Subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon to listen to this bonus episode, and all of our bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/knowyourenemy
KYE super guest John Ganz joins Matt and Sam for a characteristically spirited discussion of The Claremont Institute's "Sheriff Fellowship," which invites county sheriffs from across the country to California for a weekend of West Coast Straussian ideological programing.
Drawing on the history of "posse comitatus" movements and recent reports on the role of conservative sheriffs in resisting COVID mandates, propagating 2020 election lies, and cozying up to vigilante militias, we offer a synthesized account of why the mythologized figure of the sheriff — and sheriffs themselves — have such an attraction for right-wing radicals intent on subverting American democracy.
Further Reading:
Jessica Pishko, "Here’s the Secret “Sheriff Fellowship” Curriculum From the Country’s Most Prominent MAGA Think Tank," Slate, Sept 21, 2022.
Alexandra Berzon and Nick Corasaniti, "2020 Election Deniers Seek Out Powerful Allies: County Sheriffs," NYTimes, Jul 25, 2022.
Adam Rawnsley, "MAGA Claremont Institute Honors Sheriffs Who Defy Laws They Don’t Like," Daily Beast, Nov 22, 2021.
Ashley Powers, "The Renegade Sheriffs," The New Yorker, Apr 23, 2018.
Kimberly Kindy, "Boosted by the pandemic, ‘constitutional sheriffs’ are a political force," Washington Post, Nov 2, 2021.
Christian Vanderbrouk, "Notes on an Authoritarian Conspiracy: Inside the Claremont Institute’s “79 Days to Inauguration” Report," The Bulwark, Nov 8, 2021.
Michael Anton & Glenn Elmers, "The Stakes: Harry Jaffa’s Philosophy," The American Mind, Sept 19, 2022.
I think both me and Matt were compelled to reread the reporting about Claremont's little post-election war game. The 79 days exercise, which is an incredible document. We've been talking a lot about like fantasy and sort of mythos, like to understand what they fantasize about, even as they say, like, this is what we're worried about happening. Of course, it's actually what they're fantasizing about. From their perspective, the big danger was, of course, that Trump would win. And then what they assume is going to happen is that, in fact, BLM and Antifa is going to have a protest outside the Capitol on the day that the different state delegations are having to come in to legitimize the election. Here's a quote from it. "DC Capitol Police secure the Capitol Building and place concrete barriers around the building in response to the attempted assassination of the Wyoming Congressman and his aid. Additional ADS systems, meaning non-lethal anti-protest forces, are placed near the Capitol Building in anticipation of chaos after the vote. A truckload of pepper spray canisters and CS gas are brought to the building and distributed to both perimeter and interior agents. Overwatch snipers are placed around the upper perimeter of the building to control the grounds and monitor the crowds. There's a massive gathering of federal law enforcement and the arrival of military MRAP vehicles transporting federal agencies across multiple departments. Like, they have these recommendations on how to prepare for the inevitable urban unrest. Urban unrest is always the phrase that's going to happen when, of course, Trump wins and the left won't accept it. Literally, January 6 from the left is what they think is going to happen. And then, importantly, for our conversation, another part of it says, "There are rumors that several sheriffs." Yes, yes. This is the best part. "In conservative counties throughout the country are hinting that they may deputize regular citizens into posses. Should the lawlessness come to their counties, social media is ablaze with volunteers from proud boys, three percenters and oathkeepers and other posse comatatus groups to form posse." God damn it. This was all published before the 2020 election, just to be clear. Look, I'm not trying to exaggerate that these people are going to actually accomplish any of their plans. I think they're very likely to fail and a lot of it is absurd and we're right to laugh at it. But how on earth can you look at the facts here and say, "Oh no, this has nothing to do with fascism. That's just not the right word for any of this stuff." Well, they're trying to organize squads, paramilitary squads to overthrow the government and install their chosen leader. What the fuck else do you need to know? [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
John Ganz joins Matt and Sam for a characteristically spirited discussion of The Claremont Institute's fellowship for county sheriffs. Subscribe on patreon.com/knowyourenemy to hear the rest.
