Alert the Media, and DHS Urban Legends of Right-Wing Extremism
posted at 10:57 am on April 15, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
I’ll be appearing on the Jack Riccardi show this morning at 11:30 am CT. Jack broadcasts out of San Antonio on KTSA 550 AM. The station has an Internet stream, so even if you don’t live in San Antonio, you can listen live to the show.
Jack wants to discuss the DHS report on “right-wing extremism”, a warning on threats that the DHS never bothers to quantify and explicitly says that don’t exist to their knowledge. What could be worse? Tom Maguire discovers that the authors of this political hit piece can’t even research what little data they provide. They use an April 2007 court case to justify their fear of ethnic violence, but never bother to look at the actual court documents. Here’s the argument from the report:
— (U) In April 2007, six militia members were arrested for various weapons and explosives violations. Open source reporting alleged that those arrested had discussed and conducted surveillance for a machinegun attack on Hispanics.
Well, that was what the media reported, but court documents and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms debunked the story:
At a May 1 bail hearing, ATF agent Adam Nesmith seemed to testify that the government had evidence of the five militia members plotting a machine-gun attack on Mexican immigrants in the nearby town of Remlap. Nesmith described a reconnaissance mission the militia allegedly conducted in Remlap and told the judge, “There was a plan to attack a group of Mexicans in the Remlap area with their machine guns.” The judge denied bail, and the alleged backwoods militia machine-gun plot made news across the country. One typical headline the day after the bail hearing read, “Alabamians planned to machine gun Mexicans.”
But there is no mention of any specific plan to kill Mexicans in the search warrant affidavits or any other court document related to the Alabama Free Militia defendants, and the ATF says Nesmith’s testimony was misconstrued. [ATF regional director] Cavanaugh told the Intelligence Report that Nesmith did not mean to suggest that the defendants plotted to machine-gun Mexicans. What Nesmith meant to convey, Cavanaugh said, is that the militia members were planning to steal machine guns from Mexicans in Remlap — not to shoot the Mexicans with machine guns. “The purpose of the [reconnaissance] trip described by the agent in the testimony was to go to those Latinos and take their machine guns, which the militia believed them to possess,” Cavanaugh said.
Great work, DHS! They’re quoting debunked wire reports rather than researching the actual cases. Tom continues:
Yet this is one of only two examples cited of racist militia incidents triggered by the immigration debate. And the DHS cites “Open source reporting” as making the allegation. My goodness, other open source reporting debunked it – can’t the DHS analysts even make a phone call to BATFE to confirm this, or buy a subscription to Google? Or do they just believe any damn thing they read it if suits their storyline (hmm, can the Times handle the new competition? Can the Huffington Post?)
The other example cited by DHS doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, either, but read Tom’s post to see why.
Clearly, this is not just a political hit piece designed to invalidate opposition to Barack Obama’s policies, but a shoddy piece of work in every other sense as well.
Update: I had the time wrong initially; it should be 11:30 CT. My apologies.
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Break a leg Ed.
You got lots of exposure with this yesterday; Mark Levin even read pieces of your post during his first hour.
carbon_footprint on April 15, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Ahhh… so.. the militia members were going to ensure that illegals did not have maching guns…
So, case was all about them trying to do the job that the BATF should have been doing?
Romeo13 on April 15, 2009 at 11:04 AM
As did Rush…Hot Air may not be getting 20 mil hits, but it sure got that kinda coverage…
Rogue on April 15, 2009 at 11:05 AM
But wait! Charles at LGF assured me that this is nothing but “hyperventilation”!!!!!!!!eleventy
/snark
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 11:05 AM
This report didn’t start today…It started last year. It is in itself a reasonable report. The way it is being used is not.
tomas on April 15, 2009 at 11:08 AM
That report might have actually done some good. I know of several people who had no intention of going to the Tea Parties, but are going now.
Nothing like being made out to be raging maniacs to get folks a tad riled.
kybowexar on April 15, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Lol.
That guy still around?
You-Eh-Vee on April 15, 2009 at 11:11 AM
I don’t think it’s reasonable at all to claim something (a rise in right-wing extremism)…
…and then have no actual data to back it up!
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 11:11 AM
My first stop when I turn on the computer is always HotAir. Always!
