Posted on 04/13/2009 10:02:53 PM PDT by ebiskit
Yesterday, Roger Hedgecock and the Liberty Papers posted an unclassified DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report titled:
The “report” was one of the most embarrassingly shoddy pieces of propaganda I’d ever read out of DHS. I couldn’t believe it was real.
I spent the day chasing down DHS spokespeople, who have been tied up preparing for a very important homeland security event later today: The First Lady is coming to visit their Washington office. Priorities, you know.
Well, the press office got back to me and verified that the document is indeed for real.
They were very defensive — preemptively so — in asserting that it was not a politicized document and that DHS had done reports on “leftwing extremism” in the past. I have covered DHS for many years and am quite familiar with past assessments they and the FBI have done on animal rights terrorists and environmental terrorists. But those 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. And the intent is clear. As the two spokespeople I talked with on the phone today made clear: They both pinpointed the recent “economic downturn” and the “general state of the economy” for stoking “rightwing extremism.” One of the spokespeople said he was told that the report has been in the works for a year. My b.s. detector went off the chart, and yours will, too, if you read through the entire report — which asserts with no evidence that an unquantified “resurgence in rightwing extremist recruitment and radicalizations activity” is due to home foreclosures, job losses, and…the historical presidential election.
In Obama land, there are no coincidences. It is no coincidence that this report echoes Tea Party-bashing left-wing blogs (check this one out comparing the Tea Party movement to the Weather Underground!) and demonizes the very Americans who will be protesting in the thousands on Wednesday for the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party.
From the report, p.2:
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and 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.
From the report. p. 3:
(U//LES) Rightwing extremists are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool. Many rightwing 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. Rightwing extremists are increasingly galvanized by these concerns and leverage them as drivers for recruitment. From the 2008 election timeframe to the present, rightwing extremists have capitalized on related racial and political prejudices in expanded propaganda campaigns, thereby reaching out to a wider audience of potential sympathizers.
(U) Exploiting Economic Downturn
(U//FOUO) Rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures. Anti-Semitic extremists attribute these losses to a deliberate conspiracy conducted by a cabal of Jewish “financial elites.” These “accusatory” tactics are employed to draw new recruits into rightwing extremist groups and further radicalize those already subscribing to extremist beliefs. DHS/I&A assesses this trend is likely to accelerate if the economy is perceived to worsen.
From the report, p. 5:
(U//FOUO) Over the past five years, various rightwing extremists, including militias and white supremacists, have adopted the immigration issue as a call to action, rallying point,
and recruiting tool. 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.
And echoing the anti-military bigotry last seen in that disgusting Penn State University training video, there’s this on p. 7:
(U) Disgruntled Military Veterans
(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.
There’s no hackneyed left-wing stereotype of conservatives left behind in this DHS intelligence and analysis assessment. I asked both DHS spokespeople to tell me who, specifically, the report was accusing of “rightwing extremist chatter” and which “antigovernment” groups are being monitored as “extremists.” They say they’ll get back to me.
In the meantime, be aware of this from the report, p. 8:
(U//FOUO) DHS/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.
Better make a few last-minute signs for the Tea Party. Obama’s DHS is watching:
Honk if you’re a radicalized rightwing extremist!
Guilty of rightwing extremist chatter
Anti-government, pro-freedom: Sue me
***
Previous: Missouri retracts report linking militias, 3rd party candidates.
Quote of the day.
Well, as a religious, illegal immigrant loathing, gun rights supporting, abortion deriding right wing nut job, about all I can do is laugh at this silliness out of DHS.
At least they have a sense of humor up there. I sure hope they’ll let me know early enough so I can get my Star of David firmly sewn on my clothing before the Crystal Nacht American version.
And when should we expect the empty rail cars? I don’t want to be caught without a grey suit for the camps.
This is not as scary for me, as it is just plain nutty.
If something like this should come to pass, the left would fall in on itself and this nation would melt down ever quicker. They’d be killing themselves off in weeks.
Why do they think holds the place together now, the liberals? LOL Go ahead leftists, take us down. You’ll be taken over within a year by a foreign power.
More Brown Shirt Snitch crap. I have never read the term "Right Wing Extremism so many times in a short article. Wonder when they will start talking about the States Rights 10th Amendment Movements.
Nazis will be Nazis, and our present crop of Marxist goons are about as Nazi-like as they can get. Liberal, mental disease is turning the loons into sociopathic lunatics.
The most suspicious activity I can see is the writing and dissemination of this document. They got a lot of ‘splaining to do, Lucy. If the issue can be made public enough they will probably retract it and blame it on a few wild cats.
SCHOCKING!! TRULY SCHOCKING!!
Brought by ZERO, the guy who campaigned in KENYA for a Cousin who Burned Christians Alive in their Churchs! and never said a word against His Cousin, hence Guilty by Association.
I work for DHS and haven’t seen anything like this and I looked for it.
An interesting snippet from the article.
The Constitution says that the States (local government) have the authority to decide all issues that are not given to the federal government.
This "antigovernment" phraseology is inflammatory in that it gives the impression that following the Constitution is "antigovernment" when in fact it is just the opposite.
It is FOR government as the Constitution defines it.
Constitutionally, there is no "federal authority" that legally usurps State's sovereignty in any area where powers are not given to the Federal Government.
It is the federal government that is rejecting the Constitutional rights of the States, ie local government.
Nice spin by those that wish to circumvent the Constitution
Did this story ever get outside the hallowed halls of FR during the campaign period?
Massive whack jobs.
Would to God that this were only a hoax.
People, we are being targeted and it will not be pleasant. Keep your powder dry.
You got that right, but that would be too easy and not have enough "bureaucracy" attached.
Simple solutions are anathema to big government.
INTREP
Wow. They just declared the likes of Thomas Jefferson a rightwing extremist...
I asked this question on another thread. Are the democrats against obama’s agenda also terrorists who are planning demonstrations?
http://www.anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/
12 million unemployed. Foreclosures up 81%. Wall Street has taken over. We must break up the banks and never again let them get so big that they distort our politics and take down the economy.
Sponsors and Elder Counselors-Simon Johnson, Former IMF Chief Economist, Baseline Scenario
-Chris Hayes, Washington Editor, The Nation
-David Sirota, Syndicated Columnist, Author
-Joe Trippi, Change Congress, co-founder
-Zephyr Teachout, Visiting Assistant Professor of Duke University, Dean Campaign
-Joe Costello, Energy, Communications, and Political Economy
-William Greider, “Come Home, America”, National Correspondent, The Nation
-Yves Smith, Economist, Naked Capitalism
Support-Jerome Armstrong, MyDD, founder: “The corporate bailouts have become a complete political disaster.”
-Alternet
-AFSCME - Pittsburgh
-Rural Votes
-American Family Voices
-New Paltz Women in Black
-Economic Justice Committee of New Paltz and Vicinity for Obama
-Portland Jobs with Justice
-David Dayen, D-Day, founder and Hullabaloo*, blogger
-David Swanson, After Downing Street
-Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
-Cleveland Committee on Corporations, Law & Democracy
-Progressive Democrats of America
-Democrats.com
-Grassroots Change
-Public Accountability Initiative
-Liberty Tree
-The Voters
-Wake County Young Democrats
-New Haven Peace Council
-Consumers for Peace
-Billionaires for Bush
-BuzzFlash
-CODEPINK
-San Francisco Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign
-Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
-FedUpUSA.org
-Common Security Club
-Portland Jobs with Justice
-California Reinvestment Coalition -David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund*: “New Way Forward is visionary, simple, and important.”
And thank you for your service to this country.
Both as a Marine and Border Patrol Agent.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.