Today the new people at the Department of Homeland Security issued a report on right-wing extremists. Apparently, they have no information that anything is happening, but they thought they would start worrying about them instead of real terrorists:
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.
Wouldn’t the downturn in the economy equally cause left-wing radicals to emerge? Why the focus on right wing radicals?
Can you imagine if the Bush administration had published a report right after it took office about left wing radicals? Can you imagine the howls?
This is all so very weird, so very paranoid of them. The report goes on:
Threats from white supremacist and violent antigovernment groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts. Nevertheless, the consequences of a prolonged economic downturn—including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit—could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past.
Why wouldn’t those same factors feed left wing radicals in equal – or even greater – measure? Of course they would. Left wingers love recessions, depressions, etc because it allows them to claim that the big businessmen have done this to the little guy, to claim that capitalism is broken, and that it is time for the revolution.
How very weird of them.
Rightwing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda, but they have not yet turned to attack planning.
I have no doubt there are nutcake organizations out there – as there always are – that are taking advantage of the situation. But doesn’t the fact that Obama seems to want to spend the U.S. into the ground, and the fact that he seems to want to socialize large parts of the economy seem like a more likely reason for disenchantment than the fact that he is black?
This is so weird. Are they turning the machinery of government away from looking for real terrorists and starting to obsess over a few tiny and relatively impotent right wing kooks? It certainly looks that way.
More weirdness:
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.
You are a member of a right wing extremist group if you oppose abortion or ILLEGAL immigration? I suppose they really mean abortion clinic bombers and the like, but they do not say that. They leave it ambiguous. And they also seem to include as terrorists those who believe in the Constitution of the United States, which clearly limits federal power and specifically sets up a system where states are soveriegn in many ways. They seem to be calling these people “antigovernment”.
Just shoddy writing, or malicious intent? I am inclined to think it is shoddy writing, and shoddy thinking.
But it gets worse:
The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks
The return of military veterans to their home communities might pose a threat of terrorism by those military men? Have they gone out of their minds? How they must hate the military, or be full of nonsensical notions of military man as screwed-up latent killer. That bit is just unforgiveable. But they pour it on: Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities.
Wouldn’t they be equally attractive to left wing extremists? There seems to be a latent disgust with military men here. Furthermore, haven’t veterans – even in peacetime – possessed those same military skills? After all, they are trained to fight and use weapons, etc. Why do they fear the current crop of returning veterans so much?
It is all very, very weird.
Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of rightwing extremist groups, as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for violence against the government. The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by rightwing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement.
I have a brother in-law who is an NRA member. He said that everyone is out there buying as much ammunition as they can because they expect Obama to ban some types of ammunition in the near future. They are not buying it so that they can start a war – they are buying it so that they can keep hunting. They just don’t trust the guy. No doubt some of them are ultra-nutcakes who expect world war III soon. So what else is new?
So it seems that people who do not like or understand the military, and who do not care if the left wing is violent, are in charge now.
A recent example of the potential violence associated with a rise in rightwing extremism may be found in the shooting deaths of three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009. The alleged gunman’s reaction reportedly was influenced by his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment conspiracy theories related to gun confiscations, citizen detention camps, and a Jewish-controlled “one world government.”
So? What about other instances where left wing ideology prompted others to start blasting away. Colin Ferguson comes to mind. In that case, “black rage” drove him to murder six people.
And the report never names a single right wing group. There are no specifics. Again, weird, weird, weird.
I have no doubt there is a need to watch dangerous right wing groups. But the government sounds so paranoid in this report, so completely out of touch, that it is hard to believe this really is the work of a serious government agency. It sounds like they have completely shifted gears from watching real terrorists from other countries to focusing on a much smaller threat, and exaggerating that threat.
It also sounds like they are all too ready to declare some people “Enemies of the State”. After their paranoid rantings of the Bush years, after the claims that Bush was going to put all dissenters in concentration camps, this is especially funny.
Penraker 