Thursday, April 16, 2009

Department of Homeland Security Report

No matter what side of any issue you stand on, whether you consider yourself liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, libertarian, independent or any other label you may carry .... you owe it to yourself as a citizen of this great country to read this report in its entirety. What concerns me the most, aside from the relating of our veterans to Timothy McVeigh, is the footnote on page 2.

Quote below taken from Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment

"(U) 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."

So according to our federal government, if you happen to be involved in a group that takes a stand on a single issue ... you are now a "rightwing extremist". Unbelievable. So does this mean that because I went to a Tax Day Tea Party to show my opposition to the out of control spending in Washington and my opposition to us going into so much debt, that I am now considered a "rightwing extremist"? I am in the process of writing a letter regarding my observations of the Tea Party to my elected officials and the president and plan to share it here on the blog. Let me just say one thing ... I am not a "rightwing extremist" nor are most of the people I know that attended the Tea Party. I believe that a woman has a right to an abortion. I believe that gay couples should have the right to marry and adopt children. I am a libertarian at heart. My point in saying these things is for all of you that only know of the Tea Parties what was reported on mainstream media other than Fox News. We flipped through all the news channels last night just to see how the coverage went and I am sad to say that most media outlets completely missed the point of the Tea Parties. There were people from all walks of life there and the point was that we are sick and tired of the reckless spending. And not just in the Obama administration. There was much talk of what started in the Bush administration. So before you go judging and labeling those of us that attended the Tea Parties as "rightwing extremists" I would highly encourage you to educate yourselves on why we were there. To help in that matter, I am going to post my letter here on the blog once I am done with it. May be later tonight, may be over the weekend. We'll see how long it takes me.

1 comment:

  1. That's exactly what it means, big government gives way for...BIGGER government.
    Here's something I think you will find interesting:
    Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) blasted "tea party" protests yesterday, labeling the activities "despicable" and shameful."
    "The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs," Schakowsky said in a statement.
    "It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt," she added. "Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians.”
    This is the strongest language to date opposing the protesters, which, according to some estimates, topped 250,000 across the country.

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