This is just the first move to restrict our freedoms by using debunked or false info. Anyone check out Heritage’s report in the Backgrounder section on Obama wanting to decide where we live and how we travel? Big Brother is here and in full regalia.
freeus on April 15, 2009 at 11:11 AM
That appears to be the apparent trademark of just about everything the Obama people do.
-Dave
Dave R. on April 15, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Does it do that?
tomas on April 15, 2009 at 11:12 AM
As an Arizonan I can’t tell you how happy I am with the way Janet Napolitano is doing her job!
Keep up the great work, Janet!
/sarc does not apply. I am genuinely happy with the horrible job she is doing. May they all soon be unemployed!
redshirt on April 15, 2009 at 11:13 AM
Except when you read the first portion of the assessment, the crux of the reasoning for the report is the bad economy and the election of America’s first black president.
carbon_footprint on April 15, 2009 at 11:13 AM
I can’t wait to see what other big steaming pile of horse manure dressed up as legitimate government reports will be released next.
DHS, doing the job americans won’t do: shovel @&$#*
Weebork on April 15, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Why am I not surprised?
This kind of brazen arrogance is a result of a MSM that surrounds the Left like an brutish armed guard.
Saltysam on April 15, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Hey!
No fair using facts for your argument.
Saltysam on April 15, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I appreciate the fact that they use McVeigh as the reason for slandering vets coming home from the war.
Is it ok for us to use Osama to pigeon-hole all Muslims now? After all, using the same logic, if one member of a group does it, all members are capable and should be watched.
Troika37 on April 15, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Jake Tapper has a link (courtesy Fox News) to the left wing extremism report.
If you compare them, the leftwing report tends to cite specific examples, while the rightwing report cites generalities. Why?
Maybe they were asked to do two reports, and had more evidence for one than for the other? If your boss asks you for 9 pages on right wingers, and you don’t have enough data, you’re going to fill those pages with speculation and conjecture.
hawksruleva on April 15, 2009 at 11:22 AM
It’s from Janet Napalitano’s DHS. Get used to it. Shoddy work is what she’s all about.
AZCoyote on April 15, 2009 at 11:23 AM
It is interesting how they do that with no problem…
…but it’s a hate crime to use 9/11 “slander” fundamentalist Islam.
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 11:23 AM
So should the FBI be investigating mosques? We were attacked by Muslim extremists.
How about leftwing groups? They have rioted in the US and in Europe.
Is Dear Leader’s association with Bill Ayers worthy of investigation? Ayers was (is?) a terrorists.
rbj on April 15, 2009 at 11:25 AM
DHS is supposed to be critical to our security. DHS is smearing Oprompta’s political opponents (shoddily). I hope they’re doing a better job at the former task than the latter.
Akzed on April 15, 2009 at 11:25 AM
DHS targets under Bush: Islamic Jihadists
DHS targets under Obama: RightWing Extremists
Feeling safer now?
What’s really funny is when the jihadists raise their ugly heads in this country again it will be the gun-toting “rightwingers” who get up in their face and the tail-between-their-legs leftwingers who run crying to their mommies.
Soon to be heard at Airport Security Check-in …..
“Take off your shoes”“Show us your party registration card”
fogw on April 15, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Well, the parallels are all falling eerily into place. We’ve got Rahm Emanuel playing the role of Ernst Rohm, Acorn filling in for the Sturm Abterlung, and now DHS apparently reconfiguring itself to be a neo-Shutzstaffel.
The extraordinary irony, of course, is that their specific modus operandi is to smear conservative movements as the modern answers to the National Socialist German Workers Party. We live in truly historic, if unbelievably creepy, times.
Blacklake on April 15, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Nice to know DHS is doing report research now just by typing in the words “right wing hate groups” and looking at the first page of Google. That’s why they’re getting paid the big tax dollars…
jon1979 on April 15, 2009 at 11:31 AM
So what’s next? Return to Ruby Ridge? Waco revisited?
/sarc
ladyingray on April 15, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Never let the facts get in the way of a good smear of conservatives. It’s never stopped them before – why start now?
tballard on April 15, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Coverage of this is bizarre in MSM. I was watching Morning Joe this morning, and Scarborough did an okay job of raising this. But Mika and Barnacle had only just heard of it, expressed only mild concern, and wanted to hear more coverage of it (from where who knows). At the same time, Willie seemed to be trying to put positive spin on Scarborough’s criticism.
