According to this report, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.
Tea party movement leaders say they’ve discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force. They say the unit would not resemble militia groups that have been raided for allegedly plotting attacks on law enforcement officers.
“Is it scary? It sure is,” said tea party leader Al Gerhart of Oklahoma City, who heads an umbrella group of tea party factions called the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance. “But when do the states stop rolling over for the federal government?”Thus far, the discussions have been exploratory. Even the proponents say they don’t know how an armed force would be organized nor how a state-based militia could block federal mandates. Critics also asserted that the force could inflame extremism, and that the National Guard already provides for the state
s military needs.
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The Oklahoma Legislature should not approve a volunteer state militia that would consist mainly of Tea Party members and their affiliations. That could give the appearance Tea Parties had an their own military force. It is foreseeable non-Tea Party people and groups might feel threatened by a Tea Party Militia and form their own militias—legal or otherwise. A Tea Party forming a special militia could cause a public relations disaster should voters question why the TEA Party agenda includes influence over a military force within a State government (Oklahoma.) It should be foreseeable to Tea Parties at large that subsequent voter concerns about the Tea Party forming a militia(s) could drive off voters that Tea parties are trying to attract. The Tea Party, like every other political organization in America, should keep its political interests separate from government military functions.