Fighting the New World Order: An Examination of Paramilitary Organizations’ Use of Mass Communication and Interactive Technology

Melinda M. Morris

Merry C. Buchanan

University of Oklahoma

101 Burton Hall

Norman, OK 73019

mmorris@ou.edu

Abstract

Prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, mainstream media tended to refer to militia as a monolithic whole. For several years, rapid growth of the militia movement was virtually unnoticed as they used alternative media (i.e., short-wave radio, computer links, video tapes, and talk radio) to disseminate information. Paramilitary members express concern on talk radio shows that the U.S. government has entered into a "New World Order" (Weiss, 1995) and is in the process of seriously attempting to restrain militias and abolish their rights as citizens. There is a great concern among many militia members that the "global village" (McLuhan, 1964) will diminish American culture and erode Americans’ rights as citizens.

Ernest Bormann's symbolic convergence theory (1972) is a description of the dynamic process of sharing group fantasies. Symbolic convergence is operationalized through fantasy theme analysis. Employing symbolic convergence theory and its attendant method, fantasy theme analysis this paper analyzes paramilitary organizations and their use of mass communication and interactive technology.

Lasswell (Edelman, 1964) wrote that politics is the process by which the irrational bases of society are brought out into the open. He further described political communication as a means of definition on matters of emotion in order to reach consensus concerning solutions to emotional issues. Individual fantasies are contrived and defined and may become group fantasies if they are communicated among like-minded individuals. As a result of modern technology, militia members who previously might have shared their fantasies about sinister governmental plots in interpersonal or small group settings have an increased ability to rapidly dispel their political theories to other communities and other countries through the use of talk radio, the Internet and short wave radios ("New Medium," 1995).

For many years the U.S. mainstream media discounted most of the fantasy theories and concerns of militia members. Prior to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, mainstream media sources did not generally acknowledge or discuss the reality that a paramilitary subculture exists in the U.S and is influenced by similar groups around the world. Paramilitary members express concern on talk radio shows that the federal government has entered into a "New World Order" (Weiss, 1995) and is in the process of seriously attempting to restrain militias and abolish their rights as citizens. There is a great concern among many militia members that the "global village" (McLuhan, 1964) will diminish American culture and erode Americans’ rights as citizens.

Kenneth Burke (1945) described the function of political rhetoric as a way "to sharpen up the pointless and blunt the too sharply pointed" (p.393). In this regard, rhetoric concerning the current shared fantasy of paramilitary groups serves to heighten and sharpen the emotional investment of paramilitary participants while simultaneously blunting or muting any reality that is contrary to their own. Similarly, Bormann (1980) describes the intersection and expansion of personal fantasies through interpersonal, small group and mass communication in his explanation of symbolic convergence theory. Although several studies have utilized fantasy theme analysis to interpret examples of symbolic convergence theory (see e.g. Cragan & Shields, 1977; Mormann, 1982; Klinger, 1977) few studies have examined the function of symbolic convergence in the the context of paramilitary organizations and the expansion of fantasy themes through the use of interactive and mass communication mediums.

This study examines the fantasy themes of paramilitary groups in terms of Earnest Bormann's (1972) symbolic convergence theory (SCT). Bormann's theory and it's methodology, fantasy theme analysis, will be used to analyze current fantasy-based anti-government sentiments.

Symbolic Convergence Theory

Humanistic studies of communication frequently utilize a dramatistic viewpoint. Four eminent scholars employing a dramatistic perspective are Kenneth Burke, Erving Goffman, Walter Fisher, and Ernest Bormann (Bormann, 1980; Cragan & Shields, 1995). Burke’s (1968) widely used dramatistic analysis centers on the dramatic pentad of act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose. Burke’s Dramatism Theory (BDT) aids communication researchers in identifying the motives embedded in symbols. Fisher’s (1984, 1985, 1987) narrative paradigm uses the principles of narrative coherence and narrative fidelity to analyze various forms of communication. Goffman (1959) provides a more direct application of the dramatistic approach to human communication by explicating rituals elements in social interaction. Goffman’s analysis of role enactment, places, scenes, and facework have been applied in many communication studies. However, Bormann’s (1972) symbolic convergence theory differs from the former three in that his dramatistic approach developed directly from communication studies and criticism. SCT focuses on the message as the unit of analysis, emphasizing the communicative processes in which individuals converge their fantasies, meanings, and symbolic realities. How people come to share a common reality or world view is the premise behind SCT. By investigating the talk humans share and exploring how they collectively construct a communal consciousness, SCT provides a framework for explicating how human meaning, emotion, and motive for action are manifested within groups. This study applies the qualitative content analytical method of SCT to mediated paramilitary discourse.

