Insight into Language and Thought; Charles Alan Wilson's Sentencing for Threatening Senator Patty Murray, and the Role of Glenn Beck

Updated 11/15/'10

I read something earlier today which impressed me with the quality of insight and observation.

It was this.

It resonated for me particularly, because I had been thinking about how to write about the sentencing of Charles Alan Wilson.  Wilson was sentenced on October 22nd to one year and a day in prison, and three years probation during which he is not allowed to own firearms, amon other provisions and restrictions.

I wrote about Wilson in the Other Charlie Wilson War posts here and  here

Wilson had made daily threats against the life of Senatory Patty Murray of Washington, over his misinformed ideas about the 2010 health care reform legislation.  Those messages included more expletives and slurs than even the threats of violence.  It offers a perfect example of how slurs are intended to intimidate as well as demean.

Friends and family described the chain of events that led to the threats resulting in Wilson going to jail, as a sequence where Wilson had lost his job and become ill.  While homebound, he became convinced that the misinformation regularly disseminated by Glenn Beck on Fox Nuissance represented a legitimate concern. 

Apprently Mr. Wilson was not aware of how to fact check statements made on Fox.

Family and friends directly attribute Wilson's actions to the program content presented by Beck.

'A cousin suspected that Charlie, who became housebound due to his poor health, spent too much time watching TV. Another friend agreed. "His brother got him a computer and he was able to stay connected with family. And he watched television and found Glenn Beck." The friend said he, too, found Beck, a Washington native son, about the same time.



"I understand how [Charlie's] fears were grown and fostered by Mr. Beck's persuasive personality.

The OTHER Charlie Wilson's 'War', Part II - Update, His Guilty Plea, and Second Amendment 'Remedies'

"A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand."
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca, aka Seneca the Younger
stoic philosopher, dramatist, statesman, and humorist
c. 4BC - 65AD.

"An armed society is a polite society. "
– Robert A. Heinlein
Dean of American Science Fiction Writers
1907 - 1988

"This country was founded by religious nuts with guns."
– P.J. O'Rourke
Cato Institute fellow, political satirist, journalist
b. 1947

On Thursday, June 10th, 2010, Charles Alan Wilson pled guilty to threatening the life of Washington Senator Patty Murray in federal court.

Wilson, who legally owned multiple firearms, and who had a carry permit for his weapons, had made repeated death threats to Murray, and had appeared at Tea Party protests of Murray over her vote in favor of the recent health care reform legislation. Wilson operated under many of the same instances of factual misinformation that have typified those Tea Party protests. He will be sentenced in October of this year.

And like recent GOP Senate Primary winner and Tea Party supported candidate Sharron Angle in Nevada, Wilson appears to have believed in what Angle coyly refers to as 'Second Amendment remedies', the justification for shooting politicians who vote in ways with which he disagreed.

Angle believes that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the right to bear arms, exists to keep the federal government in check. Angle is tap dancing around actually calling for armed insurrection against our legitimately elected government, a government properly held to conformity with that very U. S. Constitution by the Supreme Court.

In a January interview with a conservative talk show host, Lars Larson, Angle stated, "Our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason, and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. In fact, Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years. I hope that's not where we're going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies."

Apparently, if Angle doesn't win her election contest against Harry Reid, she is willing to go for her guns. In other words, this woman insist on getting her way, and if she doesn't get it legitimately, she will go after it violently.

My conservative friends - and a few less conservative commenters here as well - took issue with my linking threats of violence to the Tea Party movement and other voices on the right. And yet, it is exactly this kind of language we see from Angle that persuaded an ordinary law abiding citizen like Charlie Wilson, not previously politically active, who legally owned weapons, when he threatened Senator Patty Murray and another Senator from Washington.

Angle told conservative talk show host Bill Manders in January of this year, "I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope that the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems."

And in May, Angle told the Reno newspaper, the Gazette-Journal, that "it's almost an imperative that conservatives win. The nation is arming. What are they arming for if it isn't that they are so distrustful of their government? They're afraid they'll have to fight for their liberty in more Second Amendment kinds of ways. That's why I look at this as almost an imperative. If we don't win at the ballot box, what will be the next step?"

Gee, Sharron, what WILL be that next step? Because an absolute core value of our country, our government, our way of life is that sometimes your political side wins, and sometimes you lose. When you lose, you lump it, you reorganize, you attempt to persuade an electoral majority; you do NOT reach for your guns.