Not that I’m suprised, but the next greatest outrage after this report is that no GOP member of the House or the Senate is screaming at the top of his or her lungs in protest. I’d have thought all of them would be clamoring for Janny Nap’s resignation. Sorry for using the C-word, but she deserves it in this instance. What a total C.
BuckeyeSam on April 15, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Where were you between 2001 and 2008 when the fed government started tapping phones?
Funny how selective both your memory and outrage is.
cornfedbubba on April 15, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Unbelievable. This crazyness is happening right before my very eyes. Things could get really ugly for the government. They are clearly out of control.
saiga on April 15, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Why doesn’t the Obama administration just make it simple and simple? Anybody who disagrees with even one plank of the Democratic Party Platform poses a threat to their security.
Loxodonta on April 15, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Two possibilities here:
1) You didn’t read the entire report.
2) You didn’t read the report with any reading comprehension.
Which is it?
Yoop on April 15, 2009 at 11:37 AM
hey, right wing extremists: if you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide! bring on the DHS. i want full surveillance of our domestic terrorists.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 11:43 AM
This report is a desperate attempt to use the Left’s tiring strategy of intimidating the unsuspecting mainstream into being shocked to find out that they are freaks for not supporting Marxist ideology…
…with the hopes that it will provide cover for Bill Ayer’s political ally in the White House.
Saltysam on April 15, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Really? Phone taps only started between 2001 and 2008? Are you sure? I could swear I’ve heard of phone taps used before that… talk about selective memory and outrage!
dominigan on April 15, 2009 at 11:45 AM
I don’t know about the poster whom you quoted…
…but I remember the wiretaps and was not at all outraged about tapping incoming foreign phone calls from known terrorists.
But I’m not quite sure what that has to do with labeling returning veterans or people who believe in limited federal government as “right wing extremists.”
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Sure they were tapped. If you were talking to a terrorist. Do you know of any who as monitored? Personally?
Probably not. Flippin idiot.
loudmouth883 on April 15, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Pay attention. THe DHS now considers it a crime just to be a right-wing extremist. They also define what makes you a right-wing extremist; being pro-life and owning a gun – neither of which is a crime in this country.
Now compare that to the Bush policies at DHS.
See the problem douchebag?
fogw on April 15, 2009 at 11:51 AM
AMEN! And government intrusion into personal lives… Our dear governor’s MO alright!
I’m still steamed about her lies over all day kindergarten here in AZ… “Optional” didn’t mean it was optional for parents at all… it was optional for school districts! Problem is they didn’t tell us that until after the election. She lied to get the votes.
Watch that MO.
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Liberals need to ask themselves ‘why do they hate us?’. “They” being the bogeymen in their heads.
This stuff is in their mind because they just assume that there are Americans who will use extreme methods to stop them from destroying the country.
Buddahpundit on April 15, 2009 at 11:58 AM
I think this speaks strongly to making sure that every single person that Obama wants added to his administration is scrutinized, scrupulously.
canditaylor68 on April 15, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Since January 20th, Charles has yet to criticize Barry about anything. Rush – yeah, he’s hurting “our cause” by hoping socialism fails. Charles is not a conservative, and – apparently – rejects that label. Question as to just what he is; his main cause being to reject and ridicule creationism. That’s OK, but I’m not sure it’s worth a holy crusade.
Well, if you’re happy with Barry, I guess you’ve got to crusade against something/someone.
ManUFan on April 15, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Suddenly, when the executive branch is allowed to intercept phone calls, from known Al Queda operatives, originating from outside of US borders, before the required warrant is issued, during a time of war, they become conservatives on limited Federal government.
Saltysam on April 15, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Before the government turned to socialism and anti-American, I had nothing to hide. I don’t know what to think now. They may go after the Cub Scouts next. 180 degrees from Bush who was pro American.
saiga on April 15, 2009 at 12:02 PM
The problem is Federalism(you know state’s rights) a long time American political position is now a crime. And if you are pro-life that is considered an extreme political position. Or if you support marriage between a man and woman. That is extreme also.
This is a political purge document. We could ALL go to the gulag! And you better be sure you agree with every single word that Obama writes then reads aloud because if you don’t you are next! Obama tolerates no dissent!
This amount of control this administration is grabbing is far far more than anything attempted by any other President in history!
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show
Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show… The documents… prompted charges from civil rights advocates that the government had improperly blurred the line between terrorism and acts of civil disobedience and lawful protest.