Symbolic Convergence of Political Ideas

Symbols provide a means by which people can express shared feelings, emotions and fears that are related but not always identical. Personal emotions can be expanded to a single group emotion if like-minded individuals enter into a social contract by allowing one symbol to exemplify a shared feeling.

Symbolic convergence is a general communication theory which is applicable to interpersonal, small group and mass communication. Bormann's symbolic convergence theory is applicable specifically to political communication because it provides a comprehensive explanation for the manner by which political symbols are disseminated. Abstracted ideas, or fantasies, can be shared in a dyad, group setting, or through mediums such as television, radio, or computers. The expansion of shared personal fantasies is explained by Bormann (1972) in terms of fantasy chains. Fantasy chains begin with individual expressions of a personal fantasy emotion or fear. That fantasy then is established, develops and grows as it is shared. Bormann asserts that:

The dramatizations which catch on and chain out in small groups are worked into public speeches and into the mass media and, in turn, spread out across a larger public, serve to sustain the members, sense of community, to impel them strongly to action (which raises the question of motivation), and to provide them with a social reality filled with heroes, villains, emotions, and attitudes (p.398).

 

For example, in 1988, political consultants employed by the George Bush campaign created a symbolic representation that influenced the election and the way the American public viewed Bush's opponent, Michael Dukakis. Willie Horton, a convicted criminal in Massachusetts, was released on a weekend furlough as part of a program that was signed into law by then Governor Dukakis. Horton committed additional crimes while on his weekend furlough. This information, which seems relatively unrelated to the presidential election, became the basis for a convergence of fear, racism and anger. The Bush campaign strategically designed advertisements depicting the "Willie Horton incident" as an indicator of the future of the nation if Michael Dukakis became president. Horton himself became a symbol that a vote for Mike Dukakis was a vote for crime and criminals. The Horton fantasy theme likely gave Bush's campaign a means to encapsulate a variety of tedious and complex issues into one easily understandable symbol. This Horton advertisements symbolized a perception that was not necessarily based in reality. Rather the ad depicted a single event as an indicator of a future reality that may or may not have come to pass.

More recently, interactive mediums such as talk radio allow for fantasies to rapidly spread to thousands of individuals as one caller or talk show host can potentially share his or her interpretation of a situation. Interactive mediums such as talk radio allow for symbolic convergence to occur when listeners hear and share a group fantasy that may be based in reality, but is uttered in an interpretive manner by the caller or the talk show host.

Bormann (1972) identifies four fundamental concepts of SCT: fantasy theme, symbolic cue, fantasy type, and saga. Additionally, Bormann (1972) designates several dramatic structural elements used to analyze fantasy themes: rhetorical vision, dramatis personae, plot line, scene, and sanctioning agent. This paper analyzes mediated paramilitary discourse according to Bormann’s (1972) SCT concepts and dramatic structural elements.

Epistemological assumptions guide the way scholars conduct inquiries and use theory. Bormann (1972) outlines six epistemological assumptions of SCT that are instrumental in the application of the theory to paramilitary organizations. The epistemological assumptions of SCT are as follows:

1. Meaning, emotion, and motive for action are in the manifest content of a message.

2. Reality is created symbolically.

3.Fantasy theme chaining creates symbolic convergence that is dramatistic in form.

4. Fantasy theme analysis (FTA) is the basic method to capture symbolic reality.

5. Fantasy themes occur in and chain out from all discourse.

6. At least three master analogues--righteous, social, and pragmatic--compete as alternative

Symbolic Convergence of Language

Language, specifically political language, is often used in a symbolic manner as a means to convey a political message. Words and phrases take on symbolic meaning as they are used to describe an issue (Edelman, 1988; Iyengar, 1990). Since political concepts can be tedious or difficult to grasp, political communication often takes the form of symbolic speech that can persuade the public without giving specific details and descriptions about specific issues. Symbolic political speech is used in public address but is also clearly evident in political campaign advertising. Edelman (1964) states that symbolic speech can be generally categorized as either referential or condensational.

Referential symbols are those symbols that are unchanging, concrete (Edelman, 1964). Referential symbols are often visual forms of communication that allow one picture, chart or statistic to convey a message. The referential symbol is the most direct form through which a message can imply a meaning. Since they are concrete and often visual, they leave little room for speculation concerning their meanings.

