Minuteman "sells" his newspaper

SOLD! What's behind the "sale" of the Minutemans' newspaper?

Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), recently sold the Minutemans' newspaper, the Tombstone Tumbleweed. The following are excerpts from the tiny weekly newspaper, located in the high desert tourist movie-set village of Tombstone, Arizona:

Simcox said he bought the paper in the first place to serve the community and he feels he just cannot do justice to both the border security issues and the paper at the same time. Selling the Tombstone Tumbleweed was a very difficult decision, but Simcox stated, “The needs of the community are too important and should be in the hands of someone who will serve those needs properly. . . .”

The Tumbleweed gained international notoriety by bringing attention to internationally-resonant border issues when Simcox began Civil Homeland Defense in October of 2002 and then co-founded the Minuteman Project last April with Jim Gilchrist. . . . Between the newspaper and the website the partners expect to become a premier, international news service focusing on Tombstone and Southern Arizona.

Sometimes, I just hate it when I become suspicious of others' motives, but I can't help thinking that the Horatio Alger spin Chris Simcox put on the reason for his "sale" signals another, more likely story! In 2002, Simcox bought the tiny failing weekly, which was never a serious journalistic or money-making enterprise--at least not after the last big shoot-out around 1889. Chris landed in Arizona after giving up his tough public school teaching job in Los Angeles and, according to his own statements, after spending time wandering in the desert (along the Arizona-Mexican border, of course).

It was during this period of seeking his higher purpose that he was overcome by a profound sense of indignation and patriotism while witnessing first-hand the waves of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S.A. Soon thereafter, he linked up with Jim Gilchrist of California who, considering that Chris was penniless, evidently became Simcox's "sugar daddy" and bought the tiny Tombstone weekly newspaper.

With Simcox installed as editor, the paper became the mouthpiece and business office for the Minuteman Project. Gilchrist, by the way, is not a newcomer to the border protest movement--he has been long associated with Glenn Spencer (at one time branded a "hate supremacist" by the Southern Poverty Law Center), another long-time California activist, also relocated to Arizona in 2001 . Until Spencer was arrested in 2003 for shooting up a neighbor's property with his .357 Magnum in an upscale Sierra Vista (AZ) neighborhood, he had been very active and highly visible in recruiting local MM-type border patrol volunteers. Spencer launched his own unmanned aerial vehicles to fly and photograph the border area, relaying the movement of illegals to his volunteers on the ground. Spencer is good at getting media attention; he has been the subject of many press reports in California and in 2002, he was a guest more than once on FOX News, Bill O'Reilly Show--appearing at least once with Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO)--C-SPAN and Donahue.

I don't know whether the Simcox-Gilchrist-Spencer "Triad" had already forged a relationship before they relocated to Arizona, or if their alliance is of a more recent vintage. However, they're apparently working together these days, if this notice I pulled off an anti-immigration reform website is any indication:

October 7-9 2005: TUCSON, AZ - White Supremacist Glenn Spencer of Voices of Citizens Together, Chris Simcox and others are expected to speak at something called "Borderfest 2005", a three-day hatefest against immigrants at United Sports Arizona Race Park, 4300 E. Los Reales Road Tucson, AZ 85705. [Ed.NOTE: Without explaining why, the keynote political speaker, Randy Graf (R-AZ)--who is seeking veteran Jim Kolbe's (R-AZ) seat in Congress--withdrew at last moment on 10/6/05, causing the organizers to cancel Borderfest 2005.]

Now that the Tumbleweed helped secure the national exposure Simcox and Gilchrist sought for their Minuteman Project, it'd be a good guess that the "sale" of the paper a mere three years later to three fellow MM "businessmen-enthusiasts" was arranged in order to recoup Gilchrist's initial investment, as well as to realize some profit for them both, using the money now flowing into a foundation from donations by sympathetic Americans. The organization grew rapidly after national and international media shone huge spotlights on the much touted "volunteer border patrol" organized last April along short stretch of Arizona-Mexico border. It was truly a fortuitous media success, but it had nothing to do with the Tumbleweed "serving the community" of some 1,500 souls.

On the surface, there's nothing wrong with Gilchrist and Simcox arranging the "sale" of their MM Project's newspaper front to fellow MM enthusiasts, even if it was an illusory transaction ( although some of the many donors to the MM Project might see it otherwise). But the timing of the sale, seen in the light of other closely related events, does make one wonder why Simcox is trying to create the illusion that he sold a business that he pulled out of the ashes--a tiny newspaper with no meaningful subscriber or advertising bases (and little prospect of developing them without money from MM supporters), to an employee and two fellow MM enthuiasts, neither of whom have much if any business or journalism experience.

Without support from the MM Project and its newborn twin, the MCDC, there is no chance the paper--even with its neat modern website--would ever become more than what it has been for many years: A quaint bit of Western Americana, kept alive by preserving the facade of a frontier town that once consisted of whorehouses and saloons--a lore kept alive today by recreating shootouts between gun-totin' O.K. Corral look-alikes for snowbirds looking for "live" winter entertainment.

My guess is that none of the principals intends the paper to become the "community voice" of the tiny tourist village with a population of about 1,500--as Simcox claimed in his "sale" announcement. But it will continue to function with the wider mission that Simcox and Gilchrist lent to it three years ago, and will continue to do very well as long as the MM Project remains viable and continues to attract support from individual citizens.

When organizations with considerable political and financial potential rise like the Phoenix from the ashes--veiled by a cock and bull spin--it's hard to ignore the olfactory senses when they detect the odor of a story somewhere not far below the surface. Not to be forgotten is the fact that Simcox's "partner," Jim Gilchrist, recently threw his hat into the political ring, running for congressman of California's 48th district, with strong backing from Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), a consistent advocate of immigration reform pushing, among other actions, the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border. It's no coincidence that the Tumbleweed regularly features Tancredo's and Gilchrist's politics (finding interesting "hometown" news would be very problematic in this tiny desert village of a mere 1,500 souls). Watch for new, interesting moves from the Tancredo-Gilchrist-Spencer(?)-Simcox-Minuteman/Civil Defense Corps alliance.

Wherever the formula money+ politics = power emerges, there's an excellent chance something interesting's going on. And there's no better issue for ambitious politicians to work than the illegal immigration problem, out of which the Minuteman Project and the MCDC grew--with the Tumbleweed as its mouthpiece. Whatever the fortunes of the MM Project and the weekly, you've gotta give the men behind the movement credit for bringing the little historical remnant out of oblivion and into the sunshine--it hasn't had this much activity in the past 100 years!

However, if you're an investor, I'd advise you not to rush into any future offering by the Tombstone Tumbleweed, based solely on Simcox's puffery that in three years he converted a failed little village weekly into an imminently powerful force of the Fourth Estate. That might not be the smartest investment decision over the long haul.

Postscript: Without the fanfare of last April's patrol activities, the MM, apparently with new on-site volunteer operational control, began its activities in the month of October on the Arizona border. Local coordinators said they're doing their duty this time around with more stealth and a very low media profile. We note that FOX News has been doing its "live" border reports from the California-Mexico border with the U.S. Border Patrol without reference to the Minutemen.