Official: Dissent Now Unpatriotic
by John T. SimpsonYou all know the drill. The recent vague and controversial DHS report on right-wing extremism, the cover of which DHS might just as well have put on the Republican Party platform. The endless puerile teabagging jokes from the fourth estate’s finest, giggling into their microphones like ten-year-olds who just found a tittie mag.
CNN reporter Susan Roesgen even called a Tea Party “anti-government and anti-CNN” when her pro-government handout rant to a Tea Partier was rudely interrupted. Ms. Roesgen took particular offense at a sign of Obama with a Hitler moustache. “Why be so hard on the President of the United States though with such an offensive message?” the offended Ms. Roesgen asked.
Yet in 2006, Ms. Roesgen was perfectly comfortable with this Satan/Hitler Bush mask, jokingly calling it a Bush ‘look-alike.’ I guess it all depends on which POTUS you’re hard on. Right, Suzie?
And therein lies the rub. Dissent was SO patriotic not so long ago, wasn’t it? Dissent against war, dissent against torture, dissent against wiretapping, dissent against Gitmo, dissent against rendition, dissent against government abuse of power. In fact, now-Secretary of State Clinton was quite vocal on the matter back in the day:
“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic. And we should stand up and say we are Americans, and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration!”
Right On, Hillary! You Go, Girl! Why is that all different now? I thought she said any administration. Heard plenty of cheers then. Only jeers now. Why is that? Wouldn’t be a double standard, would it?
Example. If President Bush and Karl Rove targeted private citizens like Al Franken and Michael Moore with the power, authority, consent and political weight of the White House, the death camp talk from the Left wouldn’t have been far behind. It never was anyway, but especially in that case. There’d certainly be plenty of ‘left wing chatter’ on the Internet rehashing Nixon’s Enemies’ List.
Yet President Obama and Rahm Emmanuel did that very same thing to Rush Limbaugh. Yawn. And now we find that NSA intercepts of Americans have skyrocketed in recent months under the Obama Administration, and well beyond limits set by Congress. The NSA called it “an over-collection of domestic communications in America.”
Over-collection on whom, exactly? DHS-declared extremist threats? Or ‘right wing chatter’? Funny. I never saw the term ‘left wing chatter’ used in any government report. In fact, the term ‘left wing chatter’ isn’t even in the DHS report on possible left wing cyber attacks! How bad is that? In fact, the only other place I’ve seen that term used by the government is for ‘chatter’ on Al Qaeda websites.
I know I’m going to hear it from Lefties now: “See how we felt under the BusHitler?” Um, no, I don’t. What weren’t you free to say? That Bush engineered 9/11 and murdered 3000 innocent civilians to start a war? That you wanted Bush and Cheney dead? That you wanted the Iraq War to fail? We can’t even say we want Obama to fail without it being a federal case with talk of censorship!
Actually, more than talk.
Wouldn’t be the first time. What have we come to, when freedom-championing Liberal Democrats pass petitions around in Congress to shut up the most popular radio talk show host in America? One thing it definitely says: The Old Patriotism is out, and the New Patriotism is in.
Talk of shutting up Rush, even from the White House. Sorry. We had to deal with Air America, KOS and HuffPo. Your turn. And I really hate sore winners who try to change the rules in mid-game. Like issuing a national security report that covers the opposition party’s entire platform, and is so vague we can even be snitched out to the police for political thought. Sound familiar?
This DHS report doesn’t quell paranoia. It fuels it. And it ain’t paranoia when every law enforcement agency in the country now has DHS guidelines on Right Wing Extremism so broad, individuals who oppose abortion, illegal immigration, even the federal government itself, are suspect.
It’s one thing for Hillary Clinton to call us a Vast Right Wing Conspiracy out of spite. Quite another for the Department of Homeland Security to do so officially on paper.
I’m getting a very creepy feeling, people. It’s like the government, the press, and the freedom-championing American Left, who now rule supreme, see their big chance and are now looking to silence the Right once and for all through ridicule, demonization, even intimidation through official government reports to law enforcement.
Unnamed individuals with views that don’t adhere to the present government’s on abortion, illegal immigration, even the Second and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution, are called out in the DHS report. Makes me wonder who the real extremists are here.
In short, dissent is now unpatriotic. Tea Parties are being falsely linked to White Supremacy and neo-Nazi groups by both the press and Members of Congress. Public demonstrations against high taxes and spending, which reporters ridicule and call ‘anti-government.’ A member of the press calling a peaceful public protest ‘anti-government’ while spouting government policy?
What have we come to as a nation?
Good question. I’m keeping my eyes peeled, people. You should too. For any more government issue insanity like DHS’ Right Wing Extremism report which, though not as severe as Hitler’s Night and Fog Decree, is just about as broad. Or the Fairness Doctrine, which is less fairness and more doctrine, and could even regulate web content. Just like Iran and China do. Feeling better now?
And that’s just on top of their usual insanity.
I can at least take comfort that the outrageous DHS report on Right Wing Extremism has made strange bedfellows of Michelle Malkin and Rolling Stone. Hope Springs Eternal. And to all reasonable Lefties everywhere (I know there are a few), please stop asking us why we weren’t protesting this stuff for eight years, and just look at why the hell we’re protesting it now, okay?
Our bad! You happy? Actually, I better watch it now. I already have one strike against me.
I’m a Vet, you see. I could go either way.
Actually, I will go one step further. President Obama, liberal Democrats and non-extremist left wingers (I know there are a few) need to grow much thicker skins politically, before they start drifting into dangerous political waters themselves. Bush didn’t give one hoot about Michael Moore, Al Franken or Air America, even when Randy Rhodes simulated his assassination on the air.
Yet Rush seems as dug under the collar of President Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, liberal Democrats and Lefties as a bloodthirsty tick. Sorry, but Bush had his ticks, too. They all did. Every last POTUS there ever was. Goes with the territory. It’s called free speech and democracy. Deal with it.
You have a lot more important business to attend to than Rush Limbaugh and Tea Parties. Besides, even if you did manage to get Rush off the air, think of all the tax revenue you’d lose. Not very smart.
And could sombody please tell CNN’s Susan Roesgen to either report the news or get the hell off the air? We already know what the government’s position is. That’s why we’re OUT there!
Peter Maas you ain’t, lady.
THIS JUST IN: Radio talk show nuke Michael Savage, along with the Thomas Moore Law Center, is suing DHS for civil liberties violations over the RWE report. They may have grounds. The DHS Civil Liberties Division objected to the broad language of the RWE report, but DHS issued it over their objections anyway. How’s THAT for our stalwarts of liberty guarding the gates?
Starting to look more like foxes in a chicken coop. I hope the heat keeps pouring on President Obama and Janet Napolitano until she has to resign. She’s earned that heat. Unlike those she so broadly called out in her official report.