The F.B.I. had previously turned over a small number of documents on antiwar groups… And earlier this month, the A.C.L.U.’s Colorado chapter released similar documents involving, among other things, people protesting logging practices at a lumber industry gathering in 2002. The latest batch of documents.. totals more than 2,300 pages and centers on references in internal files to a handful of groups, including PETA, the environmental group Greenpeace and the Catholic Workers group, which promotes antipoverty efforts and social causes.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
No doubt about it. They wnat to kill the geese laying the golden eggs. Man made cotastrophy
saiga on April 15, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Ve must all learn Austrian.
Dhuka on April 15, 2009 at 12:07 PM
What’s reasonable about a report that has nothing but innuendo?
What’s reasonable that the few actual facts included are easily proven to be wrong?
What’s reasonable about a report that is long on paranoid accusations, but short on any documentation to back up the accusations?
In short, what’s reasonable about this report?
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Aren’t you mixing and matching things?
The original question (“Do you know of any one who was monitored?”) had to deal with wiretapping of incoming international phone calls from known terrorists.
Your reply is typical FBI surveillance that has occurred during Republican AND Democratic presidents (remember that John Lennon had an FBI file on him and that was during the LBJ administration).
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 12:11 PM
It tries to, and as long as you don’t care about something as trivial as facts, it succeeds.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Actually, if you go check on some facts about what went on here in America after WWI, you’d note that indeed people who have done nothing wrong went to jail – and worse. It is not the Conservatives who tend to throw out due process – it is the Socialist/Fascist type. (HT – Liberial Fascism)
kybowexar on April 15, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Separated at birth:
Janet Napolitano
Janet Reno
Or did I miss an Obama Cloning Bill passed through Congress?!
JonPrichard on April 15, 2009 at 12:16 PM
You silly bunch of hyperventilating, neo-Nazi, mean-spirited, frothing, ranting hating Creationists!!
thebadoutlaw on April 15, 2009 at 12:17 PM
How it is being used is wrong…like I said. I think it is obviously short sided and incomplete, but it shouldn’t be considered useless.
You just understand who is putting it out and you learn more from it that way. It will help you proect yourself and your family.
tomas on April 15, 2009 at 12:18 PM
no, i’m mocking people’s newfound civil libertarianism.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Where were you when they passed out brains?
1) The federal govt has always tapped phones.
2) The federal govt has always had the power to tap overseas phone calls without a warrant.
3) The law you are probably concerned with allowed the tapping of overseas calls originating or termimating in the US, provided one of the parties was a person with known terrorist ties.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:19 PM
By confusing FBI’s long practice of monitoring potentially violent groups and the CIA wiretapping incoming foreign phone calls from known terrorists???
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 12:22 PM
on the other hand, it’s the far right lunatics in America who tend to mass murder people
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:25 PM
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Man, you are good. You even manage to make it sound as if all of the groups that you almost get around to listing are nothing but fun loving and easy going interest groups.
The anti-logging groups have been involved in environmental terrorism up to and including the torching of homes and businesses.
PETA is pretty well known for it’s willingness to use terroristic tactics to stop any and all research that they disagree with is.
The other groups that get labeled under such generic, non-offensive terms such as “promotes antipoverty efforts and social causes” have also been known to use violence to acheive their ends.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:28 PM
No data they can disclose.
sethstorm on April 15, 2009 at 12:31 PM
You mean like those noted right wingers:
Charles Manson, PLA, Bill Ayers, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler,
the list is endless.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:31 PM
i’m not confusing anything. it’s funny you’re outraged that the DHS monitors domestic terrorists (of this kind), but secret wiretapping is fine, because you trust your government that they only listen to terrorist calls.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM
The report on left wing extremism had no trouble reporting actual data.
The few pieces of actual data that they did feel free to report turned out to be wrong.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:33 PM
This DHS report is having a Yankee Doodle effect. Back in the time of the original Tea Party protest the British taunted Americans with ‘Yankee Doodle’ – meant as a negative smear. Naturally, Americans took the taunt and started singing it themselves and it pretty much was the national anthem during the Revolutionary War.
Now we have what is becoming a tyrannical government taunting Conservative positions with labels like ‘extremist’ and domestic terrorists. And of course we’re starting to take this in stride – we now have 12 year old kids wearing t-shirts proclaiming to be ‘right wind extremists’.
In the end the DHS will look ridiculous.
