Conservatidiots of the Day: Extremist sympathizers

Last month, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano became an object of conservative ire after a report surfaced which listed right-wing extremist groups as a threat to national security. The report, which stated that such groups promote hate and violence in their ranks and therefore threaten the security of many Americans, was blasted by conservatives as being nothing more than a liberal attack on conservative and Republican principles. Never mind, of course, that the study which served as the basis of this report 1) was completed by the FBI under the leadership of the Bush administration before it was reported by Obama's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, and 2) never once mentioned the words "conservative" or "Republican" in the text.

Nonetheless, conservatives were adamant to defend the extremists who were the subject of increased scrutiny by DHS. They claimed that the report unjustly attacked veterans, since the report stated that returning veterans from Iraq, who were experiencing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, were flocking to these groups in increasing numbers. Rather than actually look at the facts, the conservatives claimed that the Obama administration was attacking the servicemen of the military, and trying to label conservative principles as a resounding threat to our own liberty and security. Central to their argument, as is always the case, is that people have a right to free speech and expression, and should be able to join extremist fringe associations such as, oh, the Ku Klux Klan and not have to worry about being monitored by the government or deemed a threat to the general public's well-being, even though many of these groups have a long, sordid history of violence which is well-documented in horrific detail in numerous books, periodicals, photographs, and first-hand encounters with these organizations.

The conservatives who slammed this report also conveniently forget that much of the terrorism experienced in this country prior to 9/11 was committed at the hands of right-wing nutjobs. Christian conservatives bombed abortion clinics throughout the 1980s, other conservatives murdered doctors who performed abortion procedures, and a man named Timothy McVeigh, who was a former veteran who believed the Clinton administration was going to outlaw guns and freedom, murdered 168 people after he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Much of these events were inspired by the perpetuation of vicious hate speech which spewed out of the mouths of conservative commentators, whether they were religious leaders who damned abortion, radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh who blamed liberals for all the evil in the world, or racist anti-semites like Arthur MacDonald who called for a violent revolution in the United States to overthrow liberal thought.

Today, right-wing extremists have new reasons to mobilize at an alarming rate. A pro-choice liberal Democrat is now the first African-American President of the United States, and the Democrats control both the House and the Senate by overwhelming margins. Worse yet, though, conservative commentators are fanning the flames of hatred as never seen before. Glenn Beck has claimed that Obama plans to send Americans into a Stalinist state complete with liberal re-education camps, and has also stated that Obama plans to steal everyone's guns and ammo. Rush Limbaugh has called Obama the "greatest living reverse racist in the United States," insinuating that Obama's policies and political nominees have been carefully crafted to discriminate against white people. And conservative demagogue Sarah Palin could not say whether or not bombing an abortion clinic should be considered terrorism during the 2008 campaign.

On April 15, we saw the looming threat of right-wing radicalism at its finest. Tea Parties, which were protests against taxes promoted by the anti-tax, anti-government Neil Boortz/ Glenn Beck followers, were held all around the country, and the men and women who participated in these events were of a disturbing variety. They proudly waved signs in the air which merged Obama's face with that of Adolph Hitler's. Many other signs featured racial epithets or depicted Obama as a Muslim terrorist. The rhetoric continued long after the tea parties were over, as conservatives called Obama a "fascist" and a "communist," and religious conservatives referred to him as a murderer during protests outside of his Notre Dame commencement address because of his pro-choice views on abortion.

Meanwhile, murders have been happening all across the country, real murders which involve Census-designated people, spurred by conservative hate speech. In Pittsburgh, two police officers were brutally murdered by a man who irrationally feared where Obama's presidency would take us. A man murdered his family in Maryland, before he killed himself, because he was terrified of American socialism. And today, abortion doctor George Tiller was shot to death as he entered his church in Witchita, Kansas, in what appears to be a bias-motivated crime.

So for all the conservatives out there who claim that the DHS report which listed right-wing extremism as a threat is "bullshit" or "liberal propoganda," maybe you should study the facts. Maybe you should take a long hard look at our nation's history, and the murders and terrorism which have occurred as the result of right-wing hate speech. If you really don't think right-wing extremists should be listed as a threat, then you must also believe that Al Qaeda should not be listed as a threat, either. After all, radical Islam is just a way of life for many people, and they should have a right to express themselves any way they want. What better way to show dissent than by plotting a revolution against the United States government, murdering people in the name of a religious cause, or bombing landmarks in an effort to dismantle American pride? The only thing is, that last sentence not only applies to Al Qaeda, but it also applies to the right-wing extremist groups in the United States which have long gone unnoticed by politicians and the media.