The second form of symbol that Edelman (1964) describes is a condensational symbol. Condensational symbols are an abridgment of similar values to form a shared meaning among those who are exposed to the symbol. Condensational symbols have a similar meaning to a group, but the precise meaning is left to the individual interpretation. A variety of values, emotions or concerns is expressed through one symbol which is the crystallization of a message. Since the actual or intended meaning of the condensational symbol is speculative, each member of a group may explicate their own situational interpretation. A condensational symbol may be a word, a phrase, or an emblem. For example, the American flag is an emblem that alludes to the ideas of patriotism, pride, loyalty, and good citizenship in the minds of many Americans. The American flag may take on alternative meanings or experience redefinition based on the evolution of emotions of the group that interpret it.

An illustration of this idea occurred at the 1988 Republican convention in Dallas, as a protester burned the American flag to display his dissatisfaction with the rhetoric of the convention. In this context the flag became a symbol of declining liberties in this country and served to embody a different set of emotions, fears and concerns than the traditional connotation that the flag offers to many people. Ultimately, the burning American flag provided an image around which an alternative fantasy theme developed. Those who feared dwindling civil liberties fought for the right to use a burning flag to symbolically express their frustration with the current governmental conditions. Conversely, those who thought of the flag in its traditional symbolic context maintained their fantasy theme and viewed the burning flag as a violation of their own values and fought to attain a constitutional amendment to protect the flag and its original intended meaning. Groups may invent reality for a given symbol. The symbol may in fact assist in the creation of a new reality or political climate due to the expressed emotions that it fosters. The flag burning example displays how an evolutionary fantasy theme exemplified through the use of a symbol can create a reality or contribute to the political agenda as it evolves.

While communication scholar Ernest Bormann's description of symbolic convergence is partially represented by Edelman's concept of referential and condensational symbols, symbolic convergence is also an evolutionary form of communication in which people express an active process of sharing fantasies. Attribution theory, a comprehensive theory that emerged from social psychological research and describes how individuals process and interpret meanings of actions (Berger, 1973; Schoper, 1972), is a partial representation of symbolic convergence as well. Interpretation of behavior is explained by attribution theory, but symbolic convergence theory also encompasses visual and emotional symbols. Those emotions that are not uttered or expressed in any form can be exemplified through a symbol. Fantasies, as described in the context of SCT are not the same as imaginary fantasies that one might imply from other uses of the word. Fantasies in Bormann's context are a means to present a social reality that may or may not be based in verifiable fact. They are social realities to those who share the emotions because they are created as a product of socialization of participants to believe in common ideas (Bormann, 1982). A symbolic convergence is evolutionary so it may undergo alteration as members alter their ideas and new members join the fantasy group. Additional information that relates to the group concept may increase the visibility and acceptance of the symbolic convergence.

Fantasy Theme Analysis

As the unit of analysis, a fantasy theme is the discourse or message which conveys a group’s symbolic reality. While the first telling of a fantasy theme may be quite lengthy, over time, as the fantasy is retold, the amount of time necessary for rhetors to share its meaning, emotion, and motive becomes less and less (Cragan & Shields, 1995, p. 36). Fantasy themes are comprised of three derivations: symbolic cue, fantasy type, and saga.

A symbolic cue may be a code word, a phrase, or slogan that serves as a shorthand notation for a previously-shared fantasy theme symbolic cue. For example, militia members who believe that the government uses black helicopters to survey anti-government groups utilize the term "black helicopters" to cue others that they share the fantasy vision of the group. U.S. Militia, a clothing and accessory company with an Internet web site, offers bumper stickers that announce "I brake for black helicopters" ( U.S. Militia, 1998).

A fantasy type is a repeated fantasy theme. An example of a common fantasy theme espoused by American militia is rebellion of "true patriots" against governmental agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Federal law enforcement plays the role of villain in this fantasy type and is considered the enemy which must be contained and overthrown.

A saga is an oft-repeated telling of events or achievements of group fantasy type.

Randy Weaver, a militia member who fought off FBI officers at his home in Ruby Ridge, West Virginia, enacted the fantasy type described previously and created a saga that is often retold by militia members. Similarly, David Koresh and his group of religious followers barricaded themselves in their home outside Waco, Texas, and were subsequently killed during the standoff. These two events, or sagas, are the core of the current rhetorical vision of militia members in the U.S. and abroad.

