The American Redoubt: The L.A. Times Gets it Mostly Right

You may have already seen this article that ran in the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, February 8, 2012: The American Redoubt, where survivalists plan to survive
When society collapses, they intend to be armed and well fed in the high country of the Northwest. James Wesley Rawles is their guru on the subject
. First, I must mention that this news story was run almost immediately before and with a link to a piece about a racist would-be parade bomber (the classic “guilt by association” editorial approach, but in this case, just guilt by geographical coincidence and a two-way hypertext link, to provide none-too-subtle nexus.)

In all, the article was better than most of the hatchet jobs that seem to prevail whenever the topic of survivalism is discussed. At least the reporter got her facts straight about the geography of The American Redoubt. One quibble is the semantics of a photo caption, that read: “Chuck Baldwin, speaking in Reno in 2011, is a conservative preacher and radio host who has bought into the survivalist message of James Wesley Rawles.” The phrase “bought in” has some negative connotations, in modern usage. It is noteworthy that photo captions are often used by agenda-driven editors for shading, after reporters have turned in an otherwise objective article.

My other gripe is a misquote. I was inaccurately quoted as calling myself “non-racist”. I actually said, in full: “I am non-racist and in fact an anti-racist“, which is much more direct and forthright. For the record: I despise racism!