Showing posts with label homeland security report extremism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeland security report extremism. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2009

Napolitano Says the Rightwing Extremist Report Became Politicized

The report is not saying veterans are extremists. The report is saying some returning veterans are being recruited by extremist groups, says Napolitano. Anyone who read the report without a political agenda would've known that.
But the noisy hard right (they're shunning the republican party and I think they're emerging as the tea party) and Newt-type of conservatives are looking for anything to glom onto.
The report should've been issued alongside the leftwing extremist report, which would've helped improve perceptions that the report was out to get conservatives.
The report is now one of those things that few have read but everyone thinks they know what it says. People have been getting their information from rightwing radio. I've seen so much misinformation about the report, including people who actually think that Obama personally issued the report.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Homeland Security Deems Rightwing Extremism Possible Threat

There is a new report out by Homeland Security that says rightwing extremism is a growing concern, that extremists are recruiting folks through issues such as gun control and immigration and a further downturn in the economy could make it worse. 
It seems these people feel isolated and need to be brought back into the fold somehow. I'm waiting for a strong moderate republican leader to put his or her foot down and say enough of the rightwing wackiness. It's interesting that conservatives, such as Newt, are identifying with the report.
Read the report, which assesses the threat, here.
Those of us who spend a lot of time on the Internet see all the hate there is out there for Obama, irrational hate, the kind of hate that no rescue, no accomplishments, no birth certificate will ever overturn. Just look at any of Sarah Palin's rallies and you'll see what's breeding out there. I believe some of it is deep rooted racism that these folks aren't even aware of. Instead they use the guise of issues such as guns and immigration to appear legitimate.
Look at the stockpiling of guns and ammunition simply because people irrationally believe Obama is going to take away their guns. They have this notion that they may have to defend themselves one day, against what I'm not sure, but it's paranoid behavior. 
It is being fueled by the likes of rightwing talk radio and extremist groups. When people get together and suggest that their survival is at stake because the president is brainwashing America, that's potentially dangerous.
Talk radio hosts may be oblivious to the kind of hatred they're seeding, or maybe not. I tend to think that they're only thinking of the ratings and their paycheck. I don't think they think about what their words might mean to someone who is unstable. 
CNN reports that the Obama administration issued a warning about left wing extremists too and that both reports were initiated under Bush.
Read more at ThinkProgress.
Some of what the report says:
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.

— (U//LES) 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.

— (U//LES) 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.
Update: It's not about political groups like conservatives, it's about hate groups trying to get more members: