Back to the Future: "J'Accuse!" -- "I will speak for I will NOT be an accomplice!"

"His remarks were the most heated--and most applauded--of the day."

So wrote leftie journalist Dick Reavis (author of "The Ashes of Waco) in an article in the 26 October 1995 issue of the Dallas Observer, found here.

He was reporting on a speech I gave to the Second National Militia Commander's Seminar, sponsored by the Tri-State Militia Network and hosted by the Texas Constitutional Militia at Mountain View, Texas, 14 October 1995.

The speech was entitled "J'Accuse!"

Background: I was invited by Tri-State's to speak to the Texas seminar about my work at DeesWatch. Shortly before I was to speak, Ray Lampley, self-styled "Prophet of Yahweh" and notorious antisemite, showed up unexpectedly. As Tri-State's had previously denounced Lampley and his teachings this came as an unpleasant surprise to just about everybody on the Tri-State's board.

He and I had also crossed swords before that day on the Internet militia boards. As I recall, Lampley called me and other Constitutional militia people, "uncircumsized dogs." I responded that here in Alabama we didn't find it necessary to circumcise our dogs, and I wondered at the sanity of anybody who did.

(This was mild criticism coming from Lampley's neck of the collectivist woods, for the Aryan Nations' Richard Butler called constitutional milita folks, "White on the outside, black on the inside, with a Jewish brain.")

Most board members wanted to eject him unceremoniously. Others, while in total disagreement with Lampley's philosophy, were hesitant to do so. The discussion in "officer's country" was heated. At the end of this "full and frank exchange of opinions", I volunteered to use my speech to let Lampley know where he stood. Or at least, I would let everyone know where I stood. I did ask that someone keep an eye on Lampley and his party, for I had left my .45 at home -- a mistake I would never again make.

It occurs to me that we have the very same processes going on now in different portions of the liberty movement and my speech would probably be worth repeating.

I post it here as a document of record and warning for the future.

Now, I will get back to Absolved.

Mike
III

"J'Accuse!"

(Following a brief introduction by Col. Russell Smith, Texas Constitutional Militia, I began....)

Thank you, thank you. Sit down, sit down. I'm not worth getting exercised about. My name is Mike Vanderboegh. I don't know how many of you have seen my work on the Internet and various other places, but I run a little outfit called DeesWatch Project. We are a truth squad that tries to hold Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center and also the ADL,... but Morris is our principal meat since he is an Alabamian and we're Alabamians and we really don't like him representing our state... We try and hold him to some semblance of the truth.

I would like to speak to you today a little bit less about Morris Dees and a little bit more from my heart... But, how many of you have heard of Morris Dees, before I get to that? Do you know who this scalawag is? The Southern Poverty Law Center of Montgomery, Alabama has, even before the Oklahoma City bombing, been "Marketing the Militias." That is the phrase used by his own home-town newspaper, The Montgomery Advertiser.

Morris Dees has been using the Militia "Threat" to raise money for himself and he's done very well. By our best guess right now, he has seventy million dollars in the bank. . . .Now mind you, I used to like Morris. I mean I liked his work, I thought I did. I admired it from afar. Morris did a good job of attacking the Klan and the American Neo-Nazis at a time when they needed to be attacked. Unfortunately, Morris is in the position of the Dragon Slayer who's killed all the dragons, and now the villagers won't pay him anymore because there isn't any threat. So, what does a dragonslayer do? Invent a dragon, hence the Militia Movement Scare.

Now, in the process over the years of dealing with the Klan and the Neo-Nazis, Morris has developed an incestuous relationship with a governmental agency that we all know and despise called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Morris and the BATF freely exchange information back and forth contrary to law. We'll be proving that one of these days. And he also is used by the Feds to gather intelligence that they themselves are unable to gather. They're prohibited by law (as much as they adhere to that), from doing spying on specific groups. Morris, SPLC, ADL, Chip Berlet, the Center for Democratic Renewal, all of these left-wing groups are "Non-Governmental Organizations" .