Speaking of heat, here’s DHS. Here’s the White House. Here’s Congress.
Credit where credit is due. This is from an ACLU blog. Take friends where we can get ‘em.
“If these “intelligence” reports described recent crimes and the people who perpetrated them, there would be little problem from a civil rights perspective, and it could actually be helpful to the average police officer.
‘Instead, they have followed a “radicalization” theory popularized by the NYPD (PDF). That theory postulates that there is a “path” to terrorism that includes the adoption of certain beliefs, and political, religious, or social activism is viewed as another step toward violence.
‘Actual empirical studies of terrorism conducted in the Netherlands and Britain refute this theory, but the idea that hard-to-find terrorists can be caught by spying on easy-to-find activists appears too hard to resist to U.S. law enforcement.”
On that note, you all need to know about regional DHS Fusion Centers. There’s 58 of them around the country. Update: 70. Many are privately run. They were originally set up by DHS after 9/11 as local anti-terrorism information processing centers, but there are signs now they’re being politicized well beyond that scope. Just like DHS with their report. And with our tax dollars. $250 million worth.
Feeling good yet? If not, how about this nugget from Big Janet herself, who called fusion centers, many of them operated privately through grants, “the centerpiece of state, local, and federal intelligence-sharing for the future.” For what right now look like political profiling centers. Great.
Former FBI agent Mike German, now with the ACLU, also has a different take than Big Jan.
“We’ve built this network, and nobody’s policing it,” says Mike German, a former FBI agent now with the ACLU. “Nobody knows exactly what each fusion center is doing. … Even the best fusion centers operate under a cloak of secrecy.” Part of the problem, German says, is that fusion centers fall in a “no-man’s-land” between federal and state governments.
‘Such ambiguity can lead fusion centers to pick and choose which rules apply to them. A 2007 study by the Government Accountability Office found that one-third of all fusion centers reported a lack of guidance on the proper handling of information, including privacy and civil-liberties concerns.’
Gives the term fusion new meaning. Well, an old one, actually. FYI. Need To Know. It all figures in.
Good Night and Good Luck.
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142 Comments
I guess for some people "liberty" refers only to their own belief systems and pet issues. Everything else needs to be suppressed as "dangerous."
Until this report came out, I never considered myself a danger to anyone that wasn't actively involved in trying to kill me. It took the "enlightened intelligencia" of the Left to fill me in on how much a danger (to them) I am.
Whatever. I'm still not drinking their koolade.
This makes my blood boil. The complacent lefties need to wake up. There are many who are pretty reasonable among the wackos and they wouldn't countenance this any more than we do.
The Left's dissent is always partiotic, but the Right or Right of Center is just supposed to be a doormat for the Left's Socialist policies. Double standards & double speak lives.
The Left still can't quite figure out the Tea Parties which gives the Left a weakness for the Tea Parties to further exploit.
The Left's dissent is always partiotic, but the Right or Right of Center is just supposed to be a doormat for the Left's Socialist policies. Double standards & double speak lives.
The Left still can't quite figure out the Tea Parties which gives the Left a weakness for the Tea Parties to further exploit.
To me, the Tea Parties are not anti-govt, they are anti-politician. What the pols have done to us by way of the tax system is appalling to me. Waste and more waste, debt and more debt.
How hard is this to understand? This is not left/right, that is a dodge, a ruse the pols use to retain power. They LOVE it that we citizens argue amongst ourselves. Keeps them safe.
Disgusting.
Great article, Mr. Simpson. I guess I would be considered a Right Wing Extremist according to that DHS report. I guess I am in good company considering our Founding Fathers would be considered Right Wing Extremists as well.
Anybody recall FileGate during the Clinton years? More Tea Parties, please.
Again, it's all about image, and the right always suffers. To me, the tea party concept sounded too weak (maybe the bag didn't steep long anough – weak tea?) to begin with, and allowed the message to be filtered through Cooper's, et.al. man-love jokes and wingnut perspective.
I doubt they even teach about the Boston tea party anymore, so the youth thought this was some sort of silly protest. And here lies the problem. Again the important message was relegated to nuisance status. Maybe we should have focused on tax cheat day? Geitner Day… or some other identifier that the loons couldn't spin.
If we are going to ever get it back, we've got to develop guerilla marketing campaigns, to dish out, exacly what they've dished to us.
This makes my blood boil. The complacent lefties need to wake up. There are many who are pretty reasonable among the wackos and they wouldn't wountenance this any more than we do.
The "complacent Lefties" HAVE been awake. They have been awake for the past eight years working feverishly to GET to this point. The "complacent" ones may not have been active with their voices, but through their complacency they have tacitly endorsed the extremest tactics against Conservatives which have led to what we see today. Don't any person fool themselves that any true Lefty with take up this cause and HELP the right in the cause of Free speech!. By virtue of their own twisted ideology, they embrace the idea of the ends justify the means. They believe to their very core that anyone that doesn't think like they do is not just wrong, but evil. Therefore, since they don't see any of these tactics directed towards those on the left, they see no threat to themselves.
Make no mistake folks. The left has counted on the inaction of Conservatives for years, and they fully expect that it will remain that way. We will bitch and gripe and moan, but we won't organize effectively. We will be "too busy working" or we will be complaining about which Republican is a Rino. We won't mobilize. We will be too busy figuring out which ones of us are Conservatives, social, fiscal, or "neo" or "paleo", or Libertarians, which means that we can hang out with Libs and are still considered "cool" and we can claim that we must wait for a "third rail party." We will be busy arguing if are representatives are too Conservative, too religious, or not enough of either. The left will be busy going around the Constitution and pressing Government inquisitions into "conservative" documentaries, Talk radio, Internet, and rounding up "Right Wingers" on trumped up charges. We will be busy typing our outrage right up until the moment our doors get kicked in… BRB I heard someone at the
Presently, conservatives and Republicans are rallying around talk radio hosts instead of potential congressional and presidential candidates. The talk radio hosts do not want to be candidates for office, but we have no one else to look to as leaders. Are conservative politicians too afraid to stand up and be counted? How about you conservative politicians grabbing a microphone and shouting that you're ready to lead a counterrevolution against the marxists in Washington. Stand up, for God's sake, and declare your opposition to the radicalization of your country!
I think we should focus on "Tax Cheat Day" and demand by July 4, 2009, all Federal, State, and Local goverment employees, elected and/or appointed government officials submit to full tax audits! Since We The People pay the bills, lets make sure that EVERYONE that draws a government paycheck from our tax dollars- including but not limited to Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Speakers, judges, Secretaries, Chiefs of Staff, governors, Senators, Representatives, Union officials, union members, secretaries, assistants, deputy assistants etc. – are paying their fair share.
