Little Green Footballs: About That DHS Report on Right-Wing Extremism (Major Barf Alert)

Little Green Footballs ^ | 4-14-2009 | LGF

[jmc813]

Here we go again.

The latest cause for hyperventilation in the right-wing blogosphere is a report from the Department of Homeland Security on the need for vigilance against extreme right-wing groups like Posse Comitatus, militias, “Patriot” groups, and neo-Nazis like the Christian Identity weirdos. Some bloggers, prompted by World Net Daily, are reading this as an attempt to “smear half of the country or more as kooks for criticizing the government’s handling of the economy.”

That’s ludicrous. First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated. It has absolutely nothing to do with “tea parties,” and it was not done at the behest of the Obama administration.

Second, I’m seeing it brought up repeatedly that the report contains a reference to veterans, mentioning that some of these groups are seeking to recruit them. This is nothing more than a fact, and the report even says that only a tiny number of veterans would join such groups — but that their talents could bring a great deal of capability to the extremists. Has everyone simply forgotten that Timothy McVeigh was a veteran?

The DHS report is not intended to target anyone but the most extreme elements of the far right, and it’s depressing to see so many bloggers jumping to totally unwarranted conclusions.

AJ Strata has a good take on this: The Threat Of Far Right Extremism - Updated!

UPDATE at 4/14/09 1:10:03 pm:

Here’s a link to download the PDF file, from Wikileaks. Read it for yourself, instead of trusting the distorted claims being made.

[kb2614]

I’m surprised Charles was able to break away from preaching the gospel of Darwin. This dude is losing readers daily.

[Volunteer]

Our nation must be protected from people who might vote against beloved leader! [/End Sarcasm]

[ETL]

Left-wing extremists at D.U. (Democratic Underground) called for the "communistic-islamic" overthrow of U.S. in 2004
Posted on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 1:50:33 PM ET by ETL:

"...Any weapons we resort to must be "real" weapons not pistols. i.e. Rifles and shotguns. Due to concerns of re-supply (you have to plan for a long battle) such weapons should be limited to very small number of different rounds."

"if it is decided to fight, be prepared to fight, bring a backpack, entrenching tool, tent, and other equipment of an Infantrymen. You will need it for Bush and his supporters decides it is better to fight than to accept the will of the people, the fight to overthrow them will be a long fight."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228933/posts

[Cheap_Hessian]

“This dude is losing readers daily.”

This is factually correct.

[thecabal]

That's right, believe Charles Johnson, you yer own lyin' eyes.

Wish he'd do us a favor and just come out of the liberal closet again.

[Recon Dad]

The DHS report is not intended to target anyone but the most extreme elements of the far right, and it’s depressing to see so many bloggers jumping to totally unwarranted conclusions.

I want to know who wrote this report and I want them to defend and show the research that preceded it. If this had happened 4 years ago and it pointed out that Bill Ayers was a threat to the country the left would be demanding somebody’s head!

[jmc813]

ping

[dforest]

Whatever happened to LGF? Did he end up in a reeducation camp?

[thecabal]

That's right, believe Charles Johnson, *not yer own lyin' eyes.

Sheesh, I need to check myself more often.

[WayneS]

Did the writer of this LFG piece actually READ the report before writing his diatribe?

If he did, then his reading comprehension skills are quite lacking.

[jmc813]

Wish he'd do us a favor and just come out of the liberal closet again.

Maybe I'm behind the game, but I only discovered this blog recently. The impression I get from this "Charles" dude is that he's just about the single biggest douche on the Internet.

[Biggirl]

Used to enjoy going to LGF, but it lost me when Charles started to go to war against Jihadwatch, another site I like.

[FarRightFanatic]

Deleting LGF from my bookmarks. I rarely read it anymore, with all his, to use Charles Johnson’s terminology, hyperventilating about evolution/creationism nonsense. He used to run a pretty good blog about the War on Terror and the Palestinians, but lately all I ever see is “all Creationists are CRAZY.”

