Two thousand and nine may yet go down in history as the year political correctness attained the force of federal law. Just recently, after all, we finally saw a “hate crimes” bill folded into a must-pass larger bill when it was clear the bill could not be passed on its own merits.
This year, too, we have seen the appearance of attacks on “right-wing extremism” and potential “home grown terrorism” courtesy first of the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) — which released a list of terrorist-watch groups that included military veterans, political constitutionalists, and other "right-wing" political elements — and then the Department of Homeland Security itself, which was behind the creation of the MIAC watch list.
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Also mentioned in regard to subversive elements were both “third party” presidential candidates, Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party and Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, as well as a sitting Congressman and former Republican Party presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Texas). The MIAC report, widely distributed over the Internet, was quickly withdrawn under the implied threat of a federal lawsuit.
On November 16, the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’rith released the latest of these broadsides against anyone perceived as being "right-wing" under the title “Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies.”
This latest report speaks of the “anti-government anger” of the Tea Parties, cites disruptions at recent town-hall meetings, and cites a resurgent militia movement. It does not distinguish people who may truly be anti-government, such as some in the militia movement, from those people who push for constitutionally limited government, which would surely include most Tea Partiers and town-hall meeting attendees.
Following a brief Introduction describing 2009 as a “year of growing animosity,” the report divides into two parts. The first part deals with “anger in the mainstream.” The second takes on “anger on the fringes.”
Part One isolates three “conspiracy theories” it alleges have slipped from the fringes into the mainstream. One has to do with a supposed impending declaration of martial law that would involve gun confiscation and the forced relocation of political dissidents to prison camps akin to those of Nazi Germany, presumably planned and carried out by federal entities such as FEMA. Another involves the allegations of the so-called “birthers” that President Barack Obama was really born in Kenya and so is not a legitimate occupant of the White House. A third holds that the healthcare reform movement is a government power grab over the healthcare industry that would incorporate “death panels.” The ADL expresses concern that all three have slipped into the mainstream. The report singles out talk-show host and author Glenn Beck. According to the press release, Beck “along with many of his guests have made a habit of demonizing the Obama administration and promoting conspiracy theories about it.” It also singles out Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who shouted “You lie!” to Obama himself during a speech to Congress in September.
Part Two explores “anger on the fringes,” singling out Alex Jones, the “conspiracy king.” Jones has allegedly created a “radio- and Internet-based conspiracy-oriented media empire” devoted to promoting the idea that “malevolent globalists” are creating a “new world order.” Jones, of course, did not invent this phrase, which has been used on more than one occasion by both George Bushes and also by the globalists themselves (David Rockefeller, Sr. and Henry Kissinger would be two examples). British author and Fabian socialist H.G. Wells, moreover, published a book back in the 1930s entitled The New World Order, one of the earliest usages of the phrase.
Among the “fringe” groups the ADL report sets out to expose is Oath Keepers, created in March within the law-enforcement community, including both active and retired police officers, as a means of encouraging our men and women in uniform to adhere to the Constitution. This implies a refusal to carry out superiors’ orders that clearly violate the U.S. Constitution. In the hands of the ADL this makes Oath Keepers an “anti-government group … [whose] members refuse to obey hypothetical ‘orders’ from the government … that speak more to their own paranoid and conspiratorial beliefs than to any realistic government action.”
The ADL is concerned that some “anti-government activists may … act on [conspiracy theories] as if they were true.” The example used is of a training exercise by the Iowa National Guard, allegedly misinterpreted by “conspiracy theorists” as evidence of planned gun confiscation at some point in the future.
The report is actually quite short. The various sections offering accounts such as those above are limited to one rather brief paragraph. There is little or no in-depth analysis. There is only one mention of the Constitution. As with the MIAC and Homeland Security reports before it, there is no mention of known terror threats from angry Muslims such as Nidal Malik Hasan, the man who opened fire on his fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood on November 9 in the worst such attack ever on a U.S military facility. Nor is there any discussion of how our open borders serve as an easy means by which those who mean Americans genuine harm are able to enter the United States illegally. Finally, there is not a word about what the key targets among many Tea Partiers and town hall attendees who have listened closely to Ron Paul (R-Texas): the Federal Reserve and the practice of creating money out of thin air to bail out big banks and other endeavors deemed "too big to fail."
As with anything the Southern Poverty Law Center puts out, the fact that this report has Anti-Defamation League on the masthead will doubtless gain this brief report far more readers than its content actually merits.The fact that such reports exist, though, might be taken as a good sign: word is getting out; it is gaining an audience of increasing size; and those with real power are feeling threatened.
Photo: AP Images
