# Can You Make Any Sense Of This Domestic Terrorism Recruitment Flier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 6, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576 "2021-12-06T16:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/1 "2021-12-06T16:02:16Z")
This is stapled to a tree by the side of the road near my house, in a conservative county in a red state (Iron County, Missouri). [https://ibb.co/XpjL6PR](https://ibb.co/XpjL6PR) The “12th” reference seems to be to the 12th Amendment, which lays out the process for electing the POTUS – obviously that’s been an issue for the far right of late. I don’t get the reference to Wolverines – looked it up and I didn’t see anything related to domestic terrorism. Further, whatever they’re advertising, they seem to miss the point. There’s no reference to a date, a meeting location, any actions. It seems to just be intended as a dog whistle, but with no real goal. Is anyone familiar with the organization behind this, or what they’re about? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/2 "2021-12-06T16:03:16Z")
“Wolverines” references the movie _Red Dawn,_ which is about small town ‘real Americans’ resisting a soviet invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/3 "2021-12-06T16:08:34Z")
I thought “Minute Men” might be a misspelling of the original “Minutemen”, but it’s apparently a Civil War-era Missouri secessionist paramilitary organization. I’m not sure if that flyer actually refers to that, or if it’s a coincidence. [Minute Men | The Civil War in Missouri (civilwarmo.org)](http://www.civilwarmo.org/educators/resources/info-sheets/minute-men) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/4 "2021-12-06T16:10:51Z")
Presumably both derive from the idea of being ready to fight “in a minute.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/5 "2021-12-06T16:14:48Z")
There’s no contact information because it’s a secret and they don’t want anyone other than members to know. If you were a Minute Man you would know this is a call to arms and you’d know who to contact and where to go. Yes, it’s a “dog whistle” in the political sense. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/6 "2021-12-06T16:40:19Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Presumably both derive from the idea of being ready to fight “in a minute.” Maybe it’s “minute”, as in “very tiny”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/7 "2021-12-06T16:42:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe it’s “minute”, as in “very tiny”. Dammit, came here to post this. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/8 "2021-12-06T17:05:21Z")
BTW, as far as I can find out Jefferson never said “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/9 "2021-12-06T17:16:48Z")
He was on a committee that wrote > But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. But I suppose that won’t fit on a tee shirt, at least not if you want a nice flag on there too. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/10 "2021-12-06T18:09:21Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Dammit, came here to post this. Around 40 seconds into this trailer. (Terrible trailer, great movie. And _huge_ spoilers in the trailer. Maybe just watch the few seconds after 40s.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1wMvv924Gks/hqdefault.jpg "The Specials trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMvv924Gks) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/11 "2021-12-06T20:05:59Z")
I thought it was a reference to Cheers: **Cliff:** Hold it, hold it hold it, hold it, hold- Look, no, I’m telling you, Normie, recent research into the Revolutionary War indicates that the, uh, defenders of this area were not called the, uh, Minutemen after all. **Norm:** Oh, like every history book is then wrong, right? **Cliff:** Oh, they were actually called the Minute Men. A lot of them under three feet tall, as a matter of fact. **Norm:** Right. **Cliff:** Way back in history, people were shorter. **Norm:** All right, fine. **Cliff:** Take, for example, the, uh, the Knights of the Round Table. **Norm:** Yeah? **Cliff:** Genuine midgets. **Norm:** You’re a very lonely man, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/12 "2021-12-06T21:30:44Z")
Hey, off topic but I just spent a week in and around Iron County, MO. You sure have some great state parks and other natural areas down there. Can’t say I’m surprised to see that sort of sign, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/13 "2021-12-06T22:24:24Z")
[Moderating] I think this is a better fit for Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/14 "2021-12-06T22:55:46Z")
Do you live in Michigan? Apparently there is an organization called the Michigan Militia Wolverines, which is the constitutionalist faction of the Michigan Militia Corps (MMC). > **[Michigan Militia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Militia)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Michigan Militia is a paramilitary Michigan-based organization founded in 1994 by Norman Olson, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. The group was formed in response to perceived encroachments by the federal government on the rights of citizens. It is part of the wider American militia movement. > At its peak in the mid-1990s, the Michigan Militia Corps claimed to have 10,000 members, although its membership is estimated to be several hundred today... There is another paramilitary group in Michigan, (a newer, more radical group) called The Wolverine Watchmen. > **[Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Whitmer_kidnapping_plot)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > On October 8, 2020, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrests of 13 men suspected of orchestrating a domestic terror plot to kidnap American politician Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, and otherwise using violence to overthrow the state government. Half of the suspects were tied to a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the Wolverine Watchmen. Six of the suspects were charged in federal court, ... It’s not an exact fit for either of this, but it’s starting to look like Michigan terrorists have a thing for wolverines. Which may be a sports thing. TL/dr - I can’t make much sense of it either. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-any-sense-of-this-domestic-terrorism-recruitment-flier/955576/15 "2021-12-07T18:56:40Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Which may be a sports thing. Probably a combination. The fictional resistance group in the Red Dawn movie named themselves the wolverines after their high school mascot. So its not surprising that a group with very little imagination in the home of the University of Michigan wolverines would think themselves clever by doing the same thing.