Citing perceived threats from internal terrorist groups, US Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano defended a politically explosive intelligence document issued by her agency, according to this April 16 The Washington Times report. Among the report’s incendiary verbiage were associations of “rightwing extremism” with opposition to abortion and immigration, as well as unfortunate linkages, without qualification, of “white supremacy” and abortion, inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. From the document:
* (U) Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration. (footnote, page 2 of 9)
Prominent among these themes were the militia movement’s opposition to gun control efforts, criticism of free trade agreements (particularly those with Mexico), and highlighting perceived government infringement on civil liberties as well as white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion, inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. (page 4 of 9)
At the very least, the Department could have displayed more sensitivity to Americans of goodwill who also feel strongly about these issues yet do not resort to violence.
You can access the entire document here.
[...] I reported here and here, the Department of Homeland Security’s classification of pro-life and other activities as [...]