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Over the next several days Media Matters For America (MMFA) will be posting a 4 part series of articles highlighting the growing right wing extremism in Montana's Northwest corner. The series is penned by David Holthouse. Part 1 is titled Homeland On The Range. It focuses on April Gaede's group Pioneer Little Europe, and its growing ties to the nativist anti-government "Patriot" movement.
Part 2 is titled Pioneering Hate, and focuses on the PLE group and their beliefs.
Many Montana bloggers and activists have been sounding the call about these groups and their growing influence in the Flathead and Bitterroot areas for some time now. I'm one of them. The Montana Human Rights Network has been taking lead on this and they have a deep cause for concern. So it's actually nice to see a more national forum in which these topics are discussed. These extremists have more than gained a foothold in Montana. I shouldn't need to remind readers here that the only state level politician from the (Christian) Constitutional Party to have ever been elected in the entirety of the US was Rick Jore, elected to the state legislature from Ronan. But now, 'Republicans' like Derek Skees are carrying the banner of the Patriot movement and supporting the goals of groups like Pioneer Little Europe.
On a related note, Montana Cowgirl today casts the spotlight on the Governors race, where Chuck Baldwin has joined as the (Christian) Constitutional Party's candidate for Lieutenant Governor. It's well worth the read.
UPDATE: I've added links to part three and part four.
Part three is titled Armed and Dangerous. It chronicles the violence inherant in the white supremicist movement and it's ties to the Patriot movement.
Part four is titled Patriot Games, focusing on the political ambitions of the Patriot movement and specifically on Chuck Baldwin.
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