A rhetorical vision is the composite drama that engages a group into a symbolic reality (Bormann, 1972). If an individual forfeits one fantasy theme, another fantasy theme often takes its place. For example, if a person believes in the just nature of society they may maintain a fantasy theme and symbolic reality to support this belief. If the fantasy theme is somehow interrupted by an unjust act, that person may forgo their just vision of reality in favor of an unjust reality. At that point new symbolic meanings and emotions may be the pervasive motivations of that individual. In his 1972 article, Bormann credits Bales fantasy theme discovery – "the process by which a zero-history group [uses] fantasy chains to develop common culture"--as the most important finding for the -integration of communication as rhetorical theory (p.397).Cragan (1975) further redefined the definition, describing the vision as "a blend of discursive material, 'here and now' events and fantasy themes which are woven together to form a drama that is credible and compelling" (p.5). The rhetorical vision is made up of five components: dramatis personae, plot line, scene, sanctioning agent, and vision master analogue.

Dramatis personae are the identifiable characters.

The plot line is the action of the rhetorical vision.

The scene is the location in which the characters carry out their activities.

The sanctioning agent legitimizes the symbolic reality.

Vision master analogues may be righteous, social, or pragmatic.

Rhetorical visions reflect a deep structure exhibited in one of three master analogue visions: social, pragmatic, or righteous. The social rhetorical vision stresses human relations such as friendship, trust, and humaneness. Those who hold a pragmatic rhetorical vision regard efficiency, practicality, or expediency as most important. However, mediated paramilitary discourse reflects a righteous master analogue rhetorical vision in that participants emphasize right and wrong, just and unjust, and superior and inferior.

Paramilitary Culture

Prior to the Oklahoma City bombing, mainstream media tended to refer to militia as a monolithic whole. For several years, rapid growth of the militia movement was virtually unnoticed as they used alternative media (i.e., short-wave radio, computer links, video tapes, and talk radio). However, splinter groups within paramilitary culture on the Internet have recently been identified (Meador, 1997). Employing SCT and its attendant method, fantasy theme analysis, Meador’s (1997) triangulated study classifies worldviews held by groups within the U.S. militia movement into three archetypes: Protector/Enforcer, Concerned Activist, and Separatist.

Protectors/Enforcers view the government as tyrannical and its decisions as illegal infringements. This group vigilantly engages in watchdog activities and seeks re-establishment of government by force, if necessary. A recurrent symbolic cue for Protector/Enforcers was a common reference to the three "boxes" essential in preserving freedom: "the jury box, the ballot box, and the ammo box."

Concerned Activists focus on political activism and grassroots organization in order to gain political influence. They believe that militia training is a requirement in order to prepare for civil crises. Because the government is inept, individuals must take responsibility for the protection of citizens.

Separatists generally hold a "siege" mindset as they especially distrust the media, politicians, and university professors. This group, suspicious of the government in general, wants complete autonomy from governmental authority. The Separatists hold that citizens must band together and stockpile the "three B’s": beans, bullets, and bandages.

Categorized by their discourse using SCT, these three paramilitary archetypes emerged as holding distinctive worldviews evident from their Internet discussions (Meador, 1997). Their slogans and symbolic cues illustrate fantasy theme chaining in cyberspace. For example, the Protector/Enforcers’ symbolic cue "the Second Amendment is the reset button of the Constitution" exemplifies a shared symbolic belief in an armed revolution requisite for reverting back to strict interpretation of the U. S. Constitution.

Gibson (1989) describes the emergence of paramilitary culture in the United States as a response to the Vietnam War. "Classic heroes have been reworked into a new version of the war and war culture. This new hero is the paramilitary warrior, paramilitary because he is rarely a member of conventional military or law-enforcement bureaucracies" (p.90). Gibson explains that paramilitary heroes come from fact and fiction based mediums. Mass media depicts separatist characters such as Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo, who illustrates the concepts of physical strength and bravery to fight injustices and go outside traditional channels of conflict management. The news medians coverage of Oliver North and the Iran Contra hearings in July, 1987 provided paramilitary fantasy theme complete with a hero, a plot and an antigovernment message that inferred that covert operations are a necessary component to world peace.

It is significant that in Gibson's 1989 article, he notes that a major theme of the paramilitary culture centers around the concept of necessary state initiated covert operations. Today's paramilitary culture has embraced the concept of relative secrecy for themselves, while demanding that the government be honest and open about it's domestic agenda and procedures (France, 1995).

