Joe the Teabagger Campaign Death Spiral Watch - Day 9.4 - Joe the Militiaman

I've been watching this develop since mid-Monday.

The most important story to emerge on it yet was posted late Tuesday at Palingates. The article concludes:

Joe Miller chose a security firm for his campaign event which is not only unlicensed, but also right at the heart of an extreme militia group, with the owner of the security firm being a local commander of the militia and also the main supplier. This Alaskan militia is headed by the notorious Norm Olson, who played a major role in the radical militia movement in the 1990's in Michigan, a movement which is at least partly to blame for the Oklahoma bombing.

From Palingates:

"Dropzone Security Services" is not just a company run by people who are not very clever, but the company is also right at the heart of the "Alaska Citizens Milita" - a group commanded by Norm Olson, who once rose to "fame" as the founder of the Michigan milita. Part of Norm Olson's history are also contacts to Oklahoma bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who trained with the Michigian Milita in the past.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports:

From the very beginning, Norman E. Olson was a radical among radicals. After starting the Michigan Militia in April 1994 as one of the first major militia groups, Olson helped make his home state one of the leading spots for Patriot activity.

He drew widespread attention after reporting Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols had attended one of the meetings of the Michigan Militia, which he claimed counted 12,000 members.

But Olson, a Baptist preacher who spends time in his Alanson gun store wearing a camouflage military outfit, alienated his colleagues after Oklahoma by offering reporters an incredible theory: The Japanese government had bombed the federal building there as a return favor for the sarin gas subway attack that he said the U.S. government carried out in Tokyo.

Unceremoniously booted out by his comrades-in-arms, Olson started another group, the Northern Michigan Regional Militia, while attacking his former friends as "too moderate." In the run-up to the millennial date change, Olson predicted government collapse and worse as a result of the "y2k" computer bug — a collapse he welcomed.

"We're itching for a standoff someplace," he told The Washington Post in late 1999. "Any movement needs a good and noble rallying point, an Alamo or a 'Remember the Maine,' and this could be it."

The rest of this story is at Palingates.