Operation Save America Getting More Extreme

[NachosFlandersStyle]

ReproAction just released a great webinar about Operation Save America, the anti-abortion group that many of our fundies have ties to. Recap: if you know of them from reading here, it's probably because their current national director, Rusty Thomas, used his teenage son Jeremiah's terminal cancer diagnosis as a PR opportunity, or because familiar faces like the Activist Mommy, the Mortons, and the Metzgers like to attend their protests and conferences. If you know of them from elsewhere, it's probably because their former director, Flip Benham, is the father of twin brother HGTV hosts whose TV show was canceled after their ties to right-wing extremism gained attention.

I highly recommend watching the ReproAction deep dive. They're an abortion rights organization that does good work countering these kinds of groups and they speak with people who have been watching OSA activity from the front lines. The main takeaways:

• In addition to viewing abortion as homicide and advocating that it be punished by death, OSA also officially holds extreme anti-gay and anti-Muslim views and they are fanatical about guns. Clinic escorts are seeing more "open carry" at their appearances, which is obviously concerning.
• Thomas is about to hand off his leadership role to Jason Storms, who may be an even more dangerous extremist. Storms participated in the attack on the US Capitol and his social media presence openly endorses violence against abortion providers and the government. His father-in-law, Matt Trewhella, has long been involved with both violent attacks on clinics and with anti-government militia groups. 
• Rhetoric coming from OSA national and state leaders is rapidly heating up. Their language is that of violent uprising and separatism and they no longer try to maintain plausible deniability when speaking about attacking clinics and providers. They have been mingling with other extremist groups like border militias, Oathkeepers, Three percenters, and Proud Boys at right-wing events and online.

I probably don't need to remind most of you, but I think it's important to remember when we snark that this is what's really at the heart of Christian fundamentalist nationalism. Sometimes we get caught up watching people like JRod who are essentially just bumbling idiots with Insta accounts, but there are a lot of people out there who are less amusing and more scary. Just about every one of the OSA folks has a gaggle of homeschooled kids and a part-time preaching gig, and they're actively and effectively organizing for domestic terrorism in these spaces. They are already threatening the lives of people who work in reproductive health, and it's very possible that we will see large-scale violence coming from this branch of fundamentalism unless they are stopped soon.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Coconut Flan

[JermajestyDuggar]

Thanks for the we great recap! Threads like TAM, Lisa Metzger, and Rusty Thomas are often dead on FJ. Even though they are all extremely dangerous. I admit I’ve always found it odd that they aren’t as talked about as someone like Jill Rod. I brought the topic of TAM to to FJ years ago. Same with Lisa Metzger. They are both hateful, nasty, and dangerous people. 

[fundiefan]

For me, I don't participate in much chatter on some of those topics mentioned because it makes me ill. How many times can you say they are abhorrent, dangerous people? 

I watched that Jason Storms dude & his posts while he was participating in the insurrection. I was sick beyond description. I had to look at the picture of Sam Morton in his pea coat & skinny jeans & contrasting scarf to lighten the load. 

They are all very dangerous, and always have been. The Campana connection is clear as day - Mariah got engaged to her "I'm not ever wearing a shirt, look at me" manly man Thomas offspring in Milwaukee at the last OSA shit show in 2019. John & Campbell were there, as well as Sam & Alyssa.

They are the more visible members of the shitshow - as far as FJ radar - , but not the most dangerous. I can't see a Morton boy or Jeremiah shirtless in a fight with anyone, Might mess up his hair or get his skinny jeans dirty. But, I do see them - and everyone else of that mindset - capable of shooting up a crowd of people. They are not balanced, mentally healthy people. They are entitled white boys with superiority complexes who think their god is riding their backs & leading a charge.

As Sam & Alyssa pump out baby after baby, their ego gets bigger & bigger and they become more & more dangerous. I do think they - and Mariah / their generation - will remain the "poster children" for now - they make pretty "look at us breed" pictures to attract more members/followers. Like all dangerous cults, their ugly is hidden behind the pretty recruiters and not known until it's too late. 

I just hope they don't kill too many human beings before they're stopped. 

[fundiefan]

A side note - their big shindig this year is in Phoenix. It wouldn't be against anyone's religion, I don't think, to contact Best Western Hotels and express your disappointment in their support of domestic terrorists. Best Western is hosting their evens and their rooms. When they were in Milwaukee, protests directed at the Zoo, which is the conference center they used, were too late - didn't start until they were here and the Zoo claimed they couldn't do anything last minute. Their shindig is in a little less than two weeks. Plenty of time to let Best Western know their support of terrorism is not supported. 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

1 hour ago, fundiefan said:

For me, I don't participate in much chatter on some of those topics mentioned because it makes me ill. How many times can you say they are abhorrent, dangerous people? 

