sites I’ve seen are defending themselves from the ridiculous accusations. And it WAS ridiculous to brand the shooter a far-right extremist considering his background.
In response to another comment. See in context »People can read his views right there in my post. Those are extreme right wing libertarian views. Period. Full stop.
Calling him a “left winger” is dishonest.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] The Pentagon Shooter’s Extreme Right-Libertarian Beliefs – [...]