Free Republic

...Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in concert with Barack Obama, is laying the groundwork for a far grander and more sinister plan [than Clinton's], which if suggested only a few years ago would have been instantly consigned to the realm of paranoid conspiracies. Such transparent deflection notwithstanding, the evidence is far too extensive to allow for deniability. This is the meanacing reality of the Obama White House.

The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 was followed by a slew of protests, as Americans denounced the government. Many called for the impeachment of our leaders, others their arrest. Some even compared President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. As a result, many conservatives criticized the antiwar movement for being made up of a bunch of lunatics. And anyone against President Bush, they said, simply didn't understand that the creation of new agencies like the Department of Homeland Security or legislation like the Patriot Act by Bush were necessary to protect the country from terrorists — and perhaps antiwar...

You see it when tens of thousands of citizens turn out to protest in “Tea Parties” across the U.S.; you see it in military personnel compelled to form “Oath Keepers,” outlining orders they will not obey; you see it in a number of states debating sovereignty resolutions, in some cases even calling for secession; you see it in the number of people joining gun rights organizations; and yes, you see it in the number of people buying guns. Simultaneously, just as during the Clinton administration, malcontents have increasingly inflicted mass homicides on the American people. Is it part of the...

As I read about funding over various budget items, I wonder if legislators really understand what's important anymore. Debating financing over community centers, historical societies and theaters seems quaint. By comparison, losing focus on real priorities, squandering precious tax dollars and incurring trillions of dollars of debt will eventually destroy our country. Governments at all levels are struggling to close budget gaps. Their jobs would be easier if they applied a "Priority of Government" approach to all decisions. For Kitsap County, that should entail actively acknowledging the principles included in the county commissioners' mission statement: "Kitsap County government exists to...

April 17, 2009 - Washington, DC - U.S. Sens. Jim DeMint, David Vitter, James Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr and Lisa Murkowski yesterday sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano requesting an explanation of the methodology used by the department to draft its recent controversial report outlining the threat of rightwing extremism for America’s law enforcement. The report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cites a potential link between rightwing extremists and veterans returning from combat duty, Second Amendment advocates, small government activists and individuals who espouse certain conservative viewpoints. “This document is...

Dear Republicans, Do you regret creating the Department of Homeland Security yet? Are you ready to apologize? That's the first thing I thought when I read that DHS report. Like an earlier report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center report that instructed law enforcement personnel to watch for cars with Ron Paul or Libertarian Party stickers, it has the right in something of an uproar. As you may know, the report warns law enforcement agencies that there "may" be a rebirth of right wing violence. It warns, among other things, that returning veterans could be turning violent. Another passage that...

While the rest of us may be worried about violent Mexican drug gangs on our border, or about terrorists who are going to be released from Guantanimo, the Director of Homeland Security is worried about "right-wing extremists." Just who are these right-wing extremists? According to an official document of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, right-wing extremists include "groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration." It also includes those "rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority." If you fit into any of these categories, you may not...

Are You an "Extremist"? While the rest of us may be worried about violent Mexican drug gangs on our border, or about terrorists who are going to be released from Guantanimo, the Director of Homeland Security is worried about "right-wing extremists." Just who are these right-wing extremists? According to an official document of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, right-wing extremists include "groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration." It also includes those "rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority." If you fit into any of these...

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The U.S. Coast Guard Academy says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will give the keynote speech at the Connecticut school's 128th commencement next month. The graduation ceremony is set for May 20 at the New London campus. --snip-- Napolitano was on CNN's "State of the Union" show Sunday defending an intelligence report by her agency that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could be susceptible to recruitment by right-wing extremists.

A new patriotic organization called “Oath Keepers” rallied on Massachusetts’ historic Lexington Green to renew their oaths to support and defend the U.S. Constitution April 19, the 234th anniversary of the revolutionary war battles of Lexington and Concord. The event was sponsored by the Committees of Safety, named for the groups of the same name that organized in colonial America during the beginning of the War for Independence. The new organization of mostly current and former military, police, and emergency-service personnel pledged themselves to 10 resolutions to disobey any order to confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens, assist in warrantless searches,...