Yes, I think in part they're hard to follow because many of them have enough social media savvy to control their own unpleasant narrative. They're not posting their daily diaries (except for the odd kids-holding-AR-15s shot) so much as putting out dog whistles. It kind of calls for watchdogs rather than commentators. Luckily people like the ones in the webinar are doing the legwork on that.

Rusty Thomas has been teasing for like a year now that his family is going to be featured on a network news show. There were cameras for it at Mariah and Josiah's wedding. I wonder if that will ever air, and if so, how much it will expose them vs buy into their framing.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

One more thing: the webinar briefly mentions that one of the big players in OSA is a convicted murderer. That story is even more fucked up than they get into, and you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Craig_Sorger?wprov=sfla1

[JermajestyDuggar]

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about Jake Eakin. He loves to call abortion murder. And he’s actually been convicted of murder. It’s insane. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by JermajestyDuggar

[fundiefan]

How sick.

Ask me if I am surprised that OSA- the loudest screamers about "baby killers" - is actually cozied up to and has among their ranks a...baby killer. A young boy who had been alive, breathing oxygen, eating food and loving his family for 13 years - a mere baby -  was murdered in cold blood by a now man who calls himself an abolitionist....an anti abortion terrorist, really. 

You couldn't make this shit up if you tried. Even Stephen King, in his darkest, weirdest, creepiest, darkest, most alcohol fueled writing sessions couldn't have come up with this horror. 

Really - no one could imagine any of the stupid. Rusty has a FB post about his son Valiant - poor boy is working full time (at Lowes) and pursuing a bride (oh, sweet baby jebus, they want more to breed) and he "ministers" part time - so many things to be proud of. But, his car died. And daddy Rusty is grifting for a car for said godly son. It would be such a blessing! 

Here's a hint. If your godly son can't afford a car, he has no business "pursuing a bride" which will of course lead to the making of babies. 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by fundiefan

[Ozlsn]

5 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

Storms participated in the attack on the US Capitol

Has he been charged at all? Because seriously the only way some of these guys might start pulling their heads in is if they start facing consequences.

Having said that it feels like having separate prisons for these folk, or keeping them in separate detention is going to start to be necessary - similar to IS converts you don't want them recruiting in prison, including staff.

 

[lexiloumarie]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:18 PM, fundiefan said:

How sick.

Ask me if I am surprised that OSA- the loudest screamers about "baby killers" - is actually cozied up to and has among their ranks a...baby killer. A young boy who had been alive, breathing oxygen, eating food and loving his family for 13 years - a mere baby -  was murdered in cold blood by a now man who calls himself an abolitionist....an anti abortion terrorist, really. 

You couldn't make this shit up if you tried. Even Stephen King, in his darkest, weirdest, creepiest, darkest, most alcohol fueled writing sessions couldn't have come up with this horror. 

Really - no one could imagine any of the stupid. Rusty has a FB post about his son Valiant - poor boy is working full time (at Lowes) and pursuing a bride (oh, sweet baby jebus, they want more to breed) and he "ministers" part time - so many things to be proud of. But, his car died. And daddy Rusty is grifting for a car for said godly son. It would be such a blessing! 

Here's a hint. If your godly son can't afford a car, he has no business "pursuing a bride" which will of course lead to the making of babies. 

 

Pretty sure Mariah supports her family - she's posted about flipping furniture, babysitting, selling clothes, cleaning out people's houses. She's also posted stuff that made me wonder if she was doing it out of need and not boredom. 

Which makes sense since we've never seen Josiah work. He just tags along with whatever she's doing. 

 

[Soulhuntress]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:18 PM, fundiefan said:

Here's a hint. If your godly son can't afford a car, he has no business "pursuing a bride" which will of course lead to the making of babies. 

Precisely.  

[quiversR4hunting]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:18 PM, fundiefan said:

Really - no one could imagine any of the stupid. Rusty has a FB post about his son Valiant - poor boy is working full time (at Lowes) and pursuing a bride (oh, sweet baby jebus, they want more to breed) and he "ministers" part time - so many things to be proud of. But, his car died. And daddy Rusty is grifting for a car for said godly son. It would be such a blessing! 

In today's economy in my area, there are factories hiring unskilled workers at $14.27 ($29,681.60/year) and another factory starts at $17/hour (both not including shift premiums or OT). In my area, Lowes front line associates make $10-16 (we all know $16 is after years of working there and probably all starting at $10 or 11/hour). I'm not trying to put down service industry workers. If a person isn't looking to move up to management in the service area of their choice then I don't understand not doing the factory work. In my experience, unskilled factory work is no more strenuous than service work. (I worked in restaurants, hotel & factories during college.) The factories in my area will help for tech school or college and have decent benefits and PTO. (The restaurants and hotel I worked at didn't have PTO for us that weren't in management.) 

All these people just grift, grift, grift. Then complain about the "lazy people on assistance". UGH. 

I am in a mood, I started my day seeing the "choose your hard" meme. I hate that meme so much it oversimplifies all the issues on the list. I clapped back with the meme created with a response to each issue. 