Let's start with Charles Rangel, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Hey Charlie! How's that audit coming? Do you need help sorting those receipts?
RE: left wing attitude towards dissent: 'Oceania is at war with Eastasia. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.'
Organize we must, just like the Tea Parties coalesce and remain an incredible force to be reckoned with. There’s power and safety in numbers, and the Tea Party is a powerful army of productive Americans, tax payers not parasitic tax users, but Americans that believe in the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Washington politicians right and left are shaking in their boots, good! Stay firm and make certain your representatives know what you think.
It's a little too early to be thinking about Presidential candidates in my opinion. For one thing, 2012 is a long way away and if people start rallying around The Guy (or Gal) now that just gives the media time to put them under a microscope and start the preemptive destruction campaign from three years out, which means that even if they managed to survive until the election they'd be so battered that half the country would believe they were as the media told them, not as they really are. And as importantly, we conservatives need to learn more about people we'd pick for President and what their views really are, getting along to get along just isn't working anymore so most of the people that seemed like okay choices for 2008 shouldn't be considered again for 2012 in my opinion.
Congress in 2010 is another story, that we can start working on now, and in some places it already has. The PA Senate primary is already looking like it's a week out from the election on Specter's part, his attack ads are already running. Why? Because he's scared. Call me old fashioned but the more politicians that are scared of their constituents getting angry and speaking out when they stray, instead of being willing to ignore them for their own special interests, ambition, or getting along to get along, the better. Some of the potential candidates are getting the message about not being afraid to speak out and sticking to principal, and that's a good thing.
I've been a Republican since I could first vote, so for over half my life, but I'm a conservative first, so when Republicans take my vote for granted because I have an (R) behind my name and then continue to act like liberals, then they make me want to show them the door. There are some good Democrats, but there's no such thing as a good liberal from my point of view, and that includes liberal Republicans that try to out-liberal some Democrats.
I like this idea too. Although we'd have to be careful of being sued by the Tolkien Estate if we actually put any pictures of Geithner up on the signs, they're touchy about who can use images of their elves you know.
Beat me to it, Joe.
Two legs bad, four legs good. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Okay don't take this the wrong way Stan but "Organize we must!" has me laughing because I can picture Yoda saying that while poking people in the chest with his cane, after all Yoda was a conservative too.
I just got here, and don't have time to leave one of my witty and/or scathing comments right now.
So, I'll just say, "Morning Janet baby…you sexy thang…here's looking at you kid. If you need me, just whistle, you do know how to whistle don't you…just put you're lips together and blow it out your arse."
I know you, or one off your goons, are watching this site, I just thought I'd help narrow down the work for you all. That would be my "patriotic" duty don't cha know.
Luv and kisses.
XXOXXOOXO
Your friendly neighborhood “Right Wing Radical Extremist”
1GooDDaDDy
Not Over.
The Clintons had more "-gates" than Constantinople. But nothing much ever came of them, unless you were related to Vince Foster at least. The media managed to massage the story out from the national consciousness in a remarkably efficient manner, at least for the media. None of them were any big deal even in the Democrat primaries. So I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of younger people have no clue about any of them, just like in 15 years I'm sure many first time voters would be hard pressed to answer who Reverend Wright was, or if they could, would wonder what the big deal was all about.
Now that's good thinking Bev. I'll donate my time to sharpton his pencil – speaking of Sharpton, his taxes are a preamble in the book of comedy taxes, or I never met a deduction I didn't like.
I saw today where Sharpton got hit with the biggest FEC fine ever. Which shows that good things actually can happen to bad people from time to time.
Well I for one thought it was pretty witty.
I was prepared to go to prison for my anti-government activism in the 60s. Nothing's changed about that. They're not chilling my speech, they're just warming it up. Do you hear me Janet, Barack and Eric?
He reminds me more of Gollum….
That’s funny I have a TV in my office and Star Wars was on, subliminal weird, ha! You get my point, Skywalker!
Veterans are dangerous, the Constitution is a radical document, you could be an extremist if you don't agree with policy so should be watched, the media now debates people that don't agree with government policy while "interviewing" them, people who do what Congress told them to get taxed at 90% when the daily tracking polls show it's unpopular, the President bows to kings and backslaps dictators, and on and on…
Well never let it be said that Obama didn't get anything done during his First Hundred Days.
See I'm thinking Fwank is more like Gollum.
Rahm of course would be Grima Wormtoungue…
Ah, the grassroots work in mysterious ways, their wonders to perform. We'll get the leaders and candidates. This thing is growing like Topsy. And those leaders and candidates will be the ones who best embrace the ideas that are now being tossed around by talk radio hosts, local organizers, tea parties, and just plain folks who don't intend to let their liberty slip away. It takes time to grow a movement, but a true grassroots movement such as we're seeing now has a tendency to turn into a bumper crop with amazing rapidity. Politicians who have been reluctant to speak out will suddenly realize they have determined and growing support. The timid "go along to get along" types will fall by the wayside, and the shaking out process will grow in quantum leaps. The leaders and politicians bold enough to move are already out there. We just haven't figured out who they are yet. But they need to know we're out there with them, ready to help and to give them guidance. No army, or repressive government, is as powerful as an idea whose time has come. Surrender? We've only begun to fight.
You definitely upset the applecart there in SF, it’s great stuff. The LawHawk reporting from the belly of the beast, telling it like it is.
"Democracy" = "Democrats" in power
- the new left dictionary ("new" as in circa 1970, still current)
I don't think we need more "stealth" candidates. No one knew half the candidates who were running for the Republican nomination in 2008, much less what they believed. The MSM got a chance to define them and they were stuck trying to counter those definitions in a short amount of time. Reagan was out in front from the 1964 Republican convention. He took the knocks, but everyone knew where he stood on the issues. When he ran in 1980, we all knew what he stood for. He weathered all the negatives that the MSM threw at him and won in a landslide. Of course, he was running against Carter. The 2012 election won't necessarily be a shoo in for any Republican candidate; Obama has a powerful machine which he is funding with our tax dollars. Our candidate can't run on a platform of "anybody but Obama".
Now you see why all of us in Arizona hated J-No — partly her insistence on siding against the taxpayer on practically everything from economics to immigration, and partly that the stupid b___h almost bankrupted the state before she left.
There are historical parallels all over the place, from ancient history to modern times. The importance of the Tea Parties is not that they are particularly damaging (yet) or even the large numbers who have attended. That the punks haven't learned about the original Boston Tea Party so they don't even understand how serious this movement is likewise is not very important. So what is important? A large, and growing, grassroots movement has arisen, almost like spontaneous generation. And the history lesson is that a determined, patriotic and historically-savvy movement can defeat a mercenary army time and again. ACORN and the "community organizers" can never outnumber or outwork us. They get paid by their socialist bosses, but a volunteer who has nothing to gain and much to lose will beat them in the long haul. Their numbers are few but their influence is great. Our numbers are great and growing, and liberty has a far stronger siren song than homogenized socialism.
