To paraphrase a recent Newsweek cover: "We're All Criminals Now." According to a leaked report to law enforcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalism and Recruitment," most of my friends and I are subversives who need to be watched carefully. Personally, I could not be prouder of making this new list, and my new goal is to become a Top 10 should the DHS succeed in convincing the FBI that those of us who think as we do deserve such a distinction. What is it exactly that qualifies us as subversive in the eyes of Janet Napolitano and her boss? Well, here are some direct quotes from the report (which defenders of this nonsense will claim are taken out of context).
"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. "
" (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."
Note: A copy of the full DHS report is available at several sites accessible through Google.
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I hereby plead GUILTY to being a veteran (Semper Fi), an advocate of small (very small) government, a strong opponent of the mass murder of innocent babies, one who believes that our borders must be made secure, and one who believes that every adult in America should own (and know how to use) a gun. Sorry, but I am not hate-oriented nor do I hate any particular religious, racial, or ethnic groups. I do have preferences, though, and there was a time in this country when that was not a criminal offense.
This whole DHS report appears to me to be the first step on the part of this administration toward enacting legislation much like the Sedition Act of 1798, which was passed as part of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Here is an explanation (emphasis mine) of the Sedition Act from Folwell's "Laws of the U. S."
(The) Sedition Act, passed on July 14 declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of "any false, scandalous and malicious writing," was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down.
One of the men arrested was Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of the Philadelphia Democrat-Republican Aurora. Charged with libeling President Adams, Bache's arrest erupted in a public outcry against all of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Many Americans questioned the constitutionality of these laws. Indeed, public opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts was so great that they were in part responsible for the election of Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, to the presidency in 1800. Once in office, Jefferson pardoned all those convicted under the Sedition Act, while Congress restored all fines paid with interest.
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My friends and I await without trepidation the arrival of the DHS storm troopers on our doorsteps, and are warmed by the thought of spending some time on a Caribbean island, since the facility at Guantanamo will soon be vacant, and that venue, once the current inhabitants are loosed on the world, might well be the safest place on the planet.