[nelliebelle1197]

On 6/11/2021 at 1:42 PM, fundiefan said:

A side note - their big shindig this year is in Phoenix. It wouldn't be against anyone's religion, I don't think, to contact Best Western Hotels and express your disappointment in their support of domestic terrorists. Best Western is hosting their evens and their rooms. When they were in Milwaukee, protests directed at the Zoo, which is the conference center they used, were too late - didn't start until they were here and the Zoo claimed they couldn't do anything last minute. Their shindig is in a little less than two weeks. Plenty of time to let Best Western know their support of terrorism is not supported. 

Normally we don’t interfere with fundies offline but I think calling a business and expressing disappointment in their tacit support of a hate group that expounds violence is quite different than calling the hotel where Jrod is having a ladies conference and trying to get it canceled or sending wedding presents to Erin Bates. This is a political and frankly capitalistic act against an organized hate group. 

[Coconut Flan]

Plus our rule is to not invoke FJ or come back and report on it for head pats.  What any member does of their own volition and on their own time without coming back here to talk about it, is always permitted as we have no intention of trying to control peoples' lives.  

[PennySycamore]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:54 PM, NachosFlandersStyle said:

One more thing: the webinar briefly mentions that one of the big players in OSA is a convicted murderer. That story is even more fucked up than they get into, and you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Craig_Sorger?wprov=sfla1

I've been watching Cold Justice where they were investigating a missing persons case that had gone cold in Idaho. That got me thinking of a case of a girl who's gone missing in the Pacific Northwest and I had the Missing Persons in Washington page open.  Craig Sorger is listed on the page.  I'd not looked at his page yet though.  What happened to Craig was absolutely horrible

[fundiefan]

13 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

I've been watching Cold Justice where they were investigating a missing persons case that had gone cold in Idaho. That got me thinking of a case of a girl who's gone missing in the Pacific Northwest and I had the Missing Persons in Washington page open.  Craig Sorger is listed on the page.  I'd not looked at his page yet though.  What happened to Craig was absolutely horrible

Why would Craig Sorger be on the missing persons page? 

[Sam94]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:09 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten about Jake Eakin. He loves to call abortion murder. And he’s actually been convicted of murder. It’s insane. 

Likewise, a lot of these people oppose “Sharia Law” yet support installing a Christian theocracy in the United States.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/06/anti-abortion-activists-operation-save-america

A good article recapping their convention, complete with a few WTF anecdotes.

Spoiler

The outgoing leader of OSA and a longtime menace to abortion clinics, Rusty Thomas, stepped to the dais to rally the flock. He called abortion a “pagan nightmare” that “assaulted the nation”. He illustrated his points with a story of how he hit his children.

"All that anger, all that frustration, and I pummeled my own children,” he said. Then he begged for their forgiveness. “And I said, let me get on my knees in front of my kids and said, ‘Would you please forgive your father?’ And I tell you that won them over more than any of my teachings.”

 

[fundiefan]

There is zero surprise ol' Rusty "pummeled" his own children. 

Fundies & child abuse go hand in hand. Angry boys like Rusty increases the violence of the abuse. 

 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Oh yeah, definitely not a surprise. The man's whole persona just reeks of narcissism and violence. 

I do find it weird that he would say that in front of reporters, like it's some kind of charming redemption arc (if, indeed, he actually stopped doing it). Can these people not grasp how fucked up their whole deal looks from the outside? Or are they reveling in it?

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Certainly an interesting choice of words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_resistance?wprov=sfla1

[PennySycamore]

@fundiefan, you asked why Craig Sorger would be on Wikipedia a page listing missing or formerly missing people.  The pages don't only list those who are currently missing, but also those who have been found or their cases have been resolved in some manner or other even if the body has not been found.   

[feministxtian]

3 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

Certainly an interesting choice of words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_resistance?wprov=sfla1

I think it'd be best to let Darwin and nature do their thing. 95-99% of COVID deaths are the unvaccinated. Ok, cool, that many less GQP voters in 2024.

[Destiny]

6 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

I think it'd be best to let Darwin and nature do their thing. 95-99% of COVID deaths are the unvaccinated. Ok, cool, that many less GQP voters in 2024.

If it wouldn't affect the rest of us, I'd be on board for that. I'm completely out of pity for the willfully unvaccinated. 

[feministxtian]

@Destiny so am I. They're taking up resources that could better be used for other people. And, these "pro-life" assholes don't realize they are killing their own children with their bullshit. I had a bit of a "discussion" with an anti-vaxxer and well, I got pissed and after trying to make him understand that unvaxx'd people are putting my grandchildren's lives in danger because they're too young for the jabs, told him that I'd rather he go explore the netherworld with all the other assholes that were happily killing children. THe fuckers don't get that their "freedom" ends at MY freedom. I'd rather see them all exiled to an island somewhere so they could all die and not mess things up for the rest of us.