To advocate resorting to arms if you lose, that is profoundly UN-American, and we are hearing it from the right more and more all the time. If you believe in going for the bullet box if you lose, Sharron Angle, resign now. You already do not believe in our Constitution, you have no business running for office; for you to take any oath of office, even to serve as lowly dog catcher, would be a travesty.

But the right is not responsible, not even a little, when someone believes that crap - someone like Charlie Wilson? Think again.

Now in a Scripps news article, Angle spokesperson, Jerry Stacy, says Angle is not "advocating for a revolution. We should all be worried, but again, she's not advocating or suggesting a revolution."

Then.....WHY should we be worried? Why does Angle work so very hard to emphasize armed and angry unsuccessful voters? Why does she leave it to a spokesperson to walk back her statements, but makes those same statements herself over and over, without clarifying for herself that she doesn't mean people should arm?

Angle is trying to have it both ways, and backs down from her statements any time she gets flak for them ----- and then makes them all over again, to her core supporters.

"Her rhetoric that if she doesn't win at the ballot box people should go to the bullet box undermines the Democratic process.", Harry Reid's spokesman, Jon Summers said, in response to Angle.

According to the Gazette-Journal, Angle PREFERS (my emphasis) to fight at the ballot box. Maybe her spokesperson should explain to candidate Angle that the ballot box IS the ONLY way she is allowed to fight. And if she thinks otherwise, I'm sure the federal government can find her and the other candidates who think as she does a nice cozy cell in the same block as the one that Charlie Wilson will find himself in shortly before election time next fall.

I cannot help but wonder if Ms. Angle believes that only her supporters are armed or know how to use a weapon? If she considers that the other political viewpoint is as well, perhaps she will consider the implications of her statements more carefully in future. Harry Reid just helped get the funding for the largest shooting sport recreational area in the entire country - possibly in the world, and opened it with some shooting practice of his own. So, lets not even go there.

The Other Charlie Wilson's "War"

Update -

April 9th - US District Judge James Hutton set bail for Charles Alan Wilson in the amount of $20,000, determining he was not a flight risk. If Wilson is able to post the bond, he would be under a curfew from 6 pm to 8 am, cannot have firearms, cannot use alcohol, and is restricted to eastern Washington except for court apperances in Seattle.

April 7th -The man accused of making death threats against Representative Eric Cantor and other members of Congress including Nancy Pelosi, Norman Leboon, has been found by prosecutors unable to stand trial for those threats, because he suffers from multiple personality disorder. Like Leboon, the man arrested recently for making threats against Rep. Pelosi, Gregory Lee Giusti, also has a history of mental illness, and is undergoing an evaluation to determine if he can stand trial.
Charlie Wilson was not a recognized member of the Yakima, Washington Tea Party group, "Remember Us, We the People", but Wilson did participate in a 120 person protest by the group over recent health-care reform legislation, held near a Yakima hotel where Senator Murray was speaking. "We the people" was a recurring phrase in Wilson's threats, as were references to other people sharing his sentiments. According to the Yakima Herald, organizers of the Tea Party protest indicated they did not know Wilson, and that they did not advocate violence.

-----------

This post is about the Charlie Wilson who was arrested for making 'true threats' to the two senators from Washington state, not the Charlie Wilson profiled in the Oscar-nominated bio-pic movie in 2007, "Charlie Wilson's War".

THIS Charlie Wilson is the man arrested in Washington, and his "War" is the acts of aggression referred to by Wilson throughout the transcribed threats that are listed in the FBI complaint : www.justice.gov/usao/waw/press/2010/apr/pdfs/WILSON%20COMPLAINT.pdf
Wilson is being charged with violating Title 18, United States Code, Sections 115 (a)(1)(B) and (b)(4) - a felony.
What I intend to do with this post is to excerpt the statements by Wilson, listed in the FBI complaint transcripts of his words, and to cross-reference them with statements from the Right in relation to Health Care Reform legislation, and other subjects.

Excerpting the threats, chronologically:

from March 22, 2010
"There are many people out there who want you dead. Just remember that, as you are politicing[sic] for your reelection.... Now that you've passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin....We the people will not subside, succumb, to socialism. ... Let the violence begin. You have awakened a sleeping giant. The American people will not put up with it."

