According to the Department of Homeland Security, I’m a right-wing extremist — or, as a disgruntled military veteran, a likely recruit for right-wing extremist groups.
Disgruntled doesn’t begin to describe my fury after reading the recently leaked intelligence and analysis assessment from DHS, headed by Janet Napolitano. Titled “Right-Wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” this nine-page document, dated April 7, 2009, in essence profiles nearly half of U.S. voters.
Intended for distribution only to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, the document is a despicable and asinine insult to this nation’s veterans — and the insult is particularly sharp to veterans of the war in Afghanistan and our two wars in the Persian Gulf.
The DHS analysis lists a number of political beliefs as being likely to contribute to an internal domestic threat. A person holding these views is deemed to be a right-wing extremist, or capable of being recruited into the right-wing extremist movement. I’ve read this analysis carefully, and find that it describes me pretty well. I should be at the top of the FBI’s extremist list. You belong there with me, if:
You oppose abortion. This is identified on pages 2 and 4 of the analysis as a marker of extremism.
I happen to believe that abortion of an unborn baby is murder. Late-term and partial-birth abortion is barbaric murder. Only in special cases like rape, incest, or likely death of the mother in childbirth should abortion be considered. Otherwise, I believe Roe vs. Wade should be overturned.
You oppose same-sex marriage. Pages 2 and 4 mark this as a red flag.
I believe God intended marriage to be only between one man and one woman. The Bible says so. Period. Every child needs a father and a mother. Not two mothers, not two fathers. Gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals, transgendered people, and every other sexual variation possible can have their civil liberties. But it’s my firm position that the claim that there is biblical, moral or legal equivalency of their relationships to my own 42-year marriage is rubbish.
You “oppose lax immigration laws.” Another warning sign, raised on pages 2 and 5 of the DHS analysis.
That’s me again. We will never have national security until we control our borders. An employer who knowingly hires illegals should be fined so much that it dries up that source of jobs or forces them out of business. Targeted inspections should be conducted. Illegals who have falsified their records should be immediately deported, along with their families.
You’re unhappy with our new president and his policies. The DHS document says on pages 3, 4, 5 and 6 that “right-wing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including … the expansion of social programs to minorities.”
This one really lights up my extremist proclivities. A pox on George W. Bush for starting the bailout insanity that Barack Obama is expanding exponentially. Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd pushed Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac into making loans to unqualified borrowers who should never have been given loans. They are both crooks and should be kicked out of public office.
President Obama wants to turn this country into a socialist state and is creating a sense of dependency on government to solve all our problems. The average taxpayer will finance it all through redistribution of our wealth — i.e., taking it from those of us who work hard and play by the rules and giving it to those who don’t. Their coming taxation is just a form of legalized theft, codified in law.
You’re worried about “restrictions on firearm ownership.” The DHS document goes on to speak of “increased weapons and ammunition stockpiling.”
Any local gun shop will tell you there is no ammo to be bought. If you want a particular type of firearm, you can’t get it.
Why? Because the entire nation of gun owners and hunters is afraid that the Obama administration is going to find a way around the Constitution, or raise taxes on ammo and guns to the point where no one will be able to afford ownership, or that a national registry law will eventually lead to confiscation.
I will never, ever, allow my guns to be confiscated, or registered, by this government.
You “bemoan the decline of the U.S. stature in the world.” The DHS lists this characteristic of extremism on page 7.
No one — no one — can stand atop the bluff at Normandy Beach and amid the thousands of graves and not appreciate how much this country sacrificed while defending Europe. If it weren’t for those soldiers, Europe would have been goose-stepping to the Germans.
No one can carry the U.S. flag at the dedication ceremony to the graves of the unknown soldiers at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and hear the onlookers’ excitement at the sight of our flag, or shake hands with French officials who express gratitude for our sacrifices, without feeling the goosebumps of pride at being an American, as was my honor.
No U.S. president should ever bow to any king or apologize to any country that we’ve died for. Ever.
You’re religious. Another sure sign of extremism, according to DHS: “End-time prophesies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition and weapons.”
We stockpile food in our pantry and our freezer. I have multiple weapons in my home and lots of ammunition. Connect the dots here: I believe we are in the end times, and I believe in end-time prophesies recorded in the Bible by the Apostle John in Revelation. I could no more dismiss this than I could disavow that Christ came to Earth, was crucified for our sins, and resurrected from the dead, or that his death was the gift of grace that we can never earn.
You’re a veteran. The worst insult of all is titled “Disgruntled Military Veterans,” on page 7: “Right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”
Just three supporting statements follow this incredible assertion.
First, the DHS notes that “some returning military veterans — including Timothy McVeigh — joined and associated with right-wing extremist groups.” That’s one veteran out of millions!
Second, the document claims that “A prominent civil rights organization reported in 2006 that ‘large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads, and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the (U.S.) armed forces.’ ” DHS evidently accepts the claim that our military routinely and willingly trains people for later release as either disgruntled right-wing extremists or as extremist recruits.
Finally, the DHS says that “The FBI noted in a 2008 report on the white supremacist movement that some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.”
These soldiers do the vast majority of the fighting and dying for the rest of us. They don’t deserve this drivel from their government.
Disgruntled veteran? Not even close. Clearly, I am a right-wing radical, a bitter American clinging to my guns and Bible, homophobic, racist and sexist.
Oh, yes: I also went to a tea party protest in Salem on April 15. The profile is complete.