"Sic Semper Tyrannis"

(The Atlantic) – Among other items of evidence seized from Timothy McVeigh’s car when he was arrested 15 years ago next month outside of Oklahoma City was a papered quote from Samuel Adams. “When the government fears the people, there is liberty,” the quote read. “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”

Lest anyone remain unsure about McVeigh’s motivations for the cold-blooded murder of 168 innocents at the Alfred P. Murrah federal building on April 19, 1995, the self-styled “patriot” wore to the attack a t-shirt with the Latin inscription: “Sic Semper Tyrannis” and the Thomas Jefferson line: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Great seal of Virginia

… In other words, what the nation rejected as superheated lunacy and dangerous incitement out of McVeigh’s mouth in 1995, tens of millions of Americans now praise as patriotism from popular figures. What the militia movement lost in support following McVeigh’s attack it has gained a thousand times over by the current devolution in the language of dissent.

The most disturbing recent example of the use of the “tyranny” saw was offered up by Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She told a conservative blogger last month that she wanted to get more involved in conservative politics because “we’re headed for tyranny” in government. One month later we are still waiting to hear what she precisely meant by that remark …

Pointing a derringer at the back of the President’s head, he pulled the trigger. She reached out to her slumping husband and began shrieking. Now wielding a dagger, the man yelled, “Sic semper tyrannis!”