[KJC1]

Yeah, LGF has been weird since about the election. I used to be a pretty much daily reader since about ‘04, now I pop in once a week only to be reminded of why I hardly visit anymore.

[AAABEST]

First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated.

I keep hearing this. If so, then why does the very first paragraph of the 9 page report begin with the following:

The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

These "unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment" weren't even a factor a year ago.

[SE Mom]

Apparently Charles neglected to read the report.

Seriously- what’s happened to him?

[DBrow]

Here’s something I learned from An Old Man:

Right-click the document and select proerties. You’ll see the creation date (2007) and the “revised” date, which was just before it was “leaked” accidentally, just in time for Tea Parties.

Someone saw this report, put in 2009 references, and leaked it big time.

IMO neither the revision nor the “leak” were accidental, nor was the timing. I think it was intended to stir people up, and it did.

So the linked article says the report was “prepared over a year ago, before 0 was even nominated”, yes, that’s true, but it was edited and modified less than a week ago.

[Scutter]

Great point.

[ForeignDude]

It was DHS itself who put out that this report had been in the works for over a year, to defuse the controversy.

This means that LGF took DHS at its word WITHOUT reading the source document. If he had done so, if he had shown a modicum of skepticism and intellectual curiosity, he would have found the contradictions between the official line and the text itself.

I, too, used to read LGF. It’s not the specific issues he has addressed that bother me; rather, and especially over the last couple of years, LGF has consistently shown that he doesn’t actually research what he writes about before jumping into the mix head-first. THAT’S why I stopped reading that blog: if I want to read opinion pieces from people who are woefully ignorant of the topics on which they write, I’ll pick the NYT.

[Senator John Blutarski]

AAABEST wrote:
First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated.
I keep hearing this. If so, then why does the very first paragraph of the 9 page report begin with the following:

The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

These “unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment” weren’t even a factor a year ago.

..... How did that slip by the script editors ?????

[WaterBoard]

The LGF post is intellectually dishonest and just continues Charles meme of pro-Obama posts.

1) If the report was written prior to Obama being elected why does it refer to events that occurred after Obama was elected?

2) The person responsible for the release of this report is Obama. If he did not agree with its findings, I am sure he would have sent it back for review or editing.

LGF is nothing more than a hotbed of rapid anti-Christians, anti-Palin, anti-Tea Party, anti-Glen Beck, Pro-Obama fans.

[bcsco]

This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.

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DHS, 'Rightwing Extremism' and Information Warfare

You Might Be a "Radicalized Right-Wing Extremist" If…

[WilliamofCarmichael]

First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated . . . it was not done at the behest of the Obama administration.

It was finished after 20 Jan. 2009 and contained statements that the right wingers would likely use Preisdent Obama's race to recruit. Unless the accounts of the report that I've read are lying Obama was president before the report was finished and circulated to the Nation's LEO.

Project Megiddo was the Clintons' administration attempt to malign Christians vis-a-vis events leading up to Y2k. So what's new about the Obama pukes using the DHS report to put all opponents in the camp of Christian Identity and white supremacists? Nothing. Not a damn thing.

[angkor]

>>>> First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated. It has absolutely nothing to do with “tea parties,” <<<<<<

This is not an “assessment”. It’s a very unprofessional rewrite of Southern Poverty Law Center hysteria.

It contains no citations of any kind whatsoever, even to raw quotes from Southern Poverty Law Center materials.

If it took one year to prepare this “report” then someone had it very back on the back burner. Or perhaps it was rejected back in the Bush Admin, then slightly buffed-up and released now in a more favorable bureaucratic DHS environment.

I don’t really care about the particulars of what is said in this document (which I’ve read), because it clearly is a rehash of the junk that SPLC has been saying forever (in order to fill it coffers).

What is disturbing is that someone at DHS authorized the release of this sophomoric crapola under the belief that the time was ripe to do so.