And I should probably add that some of us "old farts (as one of the trolls called us yesterday)" will be a lot of help. We know all their tricks. We invented them when we were the leaders they followed. We're ready, wiling and able to pass that torch to any future leader ready to grab it.
The pigs enable this swill.
I wasn't alive in the 60s, but I am just as prepared to stand up and voice my views. Then, if needs be, I will say what Davey Crockett said: "You (Congress) can go to hell; I'm going to Texas." Not that I am calling for secession, but hey, If it happens, it would be my duty as a "Right-Wing Extremist" to join in.
I'm not saying we shouldn't get to know them, we should, but picking someone as the frontrunner or the person that everyone thinks we should get behind before 2012 is probably a mistake too. By all means have them talk, the more they talk the better, but if you say "This is our guy…" now, that just leads to all sorts of misfortunes.
I'm thinking of sticking around here in San Francisco. We'll storm city hall, rename it "The Alamo" and hold off the troops while the Texans get organized enough to win the war. I always fancied myself looking good hanging next to Mayor Gavin Newsom. Of course, his hanging is a portrait. Mine will be less pretty, since I will be hanging from a rope, but it will be more dramatic. Viva Tejas, y viva la revolucion!
I’m with you on that one counselor,
On May 1, 1969, I drove from my place in Fremont, CA to Golden Gate Park in SF, to participate in the anti-war “May Day” march that was going on. I had just got out of the Marines the month before, after serving 13 months in a place where people who hated my guts tried to kill me every day. (A few times they almost did.)
My reasons for being there, were quite different from the majority, however. I still had my “brothers” from my squad over there, trying to keep alive every day and I wanted the war to stop for their sakes. There was nothing “political” about it. It was just a practical thing to do for me.
Like I did in volunteering for the Marines in a time of war in the first place, I “volunteered” again to have my say in stopping it.
My timing was perfect, when I got there, I walked up to the thousands of protesters, and marching through the street, right in front of me, was a couple of hundred guys dressed in their BDU’s with a large banner that read, “Viet Nam Veterans Against the War.” Anybody remember those guys?
I stepped up in line with them, and hung around them all day. By the end of the day I learned pretty quick what, and who, they were really all about. Liars, traitors and thieves most of them. Headed that day by none other than John Kerry himself. (Did you know he served in Viet Nam?)
Ol’ Johnny was hot that day, man he could talk some sh!t against our country, and so was “Hanoi” Jane standing right next to him.
I left in disgust and kept that day to myself till this day.
Do you hear that Janet? Did that make me a “Left Wing Radical Extremist” for marching in an anti-government parade 40 years ago? Or, am I just one today because I saw the light and went back to the conservative roots I was taught by my folks?
Fools, all of the left are fools, who need to have someone (Big Government), tell them how to run their lives.
But, as then, they are “dangerous” fools to our Nation.
Too them, “liberty” is a 4 letter word.
Not Over.
Bev……great idea to give a focus to the American Voice. Tax Cheat Day has a nice ring to it. Out all fraud in the government. I'd even expand it to include drug screening………..how else do we explain some of the decisions we see. Good to see a Texan helping NY see the way……..from San Antonio here.
The more unpatriotic the Left and the media paint dissent, the louder people with differing opinions should be–through protests, blogs, alternative media, in their communities, film, stage, everywhere. It's not the time for weakness.
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
Too bad more of us didn't come to our senses. I knew very well who John Kerry was, even then. Although I opposed the war, I had nothing but contempt for the long-haired Benedict Arnold from Massachusetts.
Huh?
I bet you have some lively debates in the smug city. (thanks South Park)
The Lefties see dissent against Obama in religious terms. It CANNOT be seen as reasonable or even misguided, as one does not disagree with the Messiah. That's really all there is to it.
As for the whole 'throw the bums out' mentality, I agree. But I think to denounce both parties is to fall into the Leftist trap. They NEVER denounce the Demokrat Party, while Conservatives get applauded for denouncing the Republicans. The fact that the recent Republican leadership overspent and grew Government is a testament to the poor quality of those leaders, not a rebuke of Republican principles. The current Big Government is a result of turning away from Republican principles but is totally in keeping with Demokrat ideals, and we should admit that and clean house where possible.
Yeah, it's fun. I state my views, and twelve people jump on me. A fair fight, since they come to a battle of wits half-armed (OK, I stole that line).
If all else fails you can whip out some legalese and call’em skanks, and nuts, ha!
Oh just wait until health care comes crashing down around us and you'll start to see why all of us out around Kansas dislike Sebelius probably a lot like you dislike Napolitano. Can we say "disaster"? I think we can.
I actually read the report. Wow. I had no idea a vaguely geeky helicopter mechanic would be of so much interest to extremist organizations (80% of the military is NOT combat arms.) While I am untrained in intelligence analysis the report struck me as very sloppy. How many vets are alleged to have joined extremist organizations? How many of these may just be embellishing their past to impress their buddies? The numbers are so low as to not even warrant being reported as percentages. This warranted a memo not a report. Many law enforcement officers are vets as well. Did they think this wouldn’t be leaked? Further, I find it interesting that the report seems to assume our military skills would only be of interest to the right. As if the left didn’t try to blow up a recruiting center a couple years ago. The fact is many organizations want former members of the military to join. Businesses want us for our leadership and organizational skills. Security companies and police departments recruit us because we have experience with weapons and already have discipline instilled in us. What this report fails to cover is why extremist organizations fail so miserably to recruit soldiers. As a Soldier I have to receive Equal Opportunity training every 3 months or so. It’s painful watching the EO Rep try to stretch information that can be given in 15 minutes into an hour class. But it works. The only thing we care about is that the guy next to me has my back if I need him to. When it comes down to it, on any forms that ask for it, my Race is GREEN and my ethnicity is ARMY.
Have you noticed, particularly on college campuses, the sudden absence of good, old-fashioned protest bumper stickers that say things like "Question Authority!" and "Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism" and "Always Speak Truth to Power"? These are gone, kaput, out of season and out of fashion. All of the colorful sorts who used to cock snooks at government and raise the clenched fist of revolution in the face of authority have taken on a new role. They have all become Boxer the Horse from "1984." They are all prepared to follow the new administration in everything because "Obama is Always Right." The new Establishment has landed with a thud and will brook no protest or disagreement. So head for your photocopiers and let's start churning out the samizdat versions of the Constitution, Common Sense and the Federalist Papers. We are gonna need them.
Don't forget ho's. That's in the latest edition of "Black's Law Dictionary for Dummies." I check it carefully nearly every day.