Wilson, in using the words "many people out there want you dead", and in his references to "people not succumbing to socialism", "sleeping giant" and "American people" clearly believes, despite his insistence that he is an "Independent", and despite attempting to give the impression he is somehow not aligned politically, Wilson clearly sees himself as belonging to a larger group of people who share his views, and perhaps a shared affinity with the people who have shaped his beliefs.

The reference "We the people" is clearly a reference to the opening words to the Preamble of the United States Constitution. I have been struck by the number of groups on the Right who try to cloak themselves in the mantle of the Constitution, as if they, and only they value it. Too often these very people seem either to be ignorant of its actual content, or to be ignorant or have a twisted view of how our Constitution has been applied throughout our history. Some of them seem to come up with their own distorted ideal of the Constitution, entirely different from the reality. This seems to be one more link between Wilson and the political Right; Wilson's own words provide compelling insight into his beliefs.

from March 23rd, 2010:

"With the passing of your health-care bill, it is living proof now that....This great country that believes in God and guns. Since you've done this, there's going to be some bigger targets on your (expletive) back. I hope somebody kills you, and I hope somebody kills [the President]. Yes, die, dead. You're signing my death warrant, so I want to sign yours (more expletives)."

This excerpt reiterates the notion that Wilson believes he is not alone in his views on health-care reform, but rather that he is part of a group of similarly minded people, including Second Amendment proponents. It repeats his mistaken belief in the lie perpetuated by Sarah Palin and others about death panels, and the misrepresentation on end of life counseling such as making provisions for wills and living trusts. Clearly, Wilson has bought the premise seen on so many of the protest signs, including the Tea Party signs, without knowing or making the effort to fact-check the Right's talking points for validity. This misapprehension, in turn, is used as a justification for assassinations; and frankly, anyone promoting these lies has to be a fool to expect otherwise.
www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/aug/10/sarah-palin/sarah-palin-barack-obama-death-panel/

approximately an hour later, excerpted from a much longer voice mail,
on March 23rd, 2010:

"...you are going to have a target on your back...for voting in socialism into this country, with your health-care reform bill, and cap n tax....How long do you think you can hide?...By your attempts to overtake this country with socialism, somebody's gonna get to you one way or another and blow your (expletive) brains out....If I have the chance, I would do it...You have created a hatred in this country against socialism.... politicians are going to be held accountable... with your life....with your life." Wilson goes on to claim he is not a 'tea party bagger'[sic], not a Republican or a Democrat, claiming he is an Independent voter, however he clearly appears to have sympathies for the politics of the Right, and fairly far to the Right. Wilson goes on in his voice mail threat " I want to (expletive) kill you (more expletives). We will not be socialized (many more expletives)."

www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2010/mar/18/top-ten-facts-to-know-about-health-care-reform/


Anyone who has fact-checked the many allegations that the recent health-care reform legislation constitutes some kind of a socilialist government take over would understand that the health care and the insurance industries remain private, that the current legislation is fundamentally different from the health care provided in places like the UK. For example, politifact.com awarded a "pants on fire" rating to Sarah Palin's claims during the 2008 presidential / vice presidential campaign that Obama wanted "to experiment with socialism", the worst rating for lies they have - except for the 2009 Lie of the Year award they gave to Palin for the false death panel claims.

www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/3008/dec/03/sarah-palin/the-mccain-campaign-experiments-with-dishonesty/

Wilson went on to make many, many calls on March 23rd, 2010, and continued to make multiple calls through April 4th, 2010. While removing the obscenities and expletives cuts the transcribed language more than by half, those transcribed messages are still too long to include in total here. I encourage Penigma readers to read all of them for yourselves in the complaint. Further proof that Wilson had believed false statements by the Right, including those made by people like Sarah Palin, and Republicans from both the House and the Senate, are illustrated by the following excerpts from the transcribed threats in the complaint,

also from March 23rd, 2010:

"I do believe that every one of you (expletive) socialist democratic progressive (expletive) needs to be taken out...There is a growing hatred, my dear, for you progressive socialist democrats. Socialism will not work. There is growing hatred....my hatred is coming for you. Since you are going to put my life at risk, and some bureaucrat is going to determine my health-care, your life is at risk, dear. Your life is at risk....your life is at risk.... There are a lot more of us. Your life is in danger, since you are putting my life at danger. Turn about's fair play."