Our dear President Clinton, well he's not MY "dear" President Clinton, but anyway, President Clinton has allowed the Justice agencies, the Treasury agencies to use intelligence gathered by NGO's regardless of where that information came from, how it was gathered, whether it was gathered legally, or not, and use that information as means of targeting individuals for investigation. They deny this and we know that it is true. That is also one part of what is going to put Morris' SPLC in the ground.

....Now why did I get involved in this? Because.., I'll tell you why I got involved with this, because he started lying. He started lying about people like Gun Owners of America, a group that I didn't belong to, but I have since joined largely because of the lies Morris was telling. And you know, he calls Larry Pratt a racist, because Larry Pratt speaks to people that, in a crowd, there are racists. So Morris draws the broad brush that not only is Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America a racist, but that Gun Owners of America, a group that is three hundred thousand plus strong is a "racist militia support group." Now what is a "militia support group"? It sounds like "communist fellow traveler" doesn't it? One of those, sort of amorphous sounding things.... Well what is a "militia support group"? Well, is it a group that believes in a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment? Hey Morris, I'm guilty, haul me off. But you see Morris doesn't haul people off, he just FINGERS people to be hauled off.

You know there is a case..., I guess maybe the best way to explain why I am doing what I am doing with Morris... There is a case that happened in France at the turn of the century, the Dreyfus case. Anybody know about that? Dreyfus was a loyal French Army officer, he also happened to be Jewish. And the French army started missing all sorts of secrets. And the French high command who couldn't immediately couldn't put their finger on who the spy was, decided to finger Dreyfus because he was a Jew. Well, they convicted him and they sent him to Devil's Island, but gradually the truth came out in a series of sensational trials... And even though Dreyfus was proved to be innocent, the French high command and the French government left Dreyfus on Devil's Island, rather than admit that they had made a mistake... And finally this came to a head when a French journalist named Emile Zola wrote an impassioned indictment of the French government. And it was headlined: "J'accuse!", or, "I accuse!".

And "J'accuse!" precipitated a sensational slander case that Zola lost, but the uproar caused such a break within the government that although Zola fled the country rather than submit to imprisonment..., eventually the French government recanted and Dreyfus was let loose. Now if anybody here sees any parallels to Michael New, let me know, OK?

Zola said this in his defense of Dreyfus and this is my motto "I must speak out for I will not be an accomplice." (Applause). Now that goes for the United States government as well as the French government at the turn of the century. But.., but.. "J'accuse," it also points out something else. How is Morris able to slander the American Militia Movement? He says we're all racists, and we're anti-Semites. . . that we're controlled by the Aryan Nations. OK. How's he able to do that? (Audience offers various reasons.)

No! Because it's partly true. Look in your hearts my friends and you will know that it's (in some small part) true. You know W.C. Fields, a great American philosopher, had a statement, he said that "There's an Ethiopian in the fuel supply!"

Now my friend..., my friends..., our fuel supply may indeed have a few Ethiopians in it. But I'm not talking about friends of darker skin. I'm talking about racists, I'm talking about anti-semites, I'm talking about agents provocateur, I'm talking about loose cannons. And to the extent that we ignore these people we prove Morris right. You know the best lie is one that is half true, or even a quarter true. Am I right?

AM I RIGHT?

(Shouted, "Yes!") You bet your ass I'm right.... Pardon me, but its true. "J'accuse!" "J'accuse!" "I must speak for I will not be an accomplice!"

Now why did I get involved in DeesWatch and why did you people put on those cammie uniforms? Hmm? Why do you figure? (Voiced answers from the audience). Yes, but everybody has a personal part to that, right? There's a little thing, for me is was a particular lie. A particular thing. I..., sometimes it hard for me to remember what it was. But each of us woke up at some point, maybe in the middle of the night, and maybe we walked out and we looked at the stars and we contemplated what was going on and we said "that's it, I can't take it. I've gotta do something. . . HAVE to do something, because I am responsible for MYSELF." I must speak, will not be an accomplice. Because we all have to look at ourselves in the mirror. (Pauses).

I'll show you why I'm doing this. (Reaches in back pocket, produces a wallet and flips it open to two photographs). For them. Do you see that? That's a five year old and a three year old and I intend for them to grow up in the same country or a better country (loud applause) than I grew up in and I will not turn this country over willingly to the liars and the anti-Americans, whether they come from the government that wishes to oppress us or from the slimy cracks of racist organizations that deserve our entire condemnation!