Holing up in The Alamo while surrounded by Mexicans? You brave, man, you brave. Give my regards to John Wayne.
I will, and if you were BevfromNYC, I'd reply with give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Herald Square. But since that won't work, I'll just say "man the barricades and give my regards to our brothers and sisters in arms." That should get Janet Napolitano investigating both of us from Heimatsland Sekuritat.
"Fusion Centers" sounds Orwellian. It looks like that law enforcement at every level is turning its attention to thought crimes.
You share a huge amount of great company starting with returning vets from the Middle East, apparently a roiling kettle of discontent and small arms expertise. Take heart, and stand proud as we are many, they are sheep and goats being tended by the herders.
Exactly. Travelgate, White Water….and by the way, why do people keep bringing up Vince Foster? It's PERFECTLY plausible for a guy with most of his life ahead of him, a nice Washington career , a wife and family to go out to the park, shot himself in the head and then drag his own lifeless body up to a better spot and repostion himself in a manner bettter suited to a death by "suicide" ruling, in a park managed by federal officials. It happens ALL the time. Come on, enough with the right wing conspiracies! I'm just saying ol'Vince had and obtained access to sensitive and damaging documentation constituing "high crimes and misdemeanors" concerning the Clintons….he wanted to die to protect them. The clock is ticking for the first Obama official to "fall on his own sword".
Yes we mustn’t forget the ho’s. For one of those old guys you’re quick!
Yes, the giggly reactions to the "Tea Bagging" events got a bit much, but the real problem with the Tea Parties was that those attending did not seem to have a coherent idea of what they were angry about. Oh yes, they were protesting Obama's "fascism," (sic), and certainly there is MUCH to legitimately criticize Obama for–he is just the latest public face for the corporate/financial complex that owns and runs this country, to be frank. He is not a fascist anymore than Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, and so on were…or, put another way, they were as fascist as he is. The protesters have been whipped into a frenzy based on right wing think tank catch phrases and media spin, but where were they for the last eight years, for example? Obama is merely carrying on policies initiated by Bush. I think Obama is a war criminal for his perpetuation of some of these policies and for his protection of torturers, as well as for his killing of innocents in Pakistan, but my point is: dissent should always be encouraged, but it should be INFORMED dissent. It seems a big bug up the ass of these tea people is "Obama's going to increase my taxes!" and that's not true. His tax plan will reduce the taxes of most of us; these people are to be looked at askance because of and to the degree they are clueless about who's really calling the shots and who is really destroying their jobs and incomes. The reason the right wing think tanks are stirring up this false and confused dissent is because to the extent Obama does have any intent to apply public monies to the public good or to increase the taxes of the wealthy, this is abominable to them. As the current face of the establishment, Obama is to be seriously repudiated, yes, but with facts not fancy, and not as a radical new element, but as the latest iteration of the establishment parasitism on the citizenry.
Yeah, since momentarily we’re in the minority (anti establishment) publish our own Rules for Radicals written by: LawHawk a conservative survivor of the ‘60s. You already have your source material, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Federalist Papers, Common Sense, etc. The pamphlet is contextualized to be easily understood by the modern American Patriot.
Thanks for using the word "quick." When I was a young whippersnapper, the expression was "spry." I never wanted to be spry when I got older. It always made me picture granny running around the house like a kid, but unable to remember where the light switch was and tripping over the furniture.
Thank you for your service!
They're just afraid we'll come up with cold fusion centers before they do.
Unfortunately, I'm more like Adams than Jefferson. We'll need to recruit him, too. I think of the play "1776," and I see LawhawkSF as William Daniels tells Jefferson that Tom should write The Declaration—"I'm abrupt, and people don't like me. They'll listen to you." We need the frontman. And a Tom Paine wouldn't hurt either. But "Rules for Radical Conservatives" does have a nice ring to it. Being in the majority is no fun anyway. Who wants to spend all day talking to people who agree with you?
You don’t strike me as spry there Hawk, more diabolical, bhwahahaha… The evil (but fun) head of the Wheelbarrow Beer syndicate for the Bay Area. You need a light switch flicked your people take care of it, with a snap of your fingers, “you’re hearts desire.”
Public moneys for the public good? Where does that money come from? Those taxpayers you are ridiculing. You know, the ones who listen to the right wing conspiracy instead of your left wing conspiracy theories. Your concept that he's not going to increase taxes is full blown nuts. You don't know where money comes from, and that is not from the printing section of the department of the treasury. Glad to hear you think Obama is a war criminal though. You just got the wrong reason for it. Information that you want for informed consent doesn't come from Das Kapital or the Communist Manifesto, and the people aren't the corporate/financial complex no matter what Marx tells you. You should listen to Groucho instead of Karl. Maybe you did.
Sounds like we're building an army. Don't let Janet know.
Wouldn't it be wonderful (and ironic) if in ten years Congress was run by a coalition-of-convenience of the conservative Tea Party and the moderate Republicans, and opposed by the… what were they called again? (Yes we need moderates in this country, it'll take generations to pull back some areas from liberalism and moderate will be the most they can stomach at first.)
It would be a great "open stealth" movement, the MSM would be so giddy mocking Teabaggers and the TP Party they might not notice us until after we win the elections.
Tea Party Brass Tacks:
1. Representation by working teams. One holds the elected office, the other has the unpaid position where they are kept informed of pending legislation and the activities inside the office (constituent matters, etc). If the elected one should fall, the other is ready to be elected/appointed to the office. Both shall be subject to full disclosure of all sources of income or other benefit to monitor potential conflicts of interest, but in the interest of privacy how they dispose of their assets may be kept confidential.
2. Term limitations. For continuance of authority balanced against the self-evident corrupting nature of office, the elected team member shall serve no more than four consecutive House terms or two consecutive Senate terms, whichever applies, after which the other team member or one of a new team shall be put forward for election.
3. Legislation. The full text of all non-emergency bills shall be posted for review. Only in the case of declared national emergency or national security threat can bills be designated as emergency legislation, for national security an explanation shall be posted. For a minimum of seven calendar days from posting, or a minimum of four with explanation, registered Tea Party members who are registered voters of the constituency may vote for or against the legislation with those votes tallied, weighed against a concurrent tally of non-member registered voters, with the outcome determining the vote of the representative, except in the case of sensitive information which cannot be divulged to the public which the representative alone must consider, in which case an explanation will be posted which will detail why this is not national security threat emergency legislation. Only completed bills may be posted and voted on, subsequent changes and/or amendments shall require a new cycle of posting and voting.
