Carl Levin

Carl Levin is a U.S. senator from Michigan. The following viewpoint is from his testimony about the militia movement before a U.S. Senate subcommittee. Levin contends that the militia movement and its members are filled with hateful rhetoric and violence. Claims by militia members that they are needed to protect Americans from their government are absurd; the United States is a democracy, Levin maintains, in which changes to government can be made by the voters and the courts.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What outlandish claim was made by Norm Olson, according to the author?
2. What paranoid conspiracy theory is promoted by the Wolverine Brigade of the Southern Michigan Regional Militia, as cited by Levin?
3. What does Levin recommend be done to resolve the problem presented by private militias"

The recent...