Topic: WorldNetDaily
On Tuesday, four alleged members of a Georgia right-wing militia group were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill numerous government officials by attacking federal office buildings and to disperse a deadly biological poison. It turns out they were inspired by a "Second Amendment analyst" who has been approvingly quoted by WorldNetDaily.
As Media Matters reports, the federal criminal complaint against the four men states that one of the accused "intended to model their actions on the plot of an online novel called Absolved," written by Mike Vanderboegh. In the self-published novel, underground militia fighters declare war on the federal government over gun control laws and same-sex marriage, leading to a second American revolution. In the introduction to Absolved, Vanderboegh calls the book "a cautionary tale for the out-of-control gun cops of the ATF" and "a combination field manual, technical manual and call to arms for my beloved gunnies of the armed citizenry."
Vanderboegh is a former militia member famous for urging his blog readers to hurl bricks through the windows of Democratic offices.
By contrast, WND has presented Vanderboegh as a "firearms writer and Second Amendment analyst," quoting him several times criticizing federal officials over the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal in articles on July 25, July 28, Aug. 13, Aug. 30, and Sept. 21. All were written by Michael Carl. WND columnist Jeff Knox also cited Vanderboegh regarding Fast and Furious on two occasions, on Jan. 22 and March 31. Like Carl, Knox obscures Vanderboegh's extremist background.
Also, Bob Unruh quoted Vanderboegh in a 2009 article attacking the Southern Poverty Law Center as "conflation experts," going on to portray the far-right group Oath Keepers as "quintessentially America."
In the Aug. 13 article, Carl quotes Vanderboegh as saying of Fast and Furious: "This is proof positive of the banality of evil. These people have so identified with a regime, a way of thinking, that they no longer believe regular morality applies to them." It seems the same thing could be said of Vanderboegh.
Will WND tell its readers that one of its favorite so-called experts inspired a violent right-wing insurrection against the government? Don't count on it.