If paramilitary culture is a dramatic fantasy theme, then the costume of the characters is camouflage. Paramilitary garb provides the players with costumes to play out the roles. Gibson notes that "at the fantasy level changing clothes means the warrior is no longer bound by the moral code governing civilian actions. In the minds of psychotics, this fantasy transition marks a real transition, demonstrated by recently reported paramilitary mass murderers" (pp.92-93).

Although there is little empirical research to suggest that paramilitary culture is synonymous with deviant or alienated culture, the Oklahoma City bombing may be an indicator that there is some correlation between these concepts. Sociologists Mirowsky and Ross (1994) explore deviance as it relates to patterns of distress, according to the normative approach of study. They examine some established patterns that give indications about exactly what distress is, and how people become deviant through learned behavior. Mirowsky and Ross's research utilizing the normative approach to deviant behavior (1994) explained that success is a positively valued goal in society and that there is sometimes a "means goal gap," or a difference between the goals that people set for themselves, and their ability to achieve those goals within the accepted social structure. The reference group is instrumental in the process of learning what appropriate goals might be, and what appropriate means of those goals are. If a person cannot get what they want legitimately, they may resort to illegitimate means. This is the basis for deviant behavior according to the normative approach.

Paramilitary members operate under a secrecy code that suggests a subculture that does not operate within the traditional social structure. They may create their own reference group to invent social norms of behavior that expand their fantasy theme into an operational reality. Symbols are created and used by members to encapsulate their private social norms. Deviant behavior such as the Oklahoma City bombing may serve as a means to realize a goal of capturing the attention of the government and the American public to legitimize the concerns of the members of paramilitary groups.

Rhetoric of the New World Order

Bormann (1973) explained that rhetorical visions are often indexed by the term new (p. 144). A significant part of the paramilitary fantasy theme revolves around the idea of a "New World Order" (Weiss, 1995). This idea centers around the idea that international institutions, led by the United Nations, are involved in a secret alliance to govern without regard to law of individual nation-states (Slaughter, 1997). Paramilitary groups feel that the New World order is a direct threat to American liberties and is a substantial reason to remained armed. The New World Order would supersede the current U.S. Constitution and seek to nullify citizens, rights in favor of international peace. Some paramilitary members feel that the globalization of law implies the erosion of national boundaries, and could signify an erosion of "American" culture (Weiss, 1995).

Mathews (1997) defined the New World Order as a power shift, away from hierarchical nation-state organizations to a series of sub-states or networks of communication with voluntary associations. Individuals are no longer limited to laws, beliefs, and ideas shared with others in their local communities. Through mass communication and interactive technology, individuals may form associations with others who share similar beliefs, regardless of location. Communication becomes the primary tool for negotiation of co-culture norms, and individuals have the ability to select which associations or networks in which to take part. Fantasy themes spread quickly through sub-states and organizational networks when they are disseminated through mass communication and interactive technology. Two forms of communication, talk radio and the Internet, allow for dissemination of paramilitary fantasy themes without regard to the factual or fictitious nature of the messages.

Talk Radio and Paramilitary Organizations

In their examination of fantasy themes and melodramas in television news, Nimmo and Combs (1982) categorize "four major rhetorical traditions [that] have developed in mass journalism... 11(p.50). Although there was some talk radio and limited interactive media in 1982 when Nimmo and Coombs wrote their description, their major focus was television coverage of the Three Mile Island incident. However, the categories of news coverage that they describe were presented as categories of "mass journalism".

These categories are:

Popular Sensationalist Stories are designed to elicit an emotional response from the audience as they illuminate a particularly sad, joyous, unusual or distressing situation.

The fantasy is implicit that each person lives in a chance universe of threats and problems which can happen to each and every one of us" (p.50).

Informative Stories are factually based basic information about people, places or events which are current and newsworthy. "Implicit in the informative-story fantasy is that reality--although perhaps threatening--is understandable and manageable"(p.50).

Feature Stories are interpretive pieces that allow for a topic to be fully expanded and discussed in terms of a larger social picture. "Whereas informative stories conjure a fantasy of human capacity for coping through reason, feature stories suggest a blending of sagacity and resignation" (p.50).

Didactic Stories divide difficult or intricate concepts into manageable and easily understandable parts, often for educational purposes. Often, "[t]he vision is of a technological world full of mysterious human contrivances that need to be diagrammed and memorized, so that their magic is understood, if we are to survive" (pp.50-51).

