The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Notorious Bush-Era Anti-War Protester Adam Kokesh Busted on Drug Charge

Posted on | July 10, 2013 | 85 Comments

In 2007, fringe nutjob Adam Kokesh was arrested on Capitol Hill.

In reporting the news, the Washington Post has rather deliberately obscured the reality of what kind of kook Adam Kokesh is, but those of us who first became aware of Kokesh as the poster boy for “Iraq Veterans Against the War” are unlikely to forget him: A self-righteous half-educated egomaniac strutting for the cameras and insulting people with ridiculous “chickenhawk” and “neocon” slurs. The first time I ever saw Kokesh in person was when he showed up to heckle David Horowitz at an event at George Washington University, FWIW.

His narcissistic camera-hogging and anti-social personality made Kokesh an unwelcome crazy even within the far-left millieu of Bush-era antiwar protests, where mental health was by no means a prerequisite for membership. (Hint: “Sociopath” is not a political philosophy.) Like a few other antiwar oddballs — including the dangerous kook Alex Jones — Kokesh drifted into the Ron Paul orbit, speaking at a Paulista rally during the 2008 GOP convention and then getting himself arrested for heckling John McCain during his acceptance speech.

Now, however, Kokesh might finally go to prison where he belongs:

Police searched the Northern Virginia home of activist Adam Kokesh Tuesday evening and took him into custody on for allegedly being in possession of hallucinogenic mushroom while also having a gun, authorities said.
Kokesh, a former Marine, was held overnight at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, charged with possession of schedule I or II drugs while in possession of a firearm, said Lt. Steve Elbert, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. . . .
U.S. Park Police Lt. Pamela Smith said her agency executed a search warrant at Kokesh’s home in Herndon about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, looking for a weapon. The park police are the federal agency responsible for policing Freedom Plaza, the concrete park a few blocks from the White House where — in a video posted to YouTube on July 4 — Kokesh appears to load a shotgun in violation of D.C. gun laws. . . .
Herndon police assisted in the search, a communications technician from the department said. But she declined to provide details.
Charging documents filed in court Wednesday morning said Kokesh was charged with possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a Schedule I narcotic, while possessing a firearm. Possession of Schedule I or II drugs is a felony in Virginia, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $2,500 fine. If convicted of possession of the drugs while also in possession of a firearm, Kokesh would face an additional minimum of two years in prison. . . .

You can read the whole thing. What the Washington Post will not tell you, of course, is that Adam Kokesh is the living symbol of how unscrupulously the Left provoked and exploited antiwar sentiments during the Bush era. It was the same basic tactic they used with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and much of the gay-rights movement: Portray Republicans as evil, gin up protest mobs composed of whatever professional ax-grinders, clueless “student activists” and volunteer nutjobs you can collect, and then rely on the biases of liberal media to portray the orchestrated result as a spontaneous expression of Wholesome Main Street Middle America.

How many times during the Bush years did I go to one of these “mainstream” rallies in D.C. and see the swarms of Marxist organization — the  Workers World Party, the Revolutionary Communist Party, the Communist Party USA, etc. — and their affiliated front groups in broad daylight with banners flying, handing out their newspapers, pamphlets, fliers, bumper stickers and so forth? You quite literally could not walk into the Ellipse or LaFayette Park or wherever else these protests assembled without being approached by people trying to hand you the WWP newspaper Workers World, which was not a coincidence since the WWP’s front group International ANSWER was usually the chief organizer of the protests.

Somehow, the liberal media never found time to report any of that, but would invariably search through the crowds of Commie kooks until they found someone who could be plausibly presented as “mainstream” — the housewife, the retiree, the wholesome-looking college coed — and who might in the course of a three- or four-minute interview say a couple of non-crazy sentences worth quoting.

There was a template to these kinds of antiwar protest stories, you see — a narrative, a meme — and this required ignoring the Marxists and other deranged rabble who formed the actual core of the movement that the media wanted to promote as mainstream.