4. Spending. No expenditure bill may be voted for without standard non-emergency legislation procedures. Such bills may not be deemed emergency, nor may the voting period be shorter that seven calendar days, as it is recognized the federal government possesses the resources and authority to supply needed resources for declared emergencies. The posting will include a listing of the amounts and designated recipients for all funds allotted, with a full breakdown limited only by organizational structure and national security designated sensitive detail, with descriptions provided of the recipients. For the annual non-binding resolution on the overall spending plan known as the Federal Budget, it shall be treated as spending legislation save that the minimum posting period shall be fourteen calendar days.
Taxation, Principle. Taxation should not be open ended. All taxes must have a fixed amount of revenue to be raised with a set term of expiration not to exceed five years. Revenue generated in excess of fixed amount shall be used to pay down national debt, if no debt is present then it shall go into a non-allocated national surplus fund that must first be exhausted by legislated expenditures from it before further taxation is enacted, in no case shall excess be directed to other than the designated recipient of the tax in the originating legislation.
Taxation, Legislation. Taxation bills shall be non-emergency legislation, with posting, voting, and breakdown requirements as with expenditure bills, , with detailed explanations provided as to why such taxes are necessary and prudent and of the designated recipients.
Honest representation with real accountability. If we really are heading to a new party to get it, here's a potential blueprint of who we want representing us and how they're supposed to do it. Comments?
You couldn't have even read this post, Bobbyboy: Simpson even stated that people like you would say "what about the last 8 years," etc. Do you even know what fascism is? What do you think it is when the government gives bailout money to banks, corporations and the like and then starts dictating policy to them, firing their CEOs, etc.? "You took our money, now you are bound to do whatever we say." None of the previous presidents you named ever did what the Obama administration is doing, not even Clinton!
All money spend by the government comes from we, the taxpayers, of course. It's how we pay for highways, schools, police and fire departments, and so forth. You know, monies for the public good. I'm ridiculing them, as you apparently don't read closely, only to the degree they have no idea what they're really protesting, to the degree they are merely the confused and manipulated know nothings that have not sat on their hands, but have APPLAUDED the criminal acts of the preceding administration, but who somehow think the first 100 days of Obama's administrations somehow represent a radical and NEW break with what has come before. Obama, condemn him though I do, is NOT Bush, and he does have some alleged intentions to put some of our tax monies back into programs that serve us…rather than putting all of it into the hands of the Halliburtons and the military contractors and the other recipients of HUGE oulays of your money and mine. They are the biggest welfare cheats our country has ever or will ever seen. Some liberals hold onto misguided faith in Obama as the harbinger of great refore, b the most cogent and perceptive criticisms of Obama are coming from the left, but I don't recall much similar criticism of Bush by the right–with the exception of Paul Craig Roberts and AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE magazine–and certainly none is coming from Fox News or the Tea Party attendees who know (accurately) they are being screwed, but they mislay blame…as those who manipulate them intend.
Fed up with Obama? Say you want a revolution? Check out these songs at: http://www.myspace.com/rogerweber
You'll feel better.
You´re one to talk about informed dissent, with your idiotic conspiracy theories.
You just don´t get reality, do you? Today´s deficits are tomorrow´s taxes and tomorrow isn´t far away. This is not a matter of opinion. Obama/Pelosi are not burning monopoly money. Obama also likes taxes as a matter of fairness – in other words, an instrument of punishment. He said so. Then there are schemes like cap-and-trade, basically just another tax. The policy of the Fed is likely to create inflation. Not to forget the other consequence of bigger government under an ultra-leftwing government: regulations and laws placing massive burdens on businesses and consumers (these costs don´t show up as spending), less growth and innovation, fewer jobs, less social mobility, less freedom, more dependence.
The people attending these protests, being regular working citizens, understand this perfectly well even if they don´t use fancy words.
Get a life. Even better, get a job so you can pay your share.
Jonah Goldberg wrote a fine rebuke to complaints against the anti-tax protests called
Taxes & tyranny
You may want to read it.
Cuckoo!
We will always have a centrist government. It's part of our strength. Obama wants to change that from center-left to far left. We want center-right, and to stop there. We need strong conservative leaders, but a government entirely of the far right is just as dangerous as one of the far left. Any government that is too far at the extreme ends will in short order either be elected out, or become an oppressive tyranny (which is where the Obama admininstration seems to be headed right now). Compromise became a dirty word when RINOs thought that meant do what the liberals want. The RINOs aren't moderates, they're accommodationists.
The beauty of the Tea Parties is that they are so large, so spontaneous, and so focused that for once the left has been thrown off-balance. It was so easy to make direct attacks on Bush-Hitler and Cheney-Dr. Strangelove that they've become completely flummoxed by a movement that can't be attacked ad hominem. So far, their attempts have been comprised of sexual gutter humor and charges of red-necked racists. Lame, and it's costing them support right and left (literally). It's hard to malign a group as large as 300,000 to 500,000 people without offending some of your own potential constituency.
We must remember that the original Tea Party was only the beginning, followed by Lexington-Concord, Bunker Hill, New York City, and a long march to Yorktown. We cannot focus solely on the tax issue for long, since it is only a very visible manifestation of far greater attacks on the Constitution and the right of people to enjoy the fruit of their own labor, believe in their own God, and speak freely when they think government is going wrong. The Tea Parties are a fabulous and truly unexpected start. Now we must continue to attack the socialist collectivist Obama administration and Congress on multiple fronts, lest we end up looking like mere complainers about our take-home pay.
The people also understand that our "Great Depression 2" is nothing of the sort. It is actually just an average recession. While I acknowledge that the banking crisis requires its own distinct set of solutions, it is the stimulus and bailouts, tied to the agenda of a radical administration, that is turning us into a banana republic.
PS: Your Tea Party Brass Tacks guide is excellent. It could serve nicely as a guideline for a major issue which we must never lose sight of. I want my free speech, my freedom of religion, but without the tax issue, we all become equally impoverished and that leads either to lethargy or a revolution of the French kind rather than the American prototype.
Apparently you missed National Review, The American Spectator, Commentary, and The Weekly Standard. They were in full-blown attack mode from the time Bush lost his veto pen with no dummy left behind and medicare prescription coverage.
I've been prepared for a long time for these days. I'll stand by you, lawhawk. I used to be in law enforcement in northern ca. I have skills?
Unless I'm making a stand here, that is! As long as I have breath, I have a voice.
I wholeheartedly agree with you there Writer X.
My husband is retired Air Force–aviator type. So our race is BLUE and our ethnicity is AIR FORCE. Except for me–I have a little bit of GREEN with my ethnicity being LAW ENFORCEMENT. James, God bless you. God love you. I appreciate your service.
OH my gosh I think we're related!! That's exactly what I thought on November 5th. Those documents and a less PC version of the Bible.
This is starting to look like a movement. We'll be in good shape if we can keep it under the radar until there are too many of us for Janet Napolitano to put us all in re-education camps. Long live the conservative revolution. And as pre-lefty Walter Cronkite used to say, "It was a day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times. And you were there."
