Threat of Right Wing Extremism Rising

CNN reported today on the growing threat of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism on the rise in America as a result of the election of our first African American president.

Of course anyone paying attention has seen the signs since Obama was nominated, with the FBI reporting a sharp increase in the number of assassination threats from day one of his candidacy.

But some on the far-right either want to sweep this news under the rug, or they are in denial about some of the less savory elements of our society.

conservative radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock was not persuaded. "If the Bush administration had done this to left-wing extremists, it would be all over the press as an obvious trampling of the First Amendment rights of folks and dissent," he told CNN.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, CNN did not do their full research when printing this story, because Bush DID name left-wing groups as a domestic terrorist threat when he was president!

The extreme right-wing likes to think they are perfect citizens, somehow singled out and always the victims, but its a fake victim mentality. Perhaps they are too self-absorbed in their own angst to recognize and understand what is happening around them. The ironic thing for people like Mr. Hedgecock who either ignore the facts or deny them, Bush conveniently left out right-wing extremists on his domestic terror threat report because they have ties to the Republican Party,

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not include extreme right-wing groups, some of which have ties to the Republican Party, on its list of potential terrorist threats, according to a report last month by the Congressional Quarterly, a publication with high-level sources in Congress and the federal government.

Is it all starting to make sense now? The article continues,

"It is remarkable that there is no mention of the anti-abortion, militia, racist and homophobic groups that do not “publicly ... promote nonviolence,” but rather openly advocate the killing of blacks, gays, abortion providers and government workers. Moreover, these groups have acted on their words.

Fascist, racist and anti-abortion groups are responsible for nearly all the terrorist attacks in the United States—with the exception of September 11, 2001—over the past two decades. These include the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people, as well as bombings of abortion clinics and assassination of abortion providers, and multiple cases of individual rampages, like that of Benjamin Smith, who went on a killing spree directed at blacks, Jews and immigrants in 1999."

We must acknowledge that we have elements in our society that are broken and have been for a long time. I accept that believing in free speech means hateful people like this can say whatever they want short of inciting violence. But when they make threats on the President, or on any American citizens or places, they should be taken as seriously as any other terrorist group.

Thanks for your time,
D. Tree