It was all a Big Lie, and there were many Little Lies that were part of that dishonest liberal propaganda campaign. One of those Little Lies required that reporters not report about the sociopathic personalities of antiwar activists like Adam Kokesh. Yet even with the Bush administration a fading memory and the Iraq War receding in the rearview mirror, these lying bastards still won’t tell the truth.

Adam Kokesh might finally go to prison now, but never mind the genuinely mainstream Americans who always knew he was a kook.

 

 

UPDATE: Readers will excuse my vehemence in denouncing Kokesh, who nowadays postures as a “libertarian.” Maybe you consider gobbling psilocybin mushrooms and brandishing loaded shotguns in public to be “libertarian” and if so, please provide your home address so I can call the cops, OK? Hunter S. Thompson is a personal hero of mine, but you amateur crazies simply aren’t qualified.

You’ll notice I’ve appended Amazon ads for three books that may help you understand why the Politics of Protest invariably attracts dangerous nutjobs, and what evils typically result:

  • The True Believer by Eric Hoffer — An insight into the personalities and motives of those attracted to “mass movements.” If you’ve never read it, you simply must.
  • Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers by Tom Wolfe — What happens when well-meaning liberals encounter cynical opportunists demanding “social justice” on behalf of trendy radicalism? It’s hilarious, if only it weren’t so sad. A classic.
  • Destructive Generation by Peter Collier and David Horowitz — One thing that the liberal media never mention, and which too many conservatives don’t realize, is that younger protesters today are encouraged in their misguided activism by idealized portrayals of 1960s-era movements. Adam Kokesh wasn’t even born until 1982, but believes that expressing “dissent” against the “status quo” is heroic because he has been indoctrinated to believe that this is what Real Heroes do. The true history of the 196os, however, teaches rather different lessons. Collier and Horowitz learned those lessons the hard way as members of the ‘6os New Left. Their account of that era (and its consequences) should be required reading for high school and college students today.

Young idiots trying re-enact a mythical past of which they have no direct knowledge ought not be praised or encouraged, but told to wise up before they get themselves imprisoned or worse.

UPDATE II: Linked by Donald Douglas at American Power — thanks!

 

Category: Books, Crime, History, Media Bias

Comments

85 Responses to “Notorious Bush-Era Anti-War Protester Adam Kokesh Busted on Drug Charge”

  1. Klejdys
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:38 pm

    You can’t tell because 1.) you don’t know a thing about me 2.) you can’t argue against my points and 3.) you’re not even funny. At least be funny if you can’t to 1.) or 2.)

  2. Klejdys
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:43 pm

    I am not a libertarian, though after 13 years of Bush-Obama rule and nothing essentially changing, I am more sympathetic to libertarian arguments than ever before. Team A v. Team B bullshit seems less relevant and effective than ever. (Which side is going to inflate so as to keep the rigged game going? Does it matter?) So keep arguing against Code Pink, Stacy. Keep f**king that chicken. A shame, because on the only issue that really matters (the national questions), we are in complete agreement. But you wouldn’t know that, or anything else about me, because I am a “liberal” who is out to “smear” you. Grow up.

  3. Klejdys
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:44 pm

    Nice argument. That (mod) badge fits you well.

  4. Klejdys
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:45 pm

    This outburst of common sense is apparently not-so-common here at The Other McCain.

  5. Klejdys
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:53 pm

    1.) False equivalence. The people who start wars need to make that case. And they did – starting and ending with WMDs that never existed. I supported the admin. I was a fool. It was a political, economic disaster. Thousands of lives lost, billions in borrowed funds wasted – and, get this, we didn’t even get the oil. Or a discount on oil. The Chinese did. And the Iranians run the country. Heckuva job, W.

    2.) You make “conservative-libertarians” look stupid by pt 1. Kokesh is a free-market, pro-legalization of drugs, pro-gun, anti-war zealot. I agree with some of that, disagree with others. He is unclassifiable on the left-right spectrum. Don’t be scurred, it’s okay to be ignorant.