Hahahahahaha!! No really—you are serious? Hahahahaha! Enjoy that Koolaide but don't drink it if you smell almonds.
"Alinsky's Rules for Radicals" is alive and well.
We can mark April 15, 2009 as the official day that the real journalism in the MSM officially died. It is not the date that the media bias started but, it is the date that left wing agenda became officially apparent to everyone.
Long live the Republic!
God Bless America!
Not sure what's more comical:
– Right-wingers going ultra-paranoid about a report most of them obviously haven't read,
– Right-wingers going ultra-paranoid because the DHS issues a report about right-wing extremists when they applauded similar DHS reports about extremist left-wingers,
– Right-wingers thinking the FOX teabag parties(TM) were targeted when the report was begun by the Bush Administration, or
- Right-wingers so arrogant they think they're important enough to be specifically targeted by the DHS.
Seriously, there's a lot about the DHS and Patriot Act that needs to be gutted, or at least better regulated and surveiled, and progressives need to work together on curbing abuses of power by the government, but the paranoid rantings by you people is hardly the way to do it.
that's "conservatives and progressives need to work together"
You people huh? That is as opposed to you people? What people are you? Ranting? A lesson learned from the left, you can be sure.
Gosh, that was just an "honest mistake" by "the most ethical administration in history."
Libs have an unspoken agreement between each administration that they govern, if there's something you don't like then make a law against it so that it will work FOR them. If it's something they DO like then make sure it only works for THEM.
Good article John, I'm so glad we now have sites like Breitbart and Big Hollywood to come to in order to vent.
Yes, tax money is spent on highways, schools, police, and fire departments. The money in the "stimulus" package will not be spending any money on highways until 2011. So we're to be in a recession until then? 50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. The artistic community does not employ that many people. This isn't creating jobs or stability. 900 million to rebuild Gaza. Just call it a donation to the Hamas Rocket Science Foundation. They don't buy their rocket materials here, nor do they employ very many Americans in the building or launching thier rockets. They don't employ Americans in digging their smuggling tunnels. How is 900 million dollars thrown into a corrupt Middle Eastern hell hole going to help America? I doubt it will help Gaza much either. We're not being lied to. We read the bill. We're mad because those that voted for it either didn't read it or didn't care where our money went so long as their pet pig porky got fed.
American Conservative is another part of the symptom of the disease. A Pat Buchanan venture that spends more time ridiculing Conservatives and dividing them than any Soros org. Buchanan and the American Conservative, which I wasted my money on is another example of Useful Idiots. PS= As to the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, Buchanan and his ilk are disgusting traitors. They have weakened America and are directly responsible for an untold number of American and foreign victims of tyranny's deaths. And that number will just continue to rise. Pox.
Thanks for posting the link, El Gordo. I enjoy reading Jonah Goldberg. His book Liberal Fascism should be required reading in the schools. Of course, that will never happen because it documents the real history of the Left.
Dissent is unpatriotic. But that's not new people! That was true 8 years ago. HELLO!
You know what is really "UNPATRIOTIC"? Being the party that lost the last election. I garauntee that its gonna continue to go on like this for quite a while. Another sympton of the partisian divide. Have fun with that, you got 8 years …4 if you're lucky (are ya feelin' lucky, punks?)
In the last few days, I've had a few conversations with current and retired military, Police, and a token FBI dude about Janet's list of RWE characteristics (she'll always be 'Janet' in my heart since I saw her 2008 campaign posters!) and as a group we have a HUGE QUESTION: Do we get "True Blue American RWE – and Proud of It!!!" tee shirts?
We love America and we are anything but ashamed of our virtures (respect life, respect the Constitution, blah blah blah) but if we got the shirts, we'd have to cut way back on our 1st Amendment protected activities so we would have time to do current back ground checks on each other.
I never thought getting a tee shirt would be so much of a hassle. Oh well, I've got to go now and turn myself in.
Yea, like it "never went on" when W was in office. Oh how it must hurt the lefts "tender" sensibilities to have their messiah constantly be slammed. It's not like THEY know anything about SLAMMING. Riiiight. *sarcasm off*
So the coin flip came up on "snarky" today eh CD? That's a shame, the last time you were on you actually made enough fairly good points to almost get on the Auntie pie list. Not that she ever coughed up the pie, but it's the thought that counts.
So the coin flip came up on "snarky" today eh CD? That's a shame, the last time you were on you actually made enough fairly good points to almost get on the Auntie pie list. Not that she ever coughed up the pie, but it's the thought that counts.
As Beavis & Butt-head would say: "Huh-huh-huh. he said 'tea-bagging'! huh-huh-huh."
It's a really good book, but unfortunately it clashes with everything the leftist professors have taught for the last 60 years or so, so pretty soon wr1 will be in here bashing it and Goldberg and anyone who ever said a nice thing about it. He also will not be bringing pie.
I call dibs on getting to be Burr.
well there you go with one other thing that is parallel with the Bush years: I deeply vitrolic spew that seems to aptly described as "hate"…. or maybe just extreme nonstop slamming. If this is your point then I agree.
Pie? I've read comments about this before. Would anyone care to let me in on the joke? Or would that destroy the humor in it.
I loved that book! Quite a resource for us. Speaking of resources I'm thinking of picking up Alinsky's book. If the other team leaves their playbook laying around we may as well use it to make functional plays and counterplays. What are they going to do, tell us we're cheating?
Aw, you just want to shoot Alexander.
Was I that transparent? lol
Wouldn't ruin it at all, especially since they're not making with the pie anyhow. How it started was Anti-Fascist was whining, as he tends to do, so we started calling him Auntie Fascist, since aunts are known to make pie, we asked for her to make us pie. We're still waiting, since then a few other trolls have been asked for pie as well. There you go, the inside baseball on the BH Pie Conspiracy.
If you get Alinksy's book you may want to get a stiff drink to go along with it, it's a little crazy in parts. Like really crazy.
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Well, it just proves how the left has squandered the trust and goodwill of a many Americans.
I mean, wasn´t that the line during the last 8 years: that the mere fact of protests proved that Republicans are wrong? Are you sure you never used it yourself at some point?
So what if it´s hate. I´m still right.
"you people" are the ranters who are writing paranoid fantasies like this article and several other articles on Big Hollywhine who clearly have not read the DHS report themselves or are purposefully over exaggerating what it said.
Now, just because you're paranoid doesn't meant "they're" not out to get you, but read some of the posts here and see if they aren't the brighter side of wacko.
El Gordo says, "Well, it just proves how the left has squandered the trust and goodwill of a many Americans.
I mean, wasn´t that the line during the last 8 years: that the mere fact of protests proved that Republicans are wrong? Are you sure you never used it yourself at some point?"