Wilson, age 64, believes, from these statements, the horrendous lie that Palin circulated, that "seniors and the disabled" will have to stand "in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgement of their level of productivity in society, whether they are worthy of health care". Palin has never repudiated her lie, and she has continued to spread misinformation about health-care reform provisions to her unquestioning, blindly accepting adherents. This excerpt is further evidence that while not a formal member of any group, Wilson clearly does not consider himself a lone wolf, he believes he is one of many who have these beliefs - on the Right.

and later, still on March 23rd, 2010:

"Expletive you socialists up the expletive ass. ....baby killer....you baby killing expletive bitch.....baby killer....We will not be socialized, you expletive expletive."

Wilson clearly believes the lie that was yelled out by Rep. Randy Neugenbauer on the floor of the House on the day of the health-care reform vote, a lie that has been widely, frequently, loudly repeated by the Right, like Texas Republican Representative John Carter, that the health-care reform bill has provisions paying for abortion. It does not: www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/mar/28/john-carter/rep-john-carter-says-health-care-law-provides-full/

on March 24th, 2010:

"put a (expletive) gun to your head....blow your (expletive) brains out.... You are ruining this country. You have awakened a sleeping giant, and we are coming after you. Yes, we the people. As you trash our Constitution, you tried to lead us into a socialist nation, we're gonna (expletive) you up....blows your fucking brains out."

As to 'ruining this country':
www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/mar/15/virginia-foxx/foxx-blames-recession-democratic-congressional-tak/

from another call on March 24th, 2010:
"The old saying goes, my dear, all's fair in love and war. This is war, so everything is fair. Cover your back....Cover your back, all's fair in love and war. Nobody comes out a winner. You may think you are a winner now. You're gonna be the biggest (expletive) loser. You have a horrendous amount of people that dislike you and your policies, and since we are, you have declared war on the American citizens, and we are declaring war upon you."

This is the 'war' in Charlie Wilson's war. It repeats the same core theme that Wilson is part of a larger group, possibly something he needed to believe to boost his courage to make the threats. If Wilson believes he is part of a group, it raises the question who that group would be. Clearly it is not the left, not the Democrats, not the Progressives.

from the transcribed calls on March 26th:
"Now that you have finally screwed the people of this State, and helped screw the people of this country....your policies and your ideas suck."

These lies about the provisions of the health-care reform bill, about the Obama administration, about Democrats in Congress - that there is rampant socialism, that health-care reform is a government take-over, that it pays for and encourages abortions, that it is a threat to the elderly and disabled through death panels, that it runs rough-shod over the Constitution, all of these claims - these LIES - come from the Right. They come from Palin and Bachmann, they come from Boehner and Cantor and McConnell, and all of their associates. They circulate to the Right from Beck and O'Reilly and their Fox news colleagues, they spread from talk radio, like Limbaugh and all of his imitators. They are repeated by the Right wing bloggers and commenters. Had these influential people not lied, deliberately, loudly, and often, had they not chosen to use irresponsibly their First Amendment protected free speech to inflame and incite, it is far less likely that the Senators from Washington and their staffs would have been threatened, instead of receiving the usual level of legal but offensive calls they receive about hot issues.

In researching this story, to demonstrate this connection between the Right, and Charlie Wilson, just a quick look on the Fox News website for "glenn beck, obama, socialism" produced 68,240 entries. That was just Glenn Beck, just Fox News; not performing a full search engine search.

The following is from Tuesday, April 6, 2010, an example of just one source where Charlie Wilson got the false idea that Obama is a socialist, and by extension, Democratic Senator Patty Murray. I want readers of this post to think about what Beck says, and then to remember Wilson's words, how vehemently Wilson wants President Obama dead over this notion of socialism, and how he wants Murray dead for socialism. And then I want you to think about that number of entries for "Beck, Obama, Socialism" on the Fox News site: 68,240.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4139297/barack-obama-socialist

Clearly, these statements in the threats by Charlie Wilson directly connect to the actions and statements of the Right. They cannot distance themselves from these threats, they cannot repudiate his actions; they share fully in all the threats to the members of Congress and others made by Charlie Wilson and the yet-to-be-arrested others who have generated similar threats. They share that responsibility because they put the ideas in his head and then they made a deliberate effort to agitate his emotions. Lies are dangerous things.