Interesting in the light of current events: A law enforcement agency whose leaked report suggesting militia members tend to favor certain political candidates sparked outrage among conservatives has no immediate plans to compile other such intelligence reports, an official said Wednesday. Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. James Keathley told a special House committee that the intelligence assessments compiled by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which is part of the Highway Patrol, contain valuable information but that there were no immediate plans to draft new reports. "I don't know if we will ever get back in the business of producing strategic reports to be very honest with you," Keathley told committee members. "This report created us a lot of harm, a lot of problems. I'm not going to stand here and say anything other than that, we all know that's why we're all here." I give Keathley a lot of credit here, even this late in the game. But...

... by arguing (with real facts) that the DHS Rightwing Extremism report was politically slanted and horribly flawed. This is apparently the case that DelawareDem seeks to make by including my name in a thread in which I was not commenting: Steve Newton, I am so relieved you that you and other right wingers saved us from the hellfire known as the DHS Report. Yeah, right wing extremists are not violent at all. OK, asshole, I've had enough. You want to make the charge that I ever said there were no rightwing extremist groups, or that law enforcement should not investigate legitimate leads on groups or individuals? Back it up. Here's the link to virtually everything I have written since the DHS report came out. Find it, or have the stones to admit you're wrong. Here's what I actually said: Don't get me wrong: there are violent, nasty people out there: skinheads, black separatists, eco-terrorists, Muslim honor-killers, fag-bashers, beltway snipers.... There are also ...

... and both are worth serious examination. The first, from Dave Sirota, argues that the GOP is now seeking its future in mainstreaming rightwing extremism: In my book, The Uprising, I have a chapter on the Minutemen that's called "Mainstreaming the Militia." I think between the media coverage of yesterday's Tea Parties and the national Republican Party effectively coming to the public defense of right-wing extremist groups against the Department of Homeland Security, that mainstreaming has gone into overdrive. I'm not saying everyone - or even a majority - of those who attended the Tea Parties are violent extremists. But I am saying that there is a very calculated and coordinated campaign to mainstream extreme right-wing politics - and this shouldn't be surprising. The uprising that I reported on last year has only intensified since I reported the book, and as I noted at the time, that uprising is both a left and right phenomenon. Indeed, the battle for the ...

Updated : Once you've read this, for a real laugh visit the Delawareliberal thread that (a) attempts to make something substantive out of this report; (b) features Cassandra intentionally missing/misrepresenting the point of this entire post; and (c) illustrating the blandness/blindness we've all come to expect from those who do not see that certain topics of legitimate political discussion are slowly edged toward the dangerous and extremist categories. Particularly revealing is the failure of DL posters to see any problem with the report's repeated insistence that returning disgruntled veterans are likely targets for extremist recruiting, which stops just an intellectual step short of recommending the profiling of discharged soldiers so that we can follow the potentially dangerous. My point below--that there is evidence of dissonant voices/dynamics in the DHS report is, sadly, pretty much beyond them. Next time, just for a few people, I'll try it with one-syllable ...

From The Pitch : Today, Missouri Department of Public Safety Director John Britt sent a letter to the candidates named in the memo [Chuck Baldwin, Ron Paul, and Bob Barr], acknowledging that references to specific political candidates or third party political organizations should not have been made and are unnecessary in the effort to stopping violent extremist groups. Director Britt states in the letter: "In recognition of the mistaken inclusion of this information by the MIAC in its February 20, 2009 report on the militia movement, I have ordered that the offending report be edited so as to excise all reference to Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin and to any third-party political organizations . Additionally, you may rest assured that the report is not posted on any website maintained by the State of Missouri. "The Missouri Department of Public Safety regrets any inconvenience or issues caused inadvertently by the unnecessary inclusion of certain components by MIAC in...

... both of whom challenged me for suggesting that the MIAC report on the modern militia movement encouraged Missouri LEOs to focus on supporters of third-party candidates. Knappster said, The report doesn't say that CP/LP/CFL/Paul/Baldwin/Barr supporters are "militia-influenced terrorists" or any other such blather. It says the reverse -- that the militia bubbas tend to be CP/LP/CFL/Paul/Baldwin/Barr supporters. cassandra said: [quoting a previous comment by liz allen]: "Yet the Missouri Police got the Alert to go after Ron Paul supporters! Thats a fact." This is NOT a fact. The Alert (and you can read every word of it) provides a briefing of militia and other extreme right groups, history, motivations, typical associations, relationships to law enforcement and other data that tell law enforcement about these kinds of groups. This Alert isn’t much different that those that law enforcement would prepare and circulate about known or suspected gangs in the area....