[WaterBoard]

Charles Johnson would pats himself on the back for the CBS/Rathergate document aggregation. But, sadly can’t figure out to read simply meta data on the pdf which shows the report was revised in 2009 and post-election sections were added. Thereby destroying his attempt to attack conservatives and Republican’s who are worried by such attempts to categorize them as ‘extremist’s. In addition, Charles also smears US military veterans. I would like him to point out the extremists groups of military veterans referenced in the report. Where are they?

[annieokie]

This is why I love FreeRepublic so much. You just don't put anything past Freepers, they will catch everything that is wrong.

Guess we will hear the Media explain that one away.

Good catch DBROW.

[Concho]

These people are talking out of fear. They have no concept of what is going on in the real world, what is happening on main street America. Posse Comitatus is my neighbor. In fact, this whole region is settled by the Comitatus family. How could that blogger not realize this?

[Rockingham]

The DHS “report” is short, shallow, and highly speculative, being based not on field intelligence but on historical example and supposed Internet chatter. The report was likely generated to cater to the phobias of new administration. DHS has disgraced itself and the outrage on the Right is justified.

[aft_lizard]

The problem LGF guy is that the media, and the DHS, is letting the definition of the terms be mixed.

Any conservative worth their salt would know that this report hold’s true to a certain extent. It is also concerning that they do not report of left wing extremists who wish to overthrow this country, and have far more vocally made it known through action of protest and through the blogosphere.

As I indicated yesterday stormfront and other hate groups would love a overthrow, this is nothing new, and anarcho-capitalists have always dreamed of a day when the federal government is cast aside for a leaner less intrusive if not nearly non-existant fedrocracy. This report is nothing new except for it’s intent through political and media means to cast a dark light on well meaning citizens to have their beliefs lumped in with others as they take to the streets today.

[saganite]

Maybe you should point that out to the writer of this article.

[aft_lizard]

Umm but a good report talks about potential outcomes as well as current realities. DHS would know that the economy would turn south and there was a high chance for a black president.

[WaterBoard]

This is what Charles of LGF thinks about you:

1) “It’s a fact that neo-Nazi groups ARE trying to infiltrate the “tea parties,” by the way.”

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/57/7039616

2) “I read those posts at Huffpo, and they did not say anything like that. They called for “citizen journalists” to take videos and photos and file reports from tea parties. They did not say anything like “act like the typical loony conservative.”

Glenn Beck is trying to set up an excuse in advance, because he knows there are going to be a lot of extremists at these events, and he’s partly responsible for encouraging them.”

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/177/7039741

3) “This is absolutely not an attempt to paint all veterans with a broad brush. It very specifically states “a small percentage” might join such groups, and the point it makes is completely valid.”

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/325/7039893

4) “Am I seeing “black helicopters” by expressing my concern over this report?

---

Pretty much, yes.”

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/567/7040141

5) “I think Michelle Malkin has a better synopsis of this than the explanation given here at LGF. It doesn’t sound like this report has been in the works for a year.

---

The report has absolutely been in the works for more than a year, and if anyone tells you otherwise they are either misinformed or lying.”

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/933/7040521

[Straight Vermonter]

[Cboldt]

-- Did the writer of this LFG piece actually READ the report before writing his diatribe?
If he did, then his reading comprehension skills are quite lacking. --

He's counting on his readers' laziness. Mr. Johnson has read the report, and aims to downplay the intentions that spawned it.

[HonestConservative]

Yes, they probably started with a document that no longer bears any resemblance to the one are looking at today.

Clever trick.

It is full of generalities with no sources, an extremely flawed document that in no way can be called a study or research.

Its as if 3 lefties got together and invented their own little universe.

Ok 5 very little lefties.

[depressed in 06]

Our nation must be protected from people who might vote against beloved leader! [/End Sarcasm]

Since when has truth become sarcasm?

