The Age of Treason

Glenn Beck loves them. Tea Partiers court them. Congressmen listen to them. Meet the fast-growing “patriot” group that’s recruiting soldiers to resist the Obama administration.

Private 1st Class Lee Pray and a small group of fellow soldiers at the Fort Drum Army base in upstate New York are angry about the recent direction of the federal government. They are actively stockpiling weapons, running drills, and outlining a plan of action for the day "the shit hits the fan"—the day they will be forced to go AWOL to their "fortified bunker," and if it becomes necessary, to turn their guns against fellow soldiers. "I’m willing to fight to the death," Pray said. | Lucian Read / Mother Jones | More Photos >>

Justine Sharrock, Mother Jones | THE .50 CALIBER Bushmaster bolt action rifle is a serious weapon. The model that Pvt. 1st Class Lee Pray is saving up for has a 2,500-yard range and comes with a Mark IV scope and an easy-load magazine. When the 25-year-old drove me to a mall in Watertown, New York, near the Fort Drum Army base, he brought me to see it in its glass case—he visits it periodically, like a kid coveting something at the toy store. It’ll take plenty of military paychecks to cover the $5,600 price tag, but he considers the Bushmaster essential in his preparations to take on the US government when it declares martial law. | More >>

Canada Grabs Gold, Star Settles for Silver | 10.02.28

Whether or not the men’s hockey team beats the U.S. in the gold medal final and despite lagging far behind the Americans in the overall medal count, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Own The Podium program can claim almost complete vindication after matching the Winter Olympics record for the most gold medals won by a country.

You just won’t hear that from The Toronto Star. | Updated | More >>

Sharpen up our rinks with ‘wild imaginings’ | 10.02.24

Catherine Porter, The Toronto Star | How come most skating rink change rooms in the city resemble forgotten war bunkers, and a few chosen others have become community hubs? | More >>

Health Care Summit Happily Brings Period Of Bipartisan Illusioneering To An End | 10.02.26

Jason Linkins, The Huffington Post | The two or three people in the world who believed that lawmakers were going to emerge from yesterday’s Health Care Summit having forged a brave new path of bipartisanship or a collective decision on a new Pope must be feeling disappointed today. | More >>

Is China really so scary? | 10.02.28

Steven Mufson and John Pomfret, The Washington Post | This new Red Scare says a lot about America’s collective psyche at this moment. A nation with a per capita income of $6,546—ensconced above Ukraine and below Namibia, according to the International Monetary Fund—is putting the fear of God, or Mao, into our hearts. | More >>

Post 10.02.28 |