    3.) John McCain would’ve been a disaster. Perhaps moreso than the
    current guy. But in reality, they are both bought and paid for. You can hate the Democratic Party all you want. It is a vile organization. But so is the Republican Party, especially the sellouts who manage it (just you want until they f**k us on amnesty.) If you want to put party ahead of your principles, go ahead. You know, the ones who beg Wall Street for $$ so they can screw Main Street. There are no heroes, only degrees of shittiness. Grow up.

    4.) If you think the Iraq War was good thing, you’re the one with the f**king problem. There’s a reason why W stays in his hole in Texas. He’s reviled by the populace because he surrounded himself with warmongers who helped to further bankrupt this country and enrich his supporters. He should be castigated and ignored. Disgraceful.

  6. Richard McEnroe
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:56 pm

    Let me be clearer. David Kokesh and all who sail in him are buffoons, no matter how many of my own beiefs they claim to support.

  7. Finrod Felagund
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:57 pm

    We know you’re a bloody idiot, because you confirm it with everything you write.

  8. Finrod Felagund
    July 10th, 2013 @ 8:58 pm

    And what did he have to do with Heller vs DC? Anything at all?

    Idiot.

  9. Finrod Felagund
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:04 pm

    If you want to come on here spouting bullshit about the Iraq War, then it’s your obligation to defend it or else we point and laugh at you and call you an idiot.

    Kokesh is an idiot and so are you. It doesn’t matter what other political positions he takes.

    If you really think there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans, then you’re not just an idiot, you’re a bloody drooling idiot that should never be allowed access to the Internet without a guardian nearby to stop you when you’re making a bloody fool out of yourself.

    And by the way, the Iraqis overwhelmingly think the Iraq War was a good thing. Who the fuck are you to tell them otherwise?

    http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/10-years-after-the-fall-of-saddam-how-do-iraqis-look-back-on-the-war/277362/

    Go take your points and shove them up your fourth point of contact. I’m surprised you can even count to five.

  10. dwduck
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:07 pm

    “I hate the Iraq War” is an opinion, not a point. And the sense of smug superiority you get from that opinion isn’t even that.

  11. dwduck
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:17 pm

    Libertarian *and* neo-con, as though those two positions are at all compatible.

    Personally, I find it weird that after smearing Kokesh as a libertarian, he turns around to say that he’s sympathetic to “libertarian” arguments. (By which maybe he means “magic mushrooms”.) I don’t know about you, but I haven’t found myself growing any more sympathetic to, say, Ron Paul.

    (And I suppose this kind of personalized service is why I should hit the freakin’ tip jar again, huh?)

  12. dwduck
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:22 pm

    But that’s what makes this particular arrest interesting. What’s more important to a rabidly political DA — upholding DC’s idiotic gun laws, or giving a pass to a once-convenient loonie?

  13. Wombat_socho
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:39 pm

    Yes, it does, doesn’t it? So does this. *whack*. Bye now.

  14. Your Mom
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:50 pm

    Degrade and smear those who you disagree with typical trotskyite tactic. David Horowitz would be proud.

  15. Quartermaster
    July 10th, 2013 @ 9:56 pm

    On the traditional political spectrum, anarchy is on the right. It is the extreme right. The founders were at the true center. The current so called right-wingers are actually quite a bit to the left of center, a point I have tirelessly made for the last 20 years. The GOP, in fact, is the original left wing party.

  16. Quartermaster
    July 10th, 2013 @ 10:05 pm

    I’m not a supporter of Kokesh, in fact I’d never heard of the guy until he called for an armed march on DC. I will say, unequivocally, that I was against going into Iraq as many cold warriors were (Jerry Pournelle who put his butt on the line in Korea is a prominent example, along with many of us with ‘Nam in our past). We got rid of Hussein, but the jury is still out as to the full cost. Hussein certainly had nerve gas, and may well have had nuke materials, but we also stupidly went in and sent the Army home, which was the only stabilizing influence in the country when Hussein disappeared. It was also the foundation of the groups we were forced to fight in various spots in the country. The war was stupidly prosecuted because of the naivete of FedGov and Bush’s advisors.

