Juan Williams: Tea Party, Timothy McVeigh, 'Don't Tread on Me'

Hey! Juan Williams!

DON'T TREAD ON ME!



From Matthew Balan, the Media Research Center:

On Monday's O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, NPR news analyst Juan Williams furthered the left's talking point about the tea party's supposed connection to militias, and even went so far to claim that the Gadsden or "Don't Tread on Me" flags used by the conservative grassroots movement is "the same imagery that was on Timothy McVeigh."

Williams made this preposterous claim during a panel discussion with the Weekly Standard's Mary Katharine Ham 25 minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour. O'Reilly asked the NPR analyst about a point made by Fox News's Brit Hume in an earlier segment, that there's double-standard in the mainstream media in the amount of coverage of extremist imagery and language found at tea party rallies has been given versus equivalent imagery and language used at left-wing protests: "There's no doubt that the media will seize upon any kind of misbehavior on the right...Whereas if it happens on the left, it will, as Mary Katharine [Ham] said, be de-emphasized or ignored entirely. So that's a corrupt media system, isn't it?"

The guest raised the militia issue at the end of his answer:

WILLIAMS: I think we're out of context here. If we're talking about- you know, somebody going after Ronald Reagan- you know, one guy who's in love with Jody Foster, okay- if we're talking about that. You know, people who have a lot of hatred- hateful attitudes towards President Bush, and then somebody who is extremist on the fringe, yes. And if that was also to be then the case with the tea party, yes, that's too much and unfair. But, when you start to see militia groups start to associate with the tea party, when you see the flag-

O'Reilly then interjected and replied, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let me stop you there. I haven't seen militia groups associating with the tea party." Williams continued with his bizarre flag point:

WILLIAMS: Oh, let me tell you something, the flag- the tea party flag is now- you know, for example, they use the same kind of imagery-

O'REILLY: The 'Don't Tread on Me' flag?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, the one with the snake- that's the same imagery-

O'REILLY: Well, that's from the Revolutionary War.

WILLIAMS: No, no, no. But it's taken away- it's taken away- obviously, it's not the same flag. It's not the flag that you see flying up in the New England states. It's a separate flag- it's a new flag that they have created. But it's the same imagery that was on Timothy McVeigh, you know? I mean, this is the kind of thing that's worrisome to me. I don't see how you can get away from it.

O'REILLY: Oh, come on, Juan. You are smarter than that. You can't possibly think the tea party is taking any cue from Timothy McVeigh. That's suicide.

Balan goes on to give Willliams a history lesson of the three "Don't Tread on Me" flags dating back to the American Revolutionary War. He provides instances of the use of the Gadsen Flag (seen above), including by our military following 9/11.

[T]wo branches of the U.S. military have used the "Don't Tread on Me" flags. The First Naval Jack has been flown on all U.S. naval vessels since the first anniversary of 9/11 in 2002. Marines flew the Gadsden Flag in over Kandahar, Afghanistan's airport shortly after its capture in 2001, and more recently in Helmand Province. But according to Juan Williams ludicrous reasoning, they must have been inspired by the Oklahoma City bomber.

Balan also notes that Nike uses "Don't Tread on Me" and the image of the coiled snake to promote the U.S. Soccer Team. Watch Nike's video here.

For a long time I had the Gadsen Flag on the sidebar of this blog. I used the image as a button linking to a post on the White House blog, "Facts are Stubborn Things." I used the red and white striped "Don't Tread on Me" flag in a 2006 post about the Muslim world protesting our liberties and those of the Western World, specifically free speech. In other posts, I've written "Don't Tread on Me" to exemplify how I cherish my rights as an American.

I used "Don't Tread on Me" years before there was a Tea Party movement and Barack Obama was in the White House.

I had no idea that utilizing historic American flags was a sign of association with fringe, violent militia groups. I certainly didn't use the flags as an endorsement of Timothy McVeigh or any anti-government organization. I abhor the use of violence.

I'm absolutely certain that the U.S. military didn't use the flag to signal its support for McVeigh. Nike isn't branding the U.S. Soccer Team as Timothy McVeigh wannabes.

Good grief. What is Williams thinking?

Now it's off limits to display a flag that symbolizes our freedoms as Americans, the founding of our nation, and the Revolutionary spirit?

Because Tea Party protesters display the flag, that's a sign of their solidarity with militia groups?

That is so offensive.

It degrades the patriots that created the United States and the patriots of today.

This incessant smearing of the Tea Partiers really has reached unacceptable levels.

It wasn't enough for the Left to call them part of an Astroturf movement. It wasn't enough to label them as racists and bigots of assorted varieties. Now, they're of the same mind as Timothy McVeigh. (You can tell by the flags.)

These assaults by Juan Williams and those of his ilk are totally out of line. It's wrong to belittle these Americans and use Saul Alinsky tactics in an attempt to stifle and destroy them.

DON'T TREAD ON ME!

DISCLAIMER: My use of the slogan "Don't Tread on Me" and the image of the Gadsen Flag is not an indication of my affiliation with anti-government militia groups nor is it a sign that I admire Timothy McVeigh.

I'll be sure to clarify from now on. I don't want to be mistaken for someone interested in the violent overthrow of the government. I'm not a Bill Ayers fan.

Video.