Obama insults half of the country

Obama has certainly managed to insult a large amount of Americans with this joke of a report.
I will be waiting for his explanation/justification.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/14/federal-agency-warns-of-radicals-on-right/

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.
A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

happy jack wrote:

Probably about half of the country.

"It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the warning says.

happy jack wrote:

Again, probably about half of the country.

It says the federal government "will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months" to gather information on "rightwing extremist activity in the United States."
The joint federal-state activities will have "a particular emphasis" on the causes of "rightwing extremist radicalization."
The report, which was first disclosed to the public by nationally syndicated radio host Roger Hedgecock, makes clear that the Homeland Security Department does not have "specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence."It warns that fringe organizations are gaining recruits, but it provides no numbers.
The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.
A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.
"It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or or immigration," the warning says.

"Most statements by rightwing extremists have been rhetorical, expressing concerns about the election of the first African American president, but stopping short of calls for violent action," the report says. "In two instances in the run-up to the election, extremists appeared to be in the early planning stages of some threatening activity targeting the Democratic nominee, but law enforcement interceded."
When asked about this passage, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said, "We are concerned about anybody who will try to harm or plan to harm any one of our protectees. We don't have the luxury to focus on one particular group at the exclusion of others."
Congressional debates about immigration and gun control also make extremist groups suspicious and give them a rallying cry, the report says.
"It is unclear if either bill will be passed into law; nonetheless, a correlation may exist between the potential passage of gun control legislation and increased hoarding of ammunition, weapons stockpiling, and paramilitary training activities among rightwing extremists," the report said.
The FBI was quoted Monday as saying that, since November, more than 7 million people have applied for criminal background checks in order to buy weapons.
The Homeland Security report added: "Over the past five years, various rightwing extremists, including militias and white supremacists, have adopted the immigration issue as a call to action, rallying point, and recruiting tool."
"The purpose of the report is to identify risk. This is nothing unusual," said Ms. Kuban, who added that the Homeland Security Department did this "to prevent another Tim McVeigh from ever happening again."

happy jack wrote:

How about preventing another William Ayers from ever happening again?

The Homeland Security assessment specifically says that "rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat."

happy jack wrote:

Yes – all 203 of them.

Jerry Newberry, director of communications for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the vast majority of veterans are patriotic citizens who would not join anti-government militias.
"As far as our military members go, I think that the military is a melting pot of society. So you might get a few, a fractional few, who are going to be attracted by militia groups and other right-wing extremists," he said.
"We have to remember that the people serving in our military are volunteers, they do it because they love their country, and they believe in what our country stands for," he said. "They spent their time in the military defending our Constitution, so the vast majority of them would be repulsed by the hate groups discussed in this report."
The Homeland Security report cited a 2008 FBI report that noted that a small number of returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.
The FBI report said that from October 2001 through May 2008 "a minuscule" number of veterans, 203 out of 23,000, had joined groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, the National Socialist Movement, the Creativity Movement, the National Alliance and some skinhead groups.

happy jack wrote:

That’s .008826086 % of returning veterans.

"Although the white supremacist movement is of concern to the FBI, our assessment shows that only a very small number of people with prior military experience may have an affiliation with supremacist groups," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday when asked about the FBI report.

happy jack wrote:

Yet the Obama administration opts to insult them anyway.

A 2006 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that monitors white supremacists like the Klan, said that white-power groups had an interest in the kind of training the military provides.
Mark Potok, director of the center's intelligence project, said the Homeland Security report "confirms that white supremacists are interested in the military. There is some concern, and there should be, about returning veterans, one need only think of the example of Timothy McVeigh, who was in the first Iraq war."

happy jack wrote:

Or one need only think of Wiliam Ayers, who took part in no war, but also chose the cowardly act of attempting to blow up innocent people. But he doesn’t get investigated, because he helped to put Obama in office.

So a memo from DHS to local law enforcement reminding them that Muslims do not have a monopoly on terrorism ends up insulting half the country. And by that I mean Obama did, of course.

I hadn't realized that half the country were rightwing extremists. Good to know.

Anyway... the actual report is here, and unsurprisingly, it's far, far less nefarious than being portrayed.

Here's the footnote that hurt everyone's feelings...

Quote :

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.

Rough, I know. Go get a tissue.

happy jack wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Please show the incidents which constitute this 'rise'.

Here's one incident involving an avid listener of Glenn Beck.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09094/960660-100.stm
He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."
Mr. Poplawski was opposed to Mr. Obama's election, which he thought would result in the loss of his rights, Mr. Vire said.Mr. Poplawski told him he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished," Mr. Vire said.
"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

happy jack wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

Please show the incidents which constitute this 'rise'.

Here's one incident involving an avid listener of Glenn Beck.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09094/960660-100.stm
He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."
Mr. Poplawski was opposed to Mr. Obama's election, which he thought would result in the loss of his rights, Mr. Vire said.Mr. Poplawski told him he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished," Mr. Vire said.
"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."

Wow.
A 'rise' of one!!!
That's almost as scary as someone posting with bold-face type!