Protests aren't not "proof" of anything except that someone's pissed. That can be good or bad (and we usually determine that by our own viewpoints).
The problem with the FNC Teabag parties (TM) is that they were unfocused and ranged from people who were protesting about the largesse of government to Obama Derangement Syndrome victims to secessionists. And it was all managed by Fox News and Dick Armey (whether you realized it or not.) So other than boosting the mailing lists of DIck Armey and Newt Gingrich, and proving once and for al that FOX News is neither Fair nore Balanced, the teabaggers didn't accomplish much at all.
And I thought that it was something about him/her shutting their piehole.
Ah, you're just whining about teabags because we on the right still have ours, while you on the left cut yours off long ago. We want to see the USA kept strong, while you want to emasculate it like you did yourselves. Check out fearless leader Obama knuckling under to every tinpot dictator that espouses hatred towards the American way and the West, or because he may have some religious fealty. Emasculation indeed. "Progressives" = "Socialists", and I for one will do everything I can to prevent our great country from falling under their power-hungry control.
Nah, we already caught your Freudian slip. You don't want anyone but like-minded creatures from having anything to do with the ruling of the rest of the country/world/universe. Feel free to continue to froth at the mouth.
Two old, tired sayings for you that are still true nonetheless: Turnabout is fair play, and don't dish it out if you can't take it. We took it for 8 years of hateful bile about President Bush. If you think that you're so much better and smarter than the right-wingers, why don't you try to engage in thoughtful discourse and show us the error of our uneducated, primitive ways instead of dancing around to the imaginary music in your head while having an O-gasm and saying "Shut up and take it – we won"?
Ah, you're just giggling like schoolgirls about teabags because we on the right still have ours, while you on the left cut yours off long ago. We want to see the USA kept strong, while you want to emasculate it like you did yourselves.
Sojourner: You seem to have a fixation with teabagging, oh… you’re one of those people? A little light in the loafers there huh Sally. That’s okay just be proud of your people. I don’t speak for all conservative you can keep teabagging we’ll keep the Tea Parties. As far as FOX is concerned that’s kinda like the coronation of Bamey through NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, George Soros, and on and on and on. And what are you people mad about again? What are you going to do with your $13.00 a week? What’s in it for you?
I think Progressives and Conservatives actually agree that the DHS is heavy-handed and the potential for abuse (if not actual abuse) is great. How about working with like-minded organizations (like the ACLU) on this issue instead just ranting about it?
May I recommend Judges?
Robert 1014
It's the spending, stupid. This leads to increased debt, in order to pay for the UNPRODUCTIVE spending. And with Demokrats, it always leads to HIGHER TAXES. Wakeup, and pull your head out of your fourth point of contact (look up a paratrooper who can explain it to you.)
so says you. I want the USA to be strong, but also a leader and not a bully.
if anyone on the left gets their panties in a bunch by protesting and speeches… then us on the left are hypocrits and, in this case, living up to our supposed images as wimps.
THIS liberal says: Bring on the dissent. I welcome encaged and spirited social discourse. The worst possible thing for this nation is apathy.
El Gorldo-
There's a "Whats good for the goose is good for the gander" tick-for-tack type of paralleling going on. I don't object. But as a liberal that Bush-bashed to my heart's content, I was never doing it on pricipal of "revenge against the same that was done upon me" type of stuff. I straight forwardly just liked to Bush bash. And I still do. I take a lot of issue with a lot that the man stands for. If people on the right genuinly feel that way about Obama – more power to them. And there is no doubt that the do feel that way.
but a little bit of this situation where it seems like, "They did it to us – now we will do it to them!" …well I guess it starts to look like something that is escalating and also loosing the thread of meaning.
I'm not too into "hurray for my side" type of thinking. You may accuse me of it, but when I think Obama, Pelosi, whoever is WRONG, I will criticize with the rest of them.
AND, I do think we can be more constructive and bi-partisan. The "bitterness" thing – on either side – … is something that I suspect hurts us.
Ahhh thoughtful discourse. Sounds nice, doesn't it?
Well I'd really like to see that report about the left wingers. Care to point us to a link.
I was never doing it on pricipal of "revenge against the same that was done upon me" type of stuff
And you would have had a hard time doing so, as nothing like that was done to you except in your mind.
Look, I have made lots and lots of comments containing all kinds of arguments – many of them in a very reasonable tone. Just not to you. The left is shocked, shocked that they have to defend themselves now. It´s funnier dishing it out. They don´t deserve a free ride and they more than deserve an occasional reminder of their own execrable behavior. Why the hell not? This is blog comments, not the frakking Senate floor.
But the really salient point is, I don´t owe you any explanation or apology.
Your chance to get the moral high ground was LAST year.
Nah, the ACLU squandered the goodwill of conservatives. They lost us.
They need to send someone to apologize, prove that they are no bullies.
You know the drill. We want bowing.
CD, If the federal government, especially DHS, had issued LW extremism reports calling out individual anti-war protesters, pro-choice advocates, gun rights advocates, even pro-illegal immigration advocates, with no statistics, no proof of violent intent but a lot of MAYs, you'd have been leaking in your tinfoil underwear. That you have no problem with any of this says a lot more about you than us.
Actually, there are quite a lot of questionable types at supposedly pro-peace rallies and I have ZERO problem with a DHS bulletin pointing that out. I would hope that they are on top of that… I'd be worried if they were not.
Sorry but left/right/whatever, I find it hard to take insult or get worked up at all about a report. If DHS starts violating peoples constitutional rights then there's obviously a problem. Short of that, yeah, maybe I'd complain about the department acting politicized, but I wouldn't be genuinely fearful or worried. They are trying to protect US. Please let them just do their job!
Be my guest. However, I just prefer to audit ALL of them.
You didn't even read my report, did you. CD? Otherwise, you'd have read the part about DHS Fusion Center reports declaring all Muslims as security threats, Ivy League universities as 'hotbeds of radicalism' in need of surveillance, not to mention Ron Paul supporters labeled as militia members. Go back and check the links where I said fusion centers were being politicized.
You're right, CD. It's not a right/left thing. It's an American thing. Un-American is more like it.
Good article. Thanks.
[...] worse, Mr. Axelrod’s own left wing extremist viewpoint is now official government policy based on equating all conservatives, and even veterans returning from war, with Timothy McVeigh, [...]
James, I am thinking of ordering Alinsky's book as well. The Art of War teaches always know your enemy.
I am really enjoying BH and the 912 Project site. I learn alot reading posts from people such as yourself, James, Golani, AndrewPrice, Lawhawk and so many others. Thanks to you all.
This makes my blood boil. The complacent lefties need to wake up. There are many who are pretty reasonable among the wackos and they wouldn't countenance this any more than we do.
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