“Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and The Rise of Right wing Extremism” by Jeffrey Toobin
Homegrown is an important book. It is a definitive, chilling and disturbing portrayal of Timothy McVeigh and the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing. To refresh your memory, that heinous act killed 168, including 19 children, and injured 500 more. It remains the most significant act of domestic terrorism in modern American history. A seminal event that should never be forgotten by the American populace. The book presents some uncomfortable questions. Was McVeigh’s violent act an isolated incident committed by a troubled, lonely member of a lunatic fringe or was it the harbinger of a more dangerous, if now quasi mainstream movement which threatens our Republic today. You may not like the answer!
Jeffrey Toobin, the author, has serious professional credentials as a legal analyst and journalist. He has authored nine books, with a special niche reporting on the Supreme Court. He was a regular TV commentator until he lost his job in 2020 after a creepy incident of “indecent exposure” on a Covid zoom call. He screwed up royally there, but used his time wisely in the aftermath by researching and writing this book. He interviewed over 100 players in the drama, including President Clinton and then prosecutor and now Attorney General Merrick Garland. He spoke to McVeigh’s lawyers and painstakingly reviewed 635 boxes of material they released years after the trial. Interviews and summaries of conversations with McVeigh are included in the material and the information is eye opening. His methodology was sound and the inquiry probing and wide ranging.
The book is a detailed step by step description of McVeigh’s planning and execution of the bombing. Month by month- then hour by hour- then minute by minute. We witness the arrest, trial, sentencing and ultimately his execution. We learn who assisted along the way. The evidence of his guilt is overwhelming and incontrovertible. A classic open and shut case. He was “aggressively guilty” as I would say in my past lawyer days. The trial presentation reflected this reality. Merrick Garland wanted to keep it simple and clean, avoiding the drama and circus atmosphere of the OJ Simpson trial a year prior. It was a strategic decision to stay laser focused on McVeigh’s criminal behaviour. Garland achieved his purpose- a guilty verdict, the death penalty sentence and public confidence that the trial was fair. However, there were some negative consequences which flowed from that decision. There was very little evidence on “why” McVeigh committed this crime- why he chose this path- why he targeted a federal facility or what his actual goals were. We received an incomplete picture and didn’t examine what societal trends and fissures produced a man like McVeigh. Jeffrey Toobin supplements the record here.
What do we learn? McVeigh’s background was ordinary. No youthful evidence of excellence, but no obvious pathologies either. He was raised in declining industrial Buffalo- Mom absent and Dad’s factory position constantly at risk because of globalization. He LOVED guns and became an expert marksman. He regularly interacted with other gun lovers and travelled the gun show circuit. He was bombarded with the message the Second Amendment was under attack. He subscribed to right wing publications. He served honourably in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, but was rejected by the Green Berets. After discharge, he lacked focus- no steady jobs or relationships. He was obsessed the the federal siege at Waco. He read The Turner Diaries a crazy book which was violently extreme in its protestations against the US government. In the book, the government confiscated all guns, gave blacks free reign and subjugated the white populace with rigid controls. The protagonist in the book ultimately blew up the FBI headquarters in Washington DC. McVeigh recommended this book to anyone who crossed his path. Gradually, his views crystallised into a “philosophy.” He was a white supremacist and separatist, abhorred immigration, believed women should be confined to traditional roles and concluded the violent overthrow of the US government was necessary to protect these values. Cleary, a “nutcase.”
But McVeigh didn’t develop his views in a vacuum. He was an early Rush Limbaugh apostle and never missed his radio broadcast. His journal quoted Limbaugh’s statement that “a second violent revolution was a quarter of inch away.” He was also a Newt Gingrich fan and Newt was telling everyone that Democrats were "pathetic”, “the enemy”, “sick”, “radicals”, and “crazy”. Hatred of political opponents was not just a gun show aficionado thing, but a core element of the “mainstream” messaging of the most popular conservative media and political leaders in the country. We did not hear about McVeigh’s adherence to Rush and Newt at trial- that wasn’t Garland’s style. I note the Garland continues to pursue “balance” as Attorney General today much to the discomfort of the Biden White House.
The final prong of Toobin’s thesis is that today’s right wing extremists are direct descendants of Timothy McVeigh. He posits that the January 6th crowd storming the Capital walked in McVeigh’s footsteps and basically adhered to his world view. There certainly are similarities in the rhetoric, writings and insane conspiracy theories. Read The Turner Diaries and then listen to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and reach your own conclusions. McVeigh never apologised for his actions. He wanted to start a revolution. He said “I believe there is an army out there, ready to rise up, even though I never found it.” Perhaps he was ahead of his time- he should have been more patient.
Toobin is persuasive, but the 2020’s are different than the 90’s. There is overwhelming evidence that previously isolated extremists are now connecting and communicating with one another on the internet and through social media. Disinformation and misinformation are rampant . There were always crazies out there but it was rare you heard of them in polite society. Now- we have gone from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson - with huge megaphones at the largest media outlet ever. The “fringe” 20 percent who nursed their grievances and cultivated their prejudices privately or in small groups now hear their views validated nationally on a regular basis. It is hard for them not to conclude they were right all along and those who disagree are nasty elitists who need to be swept away. If anything the “kook” coalition has grown. Remember, 60 percent of Republicans in Congress voted NOT to certify President Biden’s election even after the January 6 riots. Polls show more than half of Republican voters today do not accept the legitimacy of the Biden Presidency. Sobering! I can visualise McVeigh wearing a MAGA cap. it is credible to conclude that the extremist right wing today are descendants of McVeigh or at least accept many of his attitudes and views.
However, I still sense something else is going on here. The movement has extended beyond the crazies. Many of the participants on January 6 don’t fit the profile. They were not members of Qanon or other groups of that type; many were small businessman, cops, fireman farmers, ministers, educators. They were at the rally because they had been persuaded by one man that the election was rigged and American democracy was a hoax! I strive to avoid giving Trump too much oxygen in serious discussions because he undermines rational thinking. He makes everything a bit crazy and unhinged. I do argue that he is the ultimate validator of the ugly descendants of McVeigh. He describes political opponents as “enemies of the state”, “vermin”, “evil”. He accuses immigrants of “poisoning the nation’s bloodlines.” The greatest concern is that people who should know better fail to stand up to him out of fear. This lack of courage is a bigger threat to the Republic than McVeigh and his ilk ever were. Read the book!