    Once Hussein was caught and all nuke material captured, we should have handed the keys to some one else and said “don’t make us come back.” Instead, we went the Neocon route and tried to build a nation, something that never existed the region, and still does not.

    Say all you like, but Iraq, for the most part, was a serious strategic mistake.

  17. Finrod Felagund
    July 10th, 2013 @ 10:43 pm

    Hindsight is 20/20, but I think if your plan had been executed, Iraq would be al Qaeda’s headquarters now.

    Try reading that Atlantic url. It’s dripping with the kind of bias that you’d expect from the Atlantic, but the Iraqis make it very clear that they think that we did the right thing, and that Iraq’s current state is their fault, not ours.

  18. Bob Belvedere
    July 10th, 2013 @ 10:51 pm

    Oh, Klejdys, you’re such a bore.

  19. Finrod Felagund
    July 11th, 2013 @ 12:02 am

    I will give you one thing, though. We did make one huge strategic mistake in Iraq, and that was not putting a bullet in Saddam Hussein’s head the minute we captured him.

    As it was, we wasted 3 years fighting al-Qaeda and the remnants of Saddam’s forces while the Iraqis were too afraid to fight for themselves, because they feared Saddam Hussein would somehow return. Once he was dead, the Anbar Awakening happened mere months later, and we were able to finish it up inside of two years.

    If we had killed Saddam first thing, we could have been making our exit from Iraq in 2005 or 2006 instead of the end of 2008.

  20. Finrod Felagund
    July 11th, 2013 @ 12:07 am

    Thankfully, he’s also history, due to our wonderful Wombat_socho.

  21. Anon Y. Mous
    July 11th, 2013 @ 12:15 am

    “Maybe you consider gobbling psilocybin mushrooms and brandishing loaded shotguns in public to be “libertarian” and if so, please provide your
    home address so I can call the cops, OK?”

    “Brandishing” a firearm has a specific meaning under the law, and it is inaccurate for you to make that claim.

    From Wikipedia:

    “Menacing (in some states known as brandishing) is a violent crime in most state jurisdictions of the United States. Although the wording and degrees of offense vary slightly from state to state, the criminal act of menacing generally consists of displaying a weapon to a person with the intention of threatening them with bodily harm from said weapon.”

    I haven’t seen any published reports that he displayed the shotgun in a threatening manner, or that he has been charged with that crime. The Post article you linked said he was charged with possessing a firearm while in the possession of illegal drugs. That’s not brandishing.

    Whatever kind of asshole he is in other regards, I still don’t want the state locking him up because he had the temerity to bear a firearm.

  22. Quartermaster
    July 11th, 2013 @ 7:53 am

    Highly unlikely. The only thing that has held Iraq together has been a series of strongmen. The strongmen do what they want, and if they want terrs there, they will be there.
    One thing, however, that people of your ilk negelct is that the one thing those characters understand is power. Walking over them as we did impressed them no end. We could have handed the keys to another with the admonition to not make us come back and it would have stuck.
    We may have done the right thing as far as the Iraqis are concerned, but that’s a far different thing than what is best for us. Nation building was not the best thing for us.