April 20, 2009Exclusive: Federal Lawsuit Filed Over DHS ‘Rightwing Extremist’ Report Richard Thompson The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced last week that it filed a federal lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The lawsuit claims that her Department’s “Rightwing Extremism Policy, ” as reflected in the recently publicized Intelligence Assessment, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, ” violates the civil liberties of combat veterans as well as American citizens by targeting them for disfavored treatment on account of their political...

The Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit on behalf of controversial conservative talk show host Michael Savage, over a recent report by Napolitano’s agency. The suit contends that the report titlted, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” is nothing more than “extremism” and violates the civil liberties of veterans, while profiling Americans for their political beliefs. Says the president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, Richard Thompson, “The Obama Administration has declared war on American patriots and our Constitution.The report even admits that the Department has no...

Janet Napolitano continues to thrash around for any rationalization she can find for the DHS report that painted political organizing on abortion, federalism, and immigration as potential national-security threats and called returining military vets a danger to the country they served. Yesterday on CNN, Napolitano tried explaining that the DHS doesn’t see these vets as threats. The DHS sees them as saps who don’t know any better than to fall into extremist traps: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday portrayed veterans as victims – not perpetrators – of right-wing extremism as she sought to combat the political controversy arising...

Napolitano: Veterans are Targets of Right-Wing Extremist Recruiters Homeland security chief says report could have been written differently, but imperative was to release details on right-wing extremists. FOXNews.com Sunday, April 19, 2009 WASHINGTON -- The head of homeland security said Sunday she regrets that some people took offense over a report warning that right-wing extremist groups were trying to recruit disgruntled troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But Secretary Janet Napolitano added that "a number of groups far too numerous to mention" were targeting returning veterans to recruit them to carry out domestic terrorism attacks. She told a cable news...

With many Americans outraged at the various federal bailouts and further taxing, some are taking their opinions to the streets. TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party demonstrations are popping up in the area, and local business owner and president of Dominion Mortgage and Financial Services Lowell Macher has been a regular attendee. “I went down to Atlanta for a TEA demonstration and I went to the gathering in Anderson,” Macher said. “On Friday, I will be heading to Greenville to protest again.” But these demonstrations very much mirror a classic grassroots movement, as attitudes are split as to whether these protests...

The Department of Homeland Security Report titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" was first brought to light by Stephen Gordon at The Liberty Papers Blog. The Report was issued a week before the scheduled Tea Parties across the country, and is all over the news today. Reading the report is depressing, not because it reveals any current threat, but because of the shoddy definitions and analysis. One thing that is not clear from the news reports, to begin with, is that the Report specifically states that there is no current real threat, even...

After seeing photographs of the sitting pResident himself Mr. Barry Hussein, exchanging cordial soul-shakes with a socialist dictator, I knew right then and there, we were witnessing history. History so profound that it might just make Black History Month someday. Never before in history has a sitting President looked so cool and hip while exchanging greetings with world leaders. FACT.

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about the language of a controversial report on alleged "right-wing extremist" groups before the report's release, but the Obama Administration decided to make the report public before those concerns were fully addressed, according to a Department spokesperson. Amy Kudwa declined to say which parts of the report were the source of concern inside the Department. But Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that she would rewrite a footnote in the report that defined "right-wing extremists" as motivated by hate, rejection of federal government authority, and opposition to...

It was predictable that The New York Times would take one of two approaches to the nationwide Tax Day Tea Parties on April 15 — ignore them completely or downplay them. It chose the latter. In a story yesterday, it tried to portray the phenomenon as a partisan project, driven by conservative personalities at FOX and CNBC. In reality, it was grassroots groups like American Family Association that had more to do with the largest anti-tax protests in U.S. history. The Times listed a few of the smaller rallies, to make the Tea Parties seem piddling — “200 rain-soaked participants”...

PHOENIX -- Gun rights will be at the top of the agenda when the National Rifle Association holds its convention in Phoenix next month. Valley gun rights' advocates say concerns are growing because of President Barack Obama's track record on gun control legislation. Landis Aden, who heads the state Rifle and Pistol Association, said, "People are concerned about a variety of issues, not just firearms. That's just part of the equation. When the government comes out with taxation, inflation, all these factors, you can't isolate one from the other." Aden said people just don't trust the president. "There's concern about...