Update on another example of armed while old and white, crabby and flabby

Last month, two of the co-conspirators of another right wing terrorist group comprised of crazy old angry white guys made plea agreements, admitting their guilt in an attempt to commit mass murder using a combination of ricin and firearms.

Earlier this week the attorneys for their two remaining co-conspirators sought more information in a federal court hearing.  I use the term co-conspirators because it appears the defense attorneys are not denying that there were numerous conversations planning such an attack, but rather they are asserting these are old geezers who are demented, and therefore shouldn't be taken seriously.

While I agree that the fringies who belong to this group and militia groups like it are not by any stretch clear thinkers, and who were in fact delusional in expecting that militia groups are somehow going to unite and successfully overthrow lawful government, there ARE a lot of these groups.  They tend to be pro-insurrection  and they tend to be racist, tea party types who want to overthrow the government and take back the country for patriotic right wing old white people.  The editor of the GOP in Greene County, Virginia wants armed insurrection if - more likely when - the right loses big in the 2012 elections.  It remains to be seen if the GOP disapproves and fires the editor, or if they continue to embrace the violent rhetoric of the old, white, and feeble.  Then there was the arrest of the race war planning white supremacists in Florida; conservatives have been far too tolerant of these extremists and should repudiate them instead of tolerating and embracing them.  And we have the Tea Party nut job in St. Louis, one Scott Boston, who advocated at a conservative rally for the killing of Democratic candidate Claire McCaskill.  Republican challenger Sarah Steelman, instead of condemning any such violent attack on a sitting Senator, tut tutted that she might have used a different word or two, but insisted that she supported his right to free speech.  Apparently Ms. Steelman is unaware that isn't protected free speech.  I'm sure if the same words were uttered by someone supporting Senator McCaskill, that Ms. Steelman would be apoplectic.  The difference is that Senator McCaskill would condemn in far stronger language anyone claiming to support her who made such a statement.  We clearly have a problem with the right agitating for what I have previously termed an avalanche of violence. The instances are frequent, and they consistently go uncensored and uncensured by the right.

While I haven't yet found the identifying information for either the man in Virginia or the man in St. Louis advocating political violence, it isn't a stretch to predict they are both in middle age or older (I'm betting older) and that they are both white and not poster boys of physical fitness.  That they are crabby men angry at the world that allows black men into positions of power is clear, which makes them clear bigots. It is not a stretch to posit they are likely gay-hating Islamophobes, and possibly anti-semites as well.
The problem that would appear to be a difficult one for the defense attorneys in the case of the Georgia militia is that while both of their clients are old enough to know better, neither is extremely aged.  One is 55 years old, not old enough for retirement, and the other is 68, which, while past the current age for retirement and social security benefits, is still not that old, and is within the age to which conservatives wish to have people work, in extending the age for social security benefits to begin, etc.  Average life expectancy for white men is over 75 years old, so Ray Adams if he conforms to averages has a good 20 years ahead of him -- which he might very well be serving behind bars.  In both cases, it seems a bit early for the onset of senile dementia as an excuse for this kind of behavior.
Despite that it gives the right wing fits, the facts appear to be that there are a lot of militia groups with right wing political agendas that intend harm to their fellow Americans and others.  This was the case with J.T. Ready, this is the case with the four militia wing nuts in Georgia, and this is the problem with the Virginia GOP organization member, and with the St. Louis Tea Party wacko, different flavors of right wing wackjobs, but all part of the GOP 'big tent' that is more of a crazy persons mass straight jacket. 
Here is the report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

2 suspects in Georgia militia plot angle for trial

By Associated Press

For the AJC

Attorneys for two remaining defendants in an alleged Georgia-based plot to attack government targets demanded more details Tuesday about the evidence federal agents have gathered against them, as the two men appear headed for trial.

Richard MillerA courtroom artist's sketch shows terror suspects Ray Adams (left) and Samuel Crump at their first appearance court hearing in Gainesville before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Susan Cole.

Lawyers representing Ray Adams, 55, and Samuel Crump, 68, gave no indication at Tuesday's federal court hearing whether they would seek a plea deal weeks after the two other men charged in the plot pleaded guilty to weapons charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Adams and Crump are charged with conspiring and attempting to make a biological toxin called ricin.
Adams' attorney Barry Lombardo said "no, no, no" when asked if his client is pursuing a plea deal. Crump's lawyer Dan Summer declined to comment, which has been his typical response to questions about the charges.
The defense attorneys worked Tuesday to lay the groundwork for the trial, prodding prosecutors to release more details about how the government intends to prove that the two men tried to use ricin as a weapon.
They also wanted more details about the type of surveillance equipment used by an undercover informant who recorded dozens of hours of conversations in which the men talked about their anti-government views and what kinds of attacks they could plot.
Their defense likely grew more difficult last month when Frederick Thomas, the group's suspected ringleader, and Dan Roberts pleaded guilty to conspiring to get an unregistered explosive and an illegal gun silencer. Thomas, 73, and Roberts, 67, could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"We're going to need lots of investigative time and perhaps lots of investigators," Summer said during the hearing. "Thomas and Roberts are obviously cooperating with prosecutors. We're at an extreme disadvantage so as much information as we can have will help us prepare for the case."
In the tapes, the four allegedly boasted of a list of government officials who needed to be "taken out" by them; talked about scattering ricin from a car speeding down a highway past major U.S. cities; and scouted tax offices.
At one point, Thomas said, "We'd have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh," a reference to the man executed for bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.
The four were arrested in early November after at least seven months of surveillance by an undercover informant who infiltrated their meetings at homes, during car rides and a Waffle House restaurant.
Testimony and court documents show the men played distinct roles in the suspected plot. While Thomas and Roberts were both described as early members of the scheme who brought Crump and Adams into the mix after Roberts talked of obtaining ricin, which he called a "silent killer" that can be lethal in small doses.
Crump had memorized the recipe for the poison, prosecutors said, and Adams had the know-how to make it as a former government lab technician. The men were arrested just days after authorities say they discovered evidence they were trying to extract ricin from castor beans at Adams' north Georgia home.
The attorneys for the two men, though, have said the government's charges are overblown.
"The government doesn't have a strong case. Surely there was talk about ricin, but it was ridiculous," Summer said at an earlier court hearing. "It was like an old man in the stages of senility talking out of the side of his mouth."