Department of Homeland Security Issues Report: A Sweeping Indictment of Conservatives

Looks like we're the terrorists now. Never mind Hamas... Obama's on his way to legitimizing this Iranian-funded terrorist group now anyway. Somali pirates? Small potatoes compared to conservatives, apparently.

Check out this post from Michelle Malkin and shiver a little. I urge you to read this post.

The Department of Homeland Security has released a report (PDF file is here) detailing the threat of conservatives against the US government. I highly recommend that you read it in its entirety.

As much as this pains me to say this, this is not a joke. This is real.

Michelle Malkin writes "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."

Malkin has a list of excerpts from this report:

"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."

Well let's see... I was called racist pretty regularly in college for saying that I didn't think that race was the primary characteristic that shaped an individual's personality. It was also implied that I was a racist (by members of my family no less) for saying that certain people looked Peruvian and for disagreeing with Rev. Wright's assertion that blacks thought in an essentially different way then whites (Wright's "different not deficient" catchphrase). Uh oh.

Oh, and I believe that local, county, and state governments are more responsive to the citizenry and better able to handle local problems. I always felt that those most responsible for the hurricane Katrina's misery were the state, parish and especially city government that were ill-prepared for the disaster (directing people to the Super Dome and then leaving them there) and actively spreading misinformation (the police chief shedding crocodile tears while telling Oprah that people were "raping babies" in the Super Dome). And then FEMA got the blame for not swooping in immediately and making everything better with their magic wands. I guess that puts me in the "rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority" category according to this report.

I'm against gun control... there's another strike... and I'm pro-life. All of these, I feel, are reasonable political views. But I mean according to this I qualify as potentially being some incredibly dangerous fringe-wacko. And why? Because of my reasonably conservative political beliefs. And of course just about every conservative minded person in this country also seems to qualify as potentially a terrorist. How many conservatives don't believe in a weaker federal government? Or are not pro-life? How many cannot be construed as racist for believing in real and actual equality-- who reject the lie that whites are inherently superior and are then labeled racist because of it?

As Malkin points out "There’s no hackneyed left-wing stereotype of conservatives left behind in this DHS intelligence and analysis assessment." Too true.

This report is an offence to the democratic principle of lawful dissent. It is a clear political attack on conservative principles, and portrays such things as a belief in federalism and being pro-life as potential threats to the government. This report marginalizes mainstream conservatism, moving into the wacko-fringes of white supremacy. It is a disgrace.

How I would love to retract this post. I would be only too happy to say "Nope... I'm an idiot... I was fooled. This is all just a big hoax." But right now I can't say that. If I'm going off half-cocked at this, then I will print up an apology and retraction in the biggest font size there is. I promise.

While Iran is developing nuclear weapons, Biden is warning Israel to do nothing about this dire threat, and Somali pirates are attacking American-flagged ships, the DHS is portraying conservative beliefs and ex-military men and women as being analogous to rightwing extremists. Why is that during Bush's presidency America's enemies were foreign extremists who hated America, and killed thousands of Americans in 9/11? And now that Obama's in charge we're talking about how Iran and "moderate" elements of the Taliban aren't really our enemy. No, the true enemy, according to this DHS report, is within.

Am I overreacting? Is this report not an attempt to stifle legitimate internal dissent? I hope I am. I hope I'm full of it. We'll see...

UPDATE: "This Ain't Hell, but you can see it from here" has a copy of the American Legion's letter to Department of Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano. I think it speaks for all of us. (h/t Michlle Malkin)

UPDATE 2: Power Line has an excellent dissection and analysis of the DHS report. Check it out. It is highly recommended. John, the writer, puts things far more succinctly then I did.

UPDATE 3: Various blogs have their own take on this story--

William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection talks about the Constitution as being a subversive manifesto under the DHS's guidelines here.

Pat at And So it Goes in Shveeport has an analysis in her post here.

Pundit & Pundette have a lengthy post here.

Newbusters.org has an excellent but brief post contrasting the DHS's detailed report on Left-wing extremists including specific groups and specific threats as opposed to the DHS's amorphous right-wing bogeyman report.

Quite Rightly at Bread Upon Waters has his take here.

All have interesting views and information. They are well worth you time to read through.