By now most of you will have heard that, as the Washington Times divulged, the Department of Homeland Security, headed by Janet Napolitano, “issued April 7 a nine-page document titled ‘Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.'”
Rightwing extremism,” the report said 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 gun owners and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as potential risks.
To one Democrat’s credit, he protested. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top House Democrat with oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, demanded that “Homeland Security officials explain how and why they wrote the report and whether it poses any threat to civil liberties.”
“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.
Everyone is up in arms about the libel this is to army men. What about to immigration patriots? Second Amendment defenders? Limited government crusaders? Tax protesters?
Every time, someone cries “the children; we’re saddling our children with debt, ” I cringe. F-ck the children. What about We the Workings Stiffs? I’m beginning to feel the same about “our men and women in the military” mantra. The military is not more deserving than the rest of us.
One more thing: The report was commissioned during the administration of President George W. Bush and completed by his worthy successor.