I expected this kind of thing from Hillary Clinton. Since Obama was supposed to be a constitutional law expert, I would have thought he had a greater appreciation for free speech and thought. He also seems to be going out of his way to alienate veterans. Now his administration is saying they should be monitored because they might become terrorists? This from the same people who advocate open borders and object to racial or ethnic profiling at airports. ******************************* Napolitano stands by 'extremism' report By Audrey Hudson (Contact) and Eli Lake (Contact) | Thursday, April 16, 2009 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was briefed before the release of a controversial intelligence assessment and that she stands by the report sent to law enforcement that lists veterans as a terrorist risk to the U.S. and defines "rightwing extremism" as including groups opposed to abortion and immigration. The outcry resulted in a demand from the head of the American Legion to meet with Ms. Napolitano, a request the DHS chief said she would honor next week when she returns to Washington from her current tour of the U.S.-Mexican border. "The document on right-wing extremism sent last week by this department´s Office of Intelligence and Analysis is one in an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States," Ms. Napolitano said in a statement. ⢠Click here to download a PDF of the report. "I was briefed on the general topic, which is one that struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution," Ms. Napolitano said. "Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don´t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence," Ms. Napolitano said. ⢠Related article: Legion objects to vets as terror risk "We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not â nor will we ever â monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources," Ms. Napolitano said. The nine-page document titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," has caused an outcry from veterans groups, Republican lawmakers and conservative activists. "Rightwing extremism," the report defines in a footnote on Page 2, goes beyond religious and racial hate groups and extends to "those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely." "It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," said the report, which also listed as suspect gun owners and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The American Legion on Tuesday criticized the report as unfairly stereotyping veterans. "I am aware of the letter from American Legion National Commander (David) Rehbein, and my staff has already contacted him to set up a meeting next week once I return from travel. I will tell him face-to-face that we honor veterans at DHS and employ thousands across the department, up to and including the Deputy Secretary," Ms. Napolitano said. "As the department responsible for protecting the homeland, DHS will continue to work with its state and local partners to prevent and protect against the potential threat to the United States associated with any rise in violent extremist activity," Ms. Napolitano said.
Top Dem 'dumbfounded' by 'extremism' report By Audrey Hudson (Contact) | Wednesday, April 15, 2009 The top House Democrat overseeing the Department of Homeland Security is demanding that officials there explain how and why they wrote and released a controversial report identifying veterans as potential terrorist threats. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano that he was such a report would be issued. "This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war veterans," Mr. Thompson said in the letter sent Tuesday. "As I am certain you agree, freedom of association and freedom of speech are guaranteed to all Americans -- whether a person's beliefs, whatever their political orientation, are 'extremist' or not," Mr. Thompson said. The report "blurred the line," and Mr. Thompson said he is "disappointed and surprised that the department would allow this report to be disseminated" to law enforcement officials nationwide. Also Wednesday, Ms. Napolitano issued a statement standing by the report, which she personally had reviewed before it was issued. She insisted that DHS never would investigate based on political ideology and agreed to meet the head of the American Legion, who already had expressed anger over the report. The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the department's Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) released a report titled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment on April 7. It identified as potential terrorist threats people who collect guns, veterans, supporters of border control, and pro-life advocates. "I am particularly struck by the report's conclusion which states that I&A 'will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization,'" Mr. Thompson said, demanding to know what types of activities DHS had planned for "the next several months."
What about "left-wing extremism," being exhibited in D.C. as each day passes. Oh yeah, educate yourselves on Obama's background and you will see why things are happening now. Obama, Emanuel, and "Americans are cowards" Holder, all closet Communists.
Oh yeah, educate yourselves on Obama's background and you will see why things are happening now. It couldn't be said any better. If they manage to create so called "permanent majority", few years down the road, any speech against Federal Government is going to be considered hate crime.
NObama and the DemoCraps want to cement there hold on the Gummint and our people. They are going to do "everything they can, as fast as they can".... NOTHING...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is too extreme to further their goals.
Fox Reporter Contradicts Fox: DHS Report On Right Wing Was âRequested By The Bush Administrationâ Yesterday, a Department of Homeland Security report about the rising radicalization of ârightwing extremistsâ was leaked. The right wing was immediately incensed, viewing the report on radical âextremistsâ as an attack on âconservatives.â MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, for example, tried to suggest it was a report about Republican âloyalists.â However, this morning, Fox Newsâs Catherine Herridge revealed that the report, along with an earlier report on radicalized left-wing groups, was actually ârequested by the Bush administrationâ but not completed until recently: HERRIDGE: Well this is an element of the story which has largely gone unreported. One looks at right-wing groups, as you mentioned. And a second is on left-wing groups. Significantly, both were requested by the Bush administration but not finished until President Bush left office. Herridgeâs reporting undermines her networkâs own âreportingâ over the past 24 hours. Since news of the DHS assessment broke yesterday, Fox anchors and guests have been seizing upon the report as evidence that the administration is trying to intimidate tea party goers or âstifle speechâ: â ANDREA TANTAROS: Itâs free speech and the Obama administration is trying to shut it down. â JAY ALAN SEKULOW: The Obama administration here under Department of Homeland Security has allowed a new regime to come into place that basically says this: Our focus is going to be on the right-wing groups. â SEAN HANNITY: What do you think of that interpretation, especially coming from a guy that started his political career in the home of an unrepentant terrorist who bombed the Pentagon and capital and sat in Reverend Wrightâs church for 20 years? â DANA PERINO: If Bush had done that we would be having a very different conversation. It wouldnât have taken a week to find it out. There would have been a special prosecutor. We would have had to come out and apologize. To recap, the Obama administration was apparently following the lead of the Bush Homeland Security Department in assessing the very real threat of violent right-wing extremism. Indeed, Bush appointees such as FBI Director Robert Mueller have acknowledged the threat of right-wing extremism multiple times. Of course, we can always trust Fox News to jump to conclusions before fully weighing the facts. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/15/fox-dhs-bush/
Well, Bush started this whole thing........no question. At the time it seemed necessary and still is necessary against real threats. However, turning it against law abiding Americans on the left and the right, well that ain't america bro' and a sizable number of folks are losing patience.
What if there had been more focus on right wing extremists by the justice department over the past couple of decades. Would that have had any impact on Oklahoma City? Look, I said this during the Bush administration when the ET right wingers were blindly defending Bush's abuse of power and expansion of government in the name of "freedom" and "security." I said that just wait until you get a democrat president who does nothing but implement the expansion of power by Bush to the executive office against the right wing... The right wingers had no logical response, of course. They were thinking that America would always have a right wing lap dog in power... No one, not even Ron Paul, that ran for president in 2008 said their first official act would be to reduce the power of the presidency and rescind all the previous power grabs by presidents for the past generation through executive order. ...and no, what Bush did was not necessary and it is not necessary today. At least the right wingers should take responsibility for putting Bush/Cheney in power for 8 years...but that will not likely happen...