It should not be surprising that this report has come out prior to Tea Party Day. That a report of this nature, issued from an administration in office less than a 100 days, indicates a political rather than a reasoned analysis.

[ElayneJ]

This is not an “assessment”. It’s a very unprofessional rewrite of Southern Poverty Law Center hysteria
_______________________

Thank you. This makes sense. The “assessment” reads as if written by a 12-year old - very unsophisticated for an official document and no references, as you pointed out. Interesting connection to SPLC.

[mbynack]

I wouldn't have been so concerned if I hadn't read a report that Missouri identified these right wing fringe groups by saying that they could be identified by:

NRA Stickers
Anti Abortion stickers
Third party election stickers
Second Amendment bumper stickers
Etc.

[mathurine]

You got to watch those retirement communities, especially the ones with old nuns.

[PapaBear3625]

I used to occasionally post at LGF before running afoul of Charles' low tolerance of opinions that depart from his in any significant way. (This is one reason I'm thankful for how JimRob runs FR).

Charles is uncomfortable with a lot of conservatives.

[Sir Gawain]

Who cares what this loser says?

[PapaBear3625]

First, this DHS assessment was begun more than a year ago, before Barack Obama was even nominated.

As you and others have pointed out, while the research for the report may have been started a year ago, the decisions on how to write up that research and what spin to put on it were entirely made by the Obama administration.

[Sigurdrifta]

Until 911 I had rarely flown an American flag outside my house.
Since 912 the flag has been there (lit at night)...always.
When I saw the reference to the Gadsden flag in this stuff (I’m a potential terrorist?) , and to support the Tea Party protests, I went out and bought a rattlesnake flag, which is now proudly flying outside my house (I also did not know that the first recorded evidence of that symbol relates to the US Marines, one of whom is my daughter. That makes me even more inclined to fly that flag!).

[Liam2007]

Note how he references “some bloggers” and that blogger being Ed from Hot Air. Seems like Chuckles is trying to pick another fight to keep his already tanking site hits up.

I actually enjoy watching him sink like a stone. He does nothing but rip on Christians, Fox News and Robert Spencer.

Oh, and if he sees this thread he will whine incessantly about the mean things being said about him (his thin skin is bordering on legendary) His blog sucks, and his traffic just proves it. I say good riddance.

[Matchett-PI]

“This inflammatory Department of Homeland Security report calls mainstream conservatives right-wing extremists, militia members, and tars and feathers returning veterans while warning everybody to be on the lookout for these people on the eve of these tea parties.” - Rush Limbaugh April 14, 2009

More here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2229085/posts

<>

Oh, I’m sure DHS will be issuing its report on self-proclaimed bank terrorists like Bruce Marks of NACA and criminal rackeeters harassing private citizens in their homes to “exploit the economic downturn” any day now. ~ Michelle Malkin

Excerpted from:

Confirmed: The Obama DHS hit job on conservatives is real
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/14/confirme-the-obama-dhs-hit-job-on-conservatives-is-real/ By Michelle Malkin • April 14, 2009 12:01 AM

Yesterday, Roger Hedgecock and the Liberty Papers posted an unclassified DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report titled:

Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.

The “report” (PDF file here) 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 extremists­including lone wolves or small terrorist cells­to 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.

[kb2614]

Yeah, I used to read his site alot but he lost me with his brilliant political analysis of the election. McCain lost because of the Creationists according to LGF. There were a few other things on his site I thought were ridiculous so I just stopped going there. Whatever, the internet is a big place & he’s just a small part of it. He seems to have let his “success” go to his head.

[bamahead]

Thanks jmc813. I probably got bumped with a dozen threads on the DHS report yesterday! Here’s a few I pinged:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228948/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228584/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2227953/posts

So, what the heck happened to LGF? Used to be a great blog.

[Mount Athos]

I removed LGF from my recommended reading list a couple months ago. I am ashamed I still check on it via bookmark. I think I’ll take the plunge and remove it now.

I recommend jihad watch