The four categories of mass journalism that Nimmo and Coombs describe in their 1982 article are partially explanatory of the current media, however technological advancements in interactive media have served to alter slightly the presentation and organization of issues that correspond to each rhetorical vision. The largest difference between traditional media and more interactive media is the lack of a gatekeeper who has the ability to filter out confusing, distorted or unsubstantiated information.

Rogers (1983) defines the diffusion of new ideas as a process by where an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system. Gatekeepers serve as intermediaries who control the flow of information into a social system through the selection and presentation of messages. In traditional mass media, gatekeepers (i.e., editors, producers, reporters) are often filters between the media and the audience.

Since talk radio is interactive, the gatekeeper effect of media is diminished. Callers may directly discuss a topic with the host as the receiver of the message listens directly without a gatekeeper. The message may take any one, or all of the forms of message that Nimmo and Coombs described. Messages are interactive so they change and evolve during the course of one particular show or forum. The listener is then left to individually decipher which type of message that they are receiving because all four types might be intertwined within the context of one talk show issue, or even one phone call. Strong interpretive skills are essential on the part of listeners to talk radio because discussions may be a veritable mixture of fact and fantasy. Fact based information can become a fantasy chain that quickly grows and changes within the course of one program. Levin (1987) notes while discussing talk radio that, "the sublime and the ridiculous receive equal time, and often evoke equally contentious disputes" (p.23).

For example, in 1995 the New York Times reported that thousands of citizens in California were upset and enraged because a caller on a talk radio show relayed information that seemed to imply that the government was in the process of converting closed military bases into concentration camps for government objectors ("Paranoid World", 1995). The caller presented his idea in an informative and convincing manner by explaining that he was a first hand witness to the military base alterations. The caller insisted that he walked past the military base every day, and that for years it had been surrounded by barbed wire that faced outward. The caller went on to claim that the barbed wire had been altered to face inward as evidence that the base would soon be a concentration camp. Listeners of the talk show responded with similar personal accounts that seemed to add credence to the original caller's concentration camp fantasy. The fantasy theme "chained out" rapidly and resulted in honest emotions and fears on the part of many California residents. The fantasy theme was undoubtedly expanded by the New York Times article.

The only gatekeeper of information in the talk radio format is the talk show host himself or herself. However, talk shows are not generally considered to be unbiased or neutral on current issues, as hosts generally choose topics and guests to substantiate their own attitudes The listener may be inundated with seemingly factual information that comes from sources that would be considered speculative for use in the main stream media.

Since paramilitary culture relies on publications with relatively small circulation numbers such as Soldier of Fortune and newsletters generated by their own organizations, talk radio is an accessible format to disseminate their opinions and concerns. Members can call a talk show and report that they read certain information in "a magazine" without properly identifying the source. The listener is left with the idea that since the information was broadcast on the radio, it is credible. A shrewd listener might question sources of information or the information itself but a passive listener (e.g. who is driving in traffic in their car) may subconsciously accept the information as valid or reliable.

Interactive Technology and Paramilitary Organizations

Interactive technology such as the Internet is an increasingly popular channel used by militia members. The Internet is a unique in that it has the ability to promote active learning as individuals seek information on topics of interest and select their own path of interaction (Dede & Fontana, 1995). The nteractivity and the relative secrecy of the Internet make it an accessible medium for militia members to use to communicate with one another. Additionally, militia sympathizers from other parts of the world can actively participate in militia efforts in the U.S. via the Internet. U.S. Militia, an organization with a web presence on the Internet (U.S. Militia, 1998), poses answers to frequently asked questions of prospective militia members, One question found on the web site, asks, "Does the U.S. militia advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government?" The answer, "[w]e cannot imagine a greater waste of time and resources than to replace one set of nannies with another…We condone the use of force only to resist force in self defense or defense of society," offers insight into the rhetoric of the righteous master analogue of militia members.

Conclusion

Symbolic convergence theory has direct relational implications for the discussion of current paramilitary organizations and their use of talk radio to build a fantasy theme. Symbols are ubiquitously used in a variety of fashions in society today and give meaning to emotions of those who biased, leaves little question that the information that is broadcast is also biased.

If Burke's notion that the function of political rhetoric is a way "to sharpen up the pointless and blunt the too sharply pointed (p.393) is correct, talk radio and the Internet examples of media that will allow paramilitary organizations to remain secretive while publicly transmitting their message to sharpen the affect of their symbolic reality.

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