(Louder applause and shouts.) I must speak! I will not be an accomplice!

(Pauses). . . And we must act, that is why you are wearing the cammie isn't it? We must act. You must be the countervailing power. Why? Because you stood in the dark and you said "No more". Why?

Most of us... Most of us... (pauses). Morris likes to say that the Militia Movement was orchestrated by armed groups that predated the Clinton administration. My research indicates that about 80% to 90% of the current Militia Movement only was mobilized by the blatant power grabs of the Clinton administration, specifically on the Second Amendment, on property rights and various and sundry other things. It's true that there were racist groups including the Klan who dressed in cammies and carried guns.., Morris has pictures of these people. What does the American people see (when they look at you)? They see guys with cammies, they see guys carrying guns, they don't see into your heart. And the fact that these other people exist makes the lie possible. So YOU must put the distance between these people and yourselves.

It's up to you, alright? This is a war for the hearts and minds of America, alright? And does the media lie? Of course they lie. Know that, use that, and get up in front of the cameras everyday and say "Yeah, these people exist but they're not part of me. They're not part of us, alright? They're hangers-on, they're slime out of the cracks. They've existed from time immemorial. They will always exist, but they are not part of the American Militia Constitutional Movement. Period. Period. (Sustained applause.)

Now let me ask you something. Do you suppose that any of our ancestors who were at the Boston Massacre cared that the first guy who died was Crispus Attucks? Do you think that they cared that his skin was black?

Did it matter?

Did it matter that the sniper who killed Pitcairn at Bunker Hill was named Peter Salem? Did it matter that he was black? Did it matter that he was a slave? No, it didn't matter. He killed Pitcairn didn't he? He's an American, by God, in my eyes. And a hero.

Does it matter that the guy who ran the Sons of Liberty in Georgia, a guy who the governor complained was a "dirty Jew" who was causing trouble and "leading the arrogant mechanics of the city"... Did it matter that he was a Jew? Did it? (Shouted from audience "He was a patriot!")

(Whispered response): He was an . (Louder): HE. WAS. AN. AMERICAN!...As are all other Americans who believe in the Constitution of the United States! That's all the loyalty test you need. It doesn't matter... the rest of it does not matter. It doesn't matter what. It doesn't matter whether you like them, it doesn't matter whether you like their politics, it doesn't matter. If you start having loyalty tests, "well, you've got to believe in this and you've got to believe in that," and you let yourselves be divided..., then you will be conquered.

I guarantee you. And the slime like Morris Dees and the ADL that do that will do it to you with your own weapons that you provided them. You have no one else to blame but yourselves. J'accuse! I will speak!

You know, one last thing I would like to say. And it's something that folks like Morris don't understand.., the Clintons of the world, the Schumers, they don't understand this. When you're standing there in the night and you're making your decision about what your going to do, why do you do that?

Do you think that that decision is available to any other people in the world? It is... but, do they have our advantages? What do we have? We're Americans.

We're Americans! We're used to Liberty. We breathe Liberty, we eat Liberty. And we create Liberty. There has been nothing seen like us on this planet, not nothin'. Alright? When we fight, as we have had to, every generation....., (pauses) People complain that "Aw, I'm broke, they're going to come and harm my family. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Let me tell you something, that's your birth right my friend. Every generation has to do this. Every one! Your fathers fought the Nazis, your grandfathers fought the Huns, your great grandfathers fought the Civil War, their great-grandfathers fought the Revolution. And for what? For the land? For the people? For a leader? For a political party? For a flag? For conquest?) For the color of their skin? Where they came from?

NO!!

FOR AN IDEA!

The idea was freedom. And it's codified in the Constitution of the United States.

An IDEA!

Nothing has been seen like us. Not ever, nor will ever again if we lose it... If we lose it. And it is up to us to lose it. We can be divided or we can be united. And we can win. You can see how scared these people are.... Now I've heard a lot of things about "there's going to be an attack in three months", well, I heard that three months ago. "There's going to be an attack in two weeks." Well I heard that last year. Alright?.... Look, all you have to remember is that time is short, you need to stay awake, you need to be prepared, and you need to fight these people politically every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year--- until that option is no longer given to you.

