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I feel better now: DHS is also concerned about Cynthia McKinney, hip hop music, and the Humane Society

For all of our friends who placed so much immediate stock in the hopelessly flawed DHS report on Rightwing extremism, maybe it would be a cautionary suggestion to take a look at where else DHS and our Federally supported fusion centers are seeing potential domestic terrorism.

The ACLU reports the following:

A May 7, 2008 report entitled “Universal Adversary Dynamic Threat Assessment” authored by a private contractor that labeled environmental organizations like the Sierra Club, the Humane Society and the Audubon Society as “mainstream organizations with known or possible links to eco-terrorism”;

A potential abuse of authority by DHS officials who improperly monitored and disseminated the communications of peace activists affiliated with the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN);

A report produced on February 19, 2009 by the North Central Texas Fusion System entitled “Prevention Awareness Bulletin” which described a purported conspiracy between Muslim civil rights organizations, lobbying groups, the anti-war movement, the U.S. Treasury Department, hip hop bands and former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney to “provide an environment for terrorist organizations to flourish”;

A “Strategic Report” produced February 20, 2009 by the Missouri Information Analysis Center that described a purported security threat posed by the “modern militia movement” but inappropriately included references to social, religious and political ideologies, including support of third party presidential candidates such as Congressman Ron Paul and former Congressman Bob Barr; and

A “Protective Intelligence Bulletin” issued by the DHS Intelligence Branch of the Threat Management Division of the Federal Protective Service which improperly collected and disseminated information regarding political demonstrations and inappropriately labeled peaceful advocacy groups and other activists as “extremists.”


A wise person might ask himself or herself why they would put so much credence on the latest work by DHS, and dismiss criticisms of our own homegrown security police, when DHS routinely targets Americans for such potentially serious and seditious activities as supporting no-kill pet shelters....

But no: they won't.

Because all criticism of DHS counter-terrorism activities can be written off as

the tiresome, endless whines of victim-hood from a group of people who couldn’t care less who was thrown into Gitmo. Just like they didn’t give a damn about spending when Bush was in office.


Which is, apparently, their definition of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Worth remembering:

"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me."

attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller

It seems that throughout history that groups of people only begin to speak out when they feel threatened, not when the "other" groups are.

anonone

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