  23. Da Tech Guy On DaRadio Blog » Blog Archive » Who does Adam Kokesh think he is, David Gregory?
    July 11th, 2013 @ 7:55 am

    […] Update 2: If you are won­der­ing why I don’t care much for Kokesh Stacy McCain explains it. […]

  24. klejdys
    July 11th, 2013 @ 8:25 am

    @DCRTV LOL see how one highly trafficked conservative website chose to address it. comments section elucidating IMO http://t.co/wAE9Y8hY5m

  25. DCRTV
    July 11th, 2013 @ 8:34 am

    RT @klejdys: @DCRTV LOL see how one highly trafficked conservative website chose to address it. comments section elucidating IMO http://t.c…

  26. klejdys
    July 11th, 2013 @ 8:52 am

    @MathFaithWorks what’s your opinion of this article/comment thread? http://t.co/wAE9Y8hY5m

  27. klejdys
    July 11th, 2013 @ 9:08 am

    @danfromdc read here and be *amazed* at the bubble-ness http://t.co/wAE9Y8hY5m

  28. Biff Ludwig
    July 11th, 2013 @ 9:42 am

    Guys like this give mushrooms a bad reputation.

  29. Biff Ludwig
    July 11th, 2013 @ 9:59 am

    I’m tired of people saying the Iraq War was wrong. Getting rid of a tyrant is never wrong. The problem was and is the whole “nation building.”

    There would be nothing wrong with militarily ousting governments in tyrannical countries every other week(which we could and should do.) The problem is we stay and try to rebuild at a huge cost to ourselves. Let those backward fucks do that themselves. I’d love nothing more than to see us invade Iran, decimate its military, clean house on the political/clerical leadership, and then leave the mess for the people to clean up. They would probably thank us.

    You may say “well who knows who would take over after something like that.” And i would say “who cares, if we have to do it again in two years, we can.”

    This tactic would eventually teach the people of these backward retro-grade 13th century countries that who they choose as a leader matters. That they will never know peace, security, and prosperity until they choose their leaders wisely, and decide to join the rest of the civilized world.

  30. Biff Ludwig
    July 11th, 2013 @ 10:01 am

    Only the nation building part.

  31. » July 11, 2013
    July 11th, 2013 @ 10:24 am

    […] July 11, 2013 » Notorious Bush-Era Anti-War Protester Adam Kokesh Busted on Drug Charge […]

  32. or pick a name
    July 11th, 2013 @ 11:12 am

    I have no idea what kind of neighborhood this guy lives (lived) in, but I am curious what he’s been doing for a living? Where’s he make his money? Serious question, anyone know?

  33. Pathfinder's wife
    July 12th, 2013 @ 2:38 pm

    1,3,4: Do you know anything about Kokesh’s military record? Or about his ability to even form an objective and informed opinion on the war? And the same could be said for the people you mentioned — were they truly forming objective/informed opinions…or were they engaging in the “marketplace of politics”? Everybody should check premises, or look beyond…as has been stated. Charlie Manson might have been right about a couple of things too…but that doesn’t mean it would be very wise to follow him or even give him the benefit of the doubt.

    2) I’m sure a lot of libertarians find him a real asset. (and I have some questions for the ones who wouldn’t view that statement with sarcasm)

    4 ) then how come he didn’t heckle him in public prior…if he is such a champion of justice and liberty?

    Imhao, the guy is a two bit, screwy, megalomaniac who will jump on any bandwagon that he thinks will further his own little self-reflection and personality cult. People would do well to treat him…eh, much like ol’ Charlie.

    I also consider him a pacmf, but admittedly that’s just a personal, visceral reaction. (same goes for Code Pink)

  34. Pathfinder's wife
    July 12th, 2013 @ 2:47 pm

    It isn’t even a good opinion: more of an emotional statement. I might suggest not defining it so stringently, lest it lose verity and force.

    On the other hand, “I hate war” is a wonderful statement of feeling; most people would readily agree, and it is one which is refreshingly honest in its emotion.

  35. Mike Rogers
    July 13th, 2013 @ 12:16 am

    I met Kokesh about three years ago at a tenth amendment summit in Georgia.
    At that time, the Paulites were more anti-war than pro-anything, so he fit right in with them and the anti-government crowd.
    I have long been an advocate of small government, and yet the paulites still made me nervous – kokesh struck me as loudmouth fringe, even though I did not know the sordid background (thanks Stacy!)
    Having observed his erratic progress, I think he diminishes any cause which he adopts.