On that DHS “Rightwing Extremist” Report . . .
The best take on it I’ve read anywhere, House of Eratosthenes posts On That Homeland Security Right-Wing Extremist Group Report.
Excerpts:
I skimmed through the left-wing blogs to find out what their reactions would be. Yglesias, ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Pandagon, Anonymous Liberal and Balloon Juice. A consistent and recurrent meme emerged: Troubling issues that arise from a government agency’s suggestion of terrorist motives on the part of free citizens “rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority” (p. 2) were left unexplored…even untouched. The subject matter turned, instead, to tit-for-tat, howzitfeel type of nonsense. Silly conservatives didn’t say a word when Bush was trampling on our civil liberties, why are they piping up now?
Awesome! The new administration was elected in on a glossy, glittery platform of “change.” And now it’s doing things that can only be defended by implying they’re the same as what the old crowd did. Some change.
Meet the new boss, same as . . . .
If only it were true. The argument is defeated — as left-wing arguments usually are — through an exercise known as reading things.
That oughta leave a mark.
As Malkin says:
[T]hose 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.
Don’t take her word for it, or mine. The report to which the liberal bloggers point with their “the other guy did it too” defense, “Left-Wing Extremism: The Current Threat,” is here. You won’t need to study long. The difference between the 2001 report and the one that just came out, is structural. The older report gives facts…and more facts…and more facts…dates…cities…statistics…the history behind each of the more pertinent groups, who founded them, why, what their methods are, what they’ve been caught doing, some intelligence suggesting who funds them. It even does a decent job of inspecting the possible dangers posed by right-wing extremist groups.
This month’s report from DHS boils down to one thing: “Hey, we’d better be worried about this stuff! You know how those tighty-righties are when they lose their jobs, especially when black people are elected President!” Yes, I’m putting words in their mouths, but not unfairly.
That’s how I read it.