JonPrichard on April 15, 2009 at 12:33 PM
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I have no trouble with the govt monitoring people who have proven themselves to be a danger to other.
You have no problem with the govt monitoring those who disagree with the govt.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Lol.
Charles has a meltdown.
You-Eh-Vee on April 15, 2009 at 12:34 PM
RW extremist or just an idiot?
I think the DHS are going after Poplawskis.
getalife on April 15, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Bbbbbut I was told by John McCain that Obama was a good man.
What happened Johnie?
angryed on April 15, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Actually, you are.
You answered a question about knowing of anyone whose phone had been tapped by the CIA…
…with information about FBI monitoring hate groups.
Apples and oranges.
I’m outraged that they think that those who believe in a smaller Federal government; returning veterans; people who oppose abortion; people who support the right to bear arms; and people who are upset over how the government has handled the bailouts are now all considered “right wing extremists” who pose a danger to the government.
I’m outraged that they came to that “conclusion” without a shred of evidence.
And I’m outraged that, as of yet, no Republican politician has expressed outrage over this.
However, I’m not only not surprised, neither am I outraged that lefties would deliberately compare this to the wiretapping of known terrorists and the FBI monitoring of real life, proven hate groups with a track record of violence and law breaking.
Religious_Zealot on April 15, 2009 at 12:40 PM
And of course your conversations were taped and you know this is a fact because . . . ?
Nuts4koi on April 15, 2009 at 12:43 PM
A classic! Thanks so much for posting that.
Wish it weren’t so true.
Loxodonta on April 15, 2009 at 12:48 PM
how do you know they only listen to terrorists? you have absolutely no way of knowing. what we do know, however, is that in recent memory, a number of disturbed right wing extremists murdered a bunch of people around the country, including most recently 3 cops by a glenn beck fan. do you agree that violent fringe groups/individuals should be monitored? because i do.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:51 PM
sesquipedalian’s a troll, y’all. Don’t encourage him. He’s just trying to up your blood pressure.
WraithRat on April 15, 2009 at 12:58 PM
no one mentioned the CIA – the question was in reference to the federal government’s domestic wiretapping between 2001 and 2008.
the report is clearly about right wing extremists. do you consider yourself one of them? malkin obviously does, but do you? because if you don’t, this report has nothing to do with you. it never equates the conservative movement with right wing radicalism. funny you should feel involved in this at all.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:58 PM
1) We know who was wire tapped because records were kept.
2) So now everyone who you disagree with is automatically a right winger?
3) Because some “right wingers” are dangerous all are.
4) On the other hand, you object when left wing groups, even ones with proven records of killing others are watched.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 1:06 PM
Are you really this stupid?
Apparently you are.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 12:58 PM
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 1:08 PM
but you can’t find out because you can’t sue the telecoms.
it’s not about disagreement, it’s about murdering people. there have been instances of right wing extremists committing heinous acts, and i want protection from their ilk. what’s so hard to understand about that?
can we at least attempt to find out which ones are dangerous? like, you know, when airport security looks twice at anyone with a turban?
every violent group should be monitored.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:23 PM
You really do enjoy playing the idiot, don’t you.
You can’t sue the telecom’s for damages.
The records were never kept by the telecom’s in the first place.
There are instances of people whom you have labeled right wingers, (usually without justification) committing violent acts. Based on this you want everyone that you label “right winger” to be monitored.
On the hand, I have provided lists of many, many more left wingers who have comitted violent acts, but you instead of demanding that they be monitored, you complain about past monitoring of them.
There are instances of people whom you have labeled right wingers, (usually without justification) committing violent acts. Based on this you want everyone that you label “right winger” to be monitored.
Among your so far non-existent strengths, we can’t list consistency.
Just a few posts ago you were complaining vociferously regarding the past monitoring of left wing groups with a proven track record of violent behavior.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Yes. I believe that abortion is wrong. I believe that gay marriage will further destroy the fragile state of the family. I believe that states should have more control over what happens inside states than the federal government. I think the Obama’s stimulus plan passed with no input of the American people that will balloon our deficits beyond anything yet seen in history is wrong, dishonest and an evil power grab.
I am an American and I am extreme in my support of our Constitution which this Congress and the Obama administration is shredding before our very eyes!!!
I am an extremist and Obama has declared war on me.
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 1:35 PM
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:23 PM
Suppose this report said people who recycle should be watched for dangerous tendencies… Or if someone joined the teachers union they should be watched… or if someone thought that the Wic food program should be expanded to include undocumented mothers… These views are dangerous to our society and the government should be on alert for signs of suicide bombings…
Do you get this? The political view points considered extreme in this report are common garden variety conservatism!!! Protecting the young, strengthening families, serving in the military, leaving most laws to states to decide… those are core to conservatism and Obama considers that dangerous to his regime.
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 1:43 PM
This report is a desperate attempt to use the Left’s tiring strategy of intimidating the unsuspecting mainstream…
Saltysam on April 15, 2009 at 11:44 AM
They just want explain to you “Shut Up!”, that’s all?
BadBrad on April 15, 2009 at 1:47 PM
- Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals “who are ruining the country,” court records show.
- Eric Robert Rudolph, also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American far-right radical described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a terrorist who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States which killed two people and injured at least 150 others.
- Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who was convicted of bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City… as revenge or to inspire revolt against what he considered a tyrannical federal government.
etc.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:48 PM
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Of course any document that sesquatch says is right wing, must be.
I’ve also pointed the hypocrisy of claiming that since some people labeled right wing have shown themselves to be dangerous, therefore everyone labeled right wing must be watched. Especially while complaining about the monitoring of left wing groups with proven records of violence.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 1:51 PM
there’s something wrong with your variety of conservatism if it involves plotting against the government.
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Excellent analogy! Where’s McCain on this? He should be all over the media dirivng this point home.
PatMac on April 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM
sesquipedalian on April 15, 2009 at 1:48 PM
If this just concerned with actual radicals why mention federalism? Why mention abortion? Why mention gay marriage? Why talk about Obama’s skin color? This is a purge document, an attempt to marginalize political dissent.
This is the United States government attempting to squash political debate by labeling opposing view points as radical.
There will always be nut jobs like the ones you talk about… they may claim affiliation with any number of causes… but they are still nut jobs and the causes they attatch themselves to do not become suspect because someone in their mental illness talks about that cause. This report is opportunist in that it benefits Obama to slap labels on his opposition.
TAKE POLITICS OUT OF THE DHS. DO NOT USE IT AS A TOOL TO SUPRESS DISSENT! Right-wing is not a violent term the way Napolitano’s report uses it.
Remember this is not some powerless organization… this is the GOVERNMENT! The government should be in the business of protecting all points of view. If Obama is my President he should renounce this kind of political hack job for what it is! But alas Obama only cares about people who agree with him.
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 2:03 PM
You see I don’t consider dissent to be plotting against the government. I don’t consider discussion and holding politicains accountable as plotting. But You and Obama are paranoid enough to consider the democratic process as a danger to your complete mind control of the people.
Obama’s paranoia is not plotting.
petunia on April 15, 2009 at 2:07 PM
So tired of this government and the stupid bureaucrats that are apparently running it.
jeanie on April 15, 2009 at 2:11 PM
Let me make sure I have this perfectly clear. Liberals are lying about Conservatives, and what we believe, again. This is a news flash?
Snake307 on April 15, 2009 at 2:26 PM
That’s because the right wing is quick to use the imprimaturs of federal government and right-wing media to validate it.
Where was this in the 1980′s when workers were being railed on by business? They were being attacked by those who had been given a signal that they were in season. That is, in season for being attacked by business interests. Not just unionized ones, but of all levels of work.
sethstorm on April 15, 2009 at 2:30 PM
I love the way liberals feel the right to rewrite reality to fit their pasions.
There is nothing in this report about plotting against the govt. Unless you consider people getting together to oppose a liberal president constitutes plotting against the govt.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 2:39 PM
Liberals actually believe that if they lie often enough, others will begin to believe as well.
One of these days sethsquall will say something with the impratuer of accuracy.
Today isn’t that day.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Where were you during the Clinton Administration? Wiretapping exploded under Clinton. Increases of 30-40 percent per year in some cases. Remember CALEA? Clipper chip? Any of this ringing a bell?
DrSteve on April 15, 2009 at 2:54 PM
The problem is that actually happened.
sethstorm on April 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM
I just found out on Fox today that there’s a companion report on left-wing extremism. Has the White House suppressed it for mentioning ACORN and MoveOn?
n0doz on April 15, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I’m sure you were told to believe so.
MarkTheGreat on April 15, 2009 at 3:39 PM
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