We CAN beat these people politically. You can see how weak they are. You can see how the ideas are permeating in the countryside. You can see it in the way that Morris is all of a sudden getting very weak-kneed. Alright? We're having an effect.

Look what he did with the Arizona train derailment. (In a simpering tone) "We don't think the Militia Movement is definitely involved here, it could be Farmer Fred."

Did you see that? Joe Roy of SPLC said, "Farmer Fred of Maricopa County, Arizona, may have wrecked the railroad because he didn't like the railroad coming through his property." Now forget the fact that the railroad has been there for a hundred years. OK? But did he go out and blame the Militia's? Naaah.. not THIS time. They're starting to get cautious, because they're starting to get sued. And people are checking their facts.

OK, that doesn't require a rifle. It doesn't require a rifle to vote, but you had better have your rifle. And you'd better stay awake. And you'd better remember that the armed citizenry is the last defence of freedom in this country. But that doesn't mean that it is time to go to ground and get ready for some big fight that may not come for a year. You'd be awful embarrassed wouldn't you if we got rid of this guy politically and there wasn't any fighting? You're out there in the woods somewhere, and your beard's down to here (gestures about waist length, to laughter). Your wife has left you, your kids haven't seen you.

Well, I don't know, I've rambled a bit and I guess I'll just close with this thought: If you think that you can't make a difference politically, we in Alabama thought the same thing. But in 1994, the Second Amendment movement got behind a constitutional candidate named Fob James and we busted our buns and we elected him governor by this much (holds fingers about a sixteenth of inch apart). And do you know what? When he took the oath of office, do you know what they hung across the state house? They hung a banner that had the entire text of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. (applause). Alright?

Now WE did that.

The Second Amendment movement did that. The people that form the backbone of the Alabama Militia did that. We elected Fob James Governor. Well, guess who controls the Alabama National Guard now? Hmmm? So you think you can't make a difference politically? You can. If you try and you don't lose heart. If you don't let yourself be divided. If you don't let yourselves be tarred by professional liars like Morris Dees. And we have another saying in Alabama, New Hampshire says "Live Free or Die", well our state motto is: "We dare defend our rights!" (Applause).

SPEECH TRANSCRIPT ENDS.

From the Commentary I wrote at the time:

There was a question and answer period after the speech, two or three questions or comments, and then I was done. At each point in the speech, when I would thunder "J'accuse!", I would look or point at "Prophet" Lampley. There was no doubt which sinner in the pews I was preaching to, nor was there any doubt from the reception my speech received where the vast majority of the militia folks in that tent stood. Lampley left unceremoniously shortly thereafter, not to return.

Now that's not something that Morris Dees is eager to tell you about. It doesn't fit in with his preconceived fundraising pitches ("The Militia Terrorists are coming to blow up your Federal Building"). But it is representative of the vast majority of the Constitutional Militia movement that I have come to know, both public and non-public units and individuals.

These men and women are the doers and the givers of our society. To use a term which has become passe in our politically-correct "paradise" they are "citizens." And it is the citizens-- the voters, the faxers, the rabble rousers, the talk show callers, the fact checkers, the FIJA activists, and, God bless 'em, the citizens militias-- who will save this Republic, God willing. When the petty tyrants like Schumer and Clinton rage at the "danger" posed by the militias, somewhere our Founding Fathers are smiling. -- Mike Vanderboegh, DeesWatch.

Shortly thereafter, came this headline:

Three Arrested in Bomb Plot

Oklahoma City (AP, 12 November 1995)-- The FBI has arrested three people on charges of plotting to build a fertilizer bomb that authorities believe would have been targeted at a white separatist religious community. Ray Willie Lampley, 65, his wife, Cecilia Lampley, 47, and John Dare Baird, 53, were arrested Saturday at the Lampley's home in Vernon, 90 miles east of Oklahoma City. Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Horn said the three are charged with conspiracy to manufacture and possess a destructive device. They were being held without bond and will appear in federal court Monday.