West Michigan Far Right Watch for September 11

Welcome to the next installment of West Michigan Far Right Watch, where we keep tabs on the far right in this area and provide a summary of what they are up to and what kind of messages they are promoting in this community.

We have 2 examples to share with you this week. The first comes to us from the Acton Institute, with their ongoing war against anything that is not Capitalism. The founder of the Acton Institute, Rev. Robert Sirico, has a brief article on the Acton website entitled, the deceit of democratic socialism. Like most of Sirico’s writing, he attempts to sound deeply intellectual, when in fact his arguments are weak and overly simplistic. Sirico uses Hebrew and Christian scriptures to bolster his argument, especially since he doesn’t really have a grasp of what socialism is. In the end, Rev. Sirico can only argue in favor of Capitalism by saying, “In a market economy, stewards of resources are rewarded by their best use in meeting human needs through – get ready for it – profit.”

The second example of Far Right activity, comes to us from the newly rebranded group called, the American Patriot Council. The American Patriot Council is calling for Freedom Marches all across the US on October 24, just prior to the November election. Here is what their Facebook event post says about this event: 

Undoubtedly, the very fabric of America is calling out to her beloved Patriots once again to protect our great nation. Oct 24th 3:00 PM EST, We The People gather across America in a show of solidarity and demand emancipation from the bondage of tyranny. Days before the 2020 election, this Freedom March will be remembered such as the days of 1776. Be a part of the new Founding Fathers & Mothers. The American Patriot Council is calling all American Patriots to step up and lead. It’s now or never, Let’s Go America! 

Ryan Kelly, who calls himself the founding father of the American Patriot Council, has been posting videos and promoting this event for the past two weeks, with overly simplistic references to the US Constitution and Freedom, when in fact, his position and that of the American Patriot Council is just a form of White Supremacy and White Nationalism.

Also, just a reminder that today is the 19th anniversary of 9/11/2001. The US initiate two wars because of this attack, with bipartisan support, wars that have devastated Iraq and Afghanistan, along with destabilizing much of that region of the world. The US also passed the Patriot Act, which created the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, plus it gave the federal government unlimited powers to spy on US residents and even charge those using civil disobedience as a political tactic, with domestic terrorism.