Bold faced type didn't result in three police officers being ambushed at point blank range by a deranged shooter who listened to the ranting of right-wing hate radio show hosts.

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

Here's one incident involving an avid listener of Glenn Beck.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09094/960660-100.stm
He always said that if someone tried to take his weapons away he would do what his forefathers told him to do and defend himself."
Mr. Poplawski was opposed to Mr. Obama's election, which he thought would result in the loss of his rights, Mr. Vire said.Mr. Poplawski told him he bought his guns "because he felt the quality of life was being diminished," Mr. Vire said.
"He said he'll be ready if there's ever an invasion of the United States and that he had stockpiled foods and guns for that eventuality."

Wow.
A 'rise' of one!!!
That's almost as scary as someone posting with bold-face type!

Bold faced type didn't result in three police officers being ambushed at point blank range by a deranged shooter who listened to the ranting of right-wing hate radio show hosts.

It looks as if you're finally starting to see the light, sparks.
Bold faced type, indeed, did not result in three police officers being ambushed at point blank range by a deranged shooter.
And right-wing radio hosts didn't ambush three police officers.
The officers were ambushed by a deranged shooter, and no one else.
The fact that you finally admit this is a step in the right direction.

Right-wing hate radio can influence people in exactly the same way commercials influence consumer buying decisions. The science and research behind the ability of the media to influence it's viewers and listeners is solid.

sparks wrote:

Right-wing hate radio can influence people in exactly the same way commercials influence consumer buying decisions. The science and research behind the ability of the media to influence it's viewers and listeners is solid.

Weak minds are easily influenced by propaganda. One need go no farther than watch these wacko tea parties today to find plenty of morons showing up to support an agenda that is directly counter to their own interests.

"disgruntled war veteran" -exibit A

Actually, any time politics doesn't go your way, you tend to get more involved. The pro-choice movement gained members during the Reagan/Bush years and quieted down during the Clinton administration. On the other hand, the abortion foes were more active then.

KarenT

happy jack wrote:

The Dept of Homeland Security wrote:

It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

I won't speculate as to how many American citizens have a problem with immigration (whether legal, or the other generally condoned method). But I will speculate that half or more of the people in this country are opposed to abortion...

The great news is that unless that "half or more" are rightwing extremists, that assessment wasn't about them.

Right wing extremest version of seeking change at one of today's tea parties..

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) was one of the dozens of Republican lawmakers who are addressing the anti-Obama tea parties today. He told the crowd he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others had sought to portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted. After, he told reporters that Texas might have to secede from the union:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/15/perry-texas-secession/

happy jack wrote:

If you define single-issue voters as right-wing extremists, then it was about them.

Which is exactly what that assessment didn't do.

happy jack wrote:

It appears that words have entirely different meanings for you than they do for me.

No, it's taking things out of context that is changing the meaning; a quote-mine worthy of a creationist. The entire paragraph, on the other hand, clearly and simply states that some of the hate-oriented groups, movements, and adherents that rightwing extremism can be divided into may be dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Oooh... wow. BFD.

Gimme a f**king break... You a hate-oriented group or individual focused on a single issue? No? Then the assessment still isn't about you. The leap in logic necessary to believe that the Department of Homeland Security honestly defined rightwing extremism to be any and all groups and/or individuals that are dedicated to a single issue is downright Olympian; it's bullshit conspiratorial nonsense that even maddmaxx would be envious of.

happy jack wrote:

Must be an idiomatic/cultural thing.

Yup. Michelle Malkin's Tinfoil Hat Nation.

Or maybe the government really is out to get you. Maxx will be ecstatic to welcome you to the fold.

happy jack wrote:

My stars, you're a rather touchy, angry monkey.

Sparks is right. I'm frustrated. I'm a little short on sleep this week and my tolerance for spectacular bullshit such as this suffers as a result, especially from someone intelligent enough to know better.

happy jack wrote:

And I didn't even bring up the slur against returning war veterans.

Oh please... Where was your feigned concern last year when the Bush administration issued the same warnings?

And what's interesting about this phony outrage is that this was the second round of warnings on domestic terrorism. All this whining conveniently leaves out the first report that came out in January, which focused specifically on left wing extremism. Honestly, this was nothing more than a simple threat assessment of our current situation.

The only reason we're even talking about this is because of the timing; it makes for great insipid cheerleading to rally the ignorant masses at the equally vapid teabagging going on around the country. Paranoia and fear do wonders for cultural cohesion.

Here's an honest bit of reporting on the topic, and from Fox News no less...

Heretic wrote:

happy jack wrote:

It appears that words have entirely different meanings for you than they do for me.

No, it's taking things out of context that is changing the meaning; a quote-mine worthy of a creationist. The entire paragraph, on the other hand, clearly and simply states that some of the hate-oriented groups, movements, and adherents that rightwing extremism can be divided into may be dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Exactly. All of this mock outrage is just the same old tactic that we've seen so many times from the righties, like lifting a sentence out of a speech, a line out of a report, or a passage from a book, and totally ignoring the actual context.

It's really an intellectually dishonest tactic, and it really makes you wonder about some peoples' motives.