UPDATE: The American Legion took offense to this report and wrote an excellent response.
Holy crap… take a read of Michelle Malkin’s latest article. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a report titled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. Queue the Alannis Morrisette CD and ponder how ironic the party of Bill Ayers and Saul Alinsky is concerned that conservatives are getting their dander up. Some quotes from this official DHS report:
Right wing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented, and those that are mainly anti-government, 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. (p.2)
Opposition to immigration? Was this written by La Raza, a truly radical and racist group endorsed by the left? Border security proponents are against ILLEGAL immigration. Our country was built on LEGAL immigration. This sentence alone discredits the validity of the report. Anyone that claims that conservatives are against legal immigration is clueless.
Right wing extremists are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool. Many right wing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use. (p.3)
Recruitment tool? Wasn’t the gist of the Obama campaign all about recruiting people to join Obama’s army? Didn’t little militias pop up with kids dressed in uniforms, singing songs, etc.? But that was cute. That was patriotic. When conservatives exercise their first amendment rights to call b.s. on the far-left stances taken by the Obama administration, that’s right wing extremism. If opposing illegal immigration, increasing handouts to those that are too lazy to work, and expressing concern about the government reducing my second amendment rights, color me guilty and kiss my ass. Joe Biden may think it is “patriotic” for some of us to pay more taxes, I happen to think that defending our Constitution is about as patriotic as it gets.
Debates over appropriate immigration levels and enforcement policy generally fall within the realm of protected political speech under the First Amendment, but in some cases, anti-immigration or strident pro-enforcement fervor has been directed against specific groups and has the potential to turn violent. (p.5)
There it is again: “Anti-immigration.” Is the word “illegal” missing from the DHS vocabulary? Illegal immigration is the problem people, not legal immigration. And talk to me about pro-enforcement fervor. Who in their right mind can find a way to negatively spin American support for enforcing the laws on our books? If I want our borders to actually be BORDERS I’m an anti-immigration right wing extremist?
Listen up people. This document is the first chapter in a potentially very scary period in our history. By publishing this report DHS is drawing a line in the sand and is specifically calling out conservatives as the target. If this document was only about skinheads, the KKK or other legitimately radical groups I wouldn’t be upset at all. The government has written reports on groups from the other side of the political spectrum such as environmental terrorists or the Weather Underground. But this report is worded vaguely enough to include a huge swath of our population. As Michelle Malkin says in her article:
“…past reports have always been very specific in identifying the exact groups, causes, and targets of domestic terrorism, i.e., the ALF, ELF, and Stop Huntingdon wackos who have engaged in physical harassment, arson, vandalism, and worse against pharmaceutical companies, farms, labs, and university researchers. By contrast, the piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives.”
