Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Federal Agency warns of radicals on the right ...

For some odd reason my computer will not bring up washington times article .. however, the links are in this piece for anyone interested to go to

Blinded

My friend Eli Lake at the Washington Times has a great piece about a subtle shift at the Department of Homeland Security toward the threat of extremist right-wing groups. Fueled by the election of President Obama, the economic downturn and (most controversially) Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returning home, the department recently warned in a bulletin, state and local law enforcement should take note of anti-government activity from the right:

.........The nine-page document was sent to police and sheriff's departments across the United States on April 7 under the headline, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." 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."

I'm curious what my Windy colleagues Dave Weigel and Daphne Eviatar make of this -- and everyone at FDL, and our friend Dave Neiwart. It's important for law enforcement to keep tabs on, as the department says, "the next Timothy McVeigh." But after years of insinuation on the right that Muslims in the U.S. represent a fifth column, it's similarly unacceptable to skirt the boundary of criminalizing right-wing politics, even if the invective can tend to the scabrous. Eli notes that the White House has distanced itself from the DHS report, particularly for its warnings about veterans groups. All I'd say there is that before you worry about receptivity among veterans who come home to extremist groups -- and it seems like an outdated fear, given the post-Vietnam professionalism of the all-volunteer military -- first they have to come home.

Oh, here's what Weigel makes of it:

.........I struggle to find anything wrong in a close — not a willfully obtuse — reading of the report. I’m nine days out of a huge machine gun show in Kentucky. I know that all of the gun stuff in this report is true.

this is weigel site, i will post his comments next
http://washingtonindependent.com/38527/protesting-too-much#more-38527

http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2009/04/14/blinded/