To hear Fox News, AM radio and the GOP speak of it, you would not think there is a problem with domestic terrorism in this country. Rather, you would be convinced that all terrorism is Islamic in nature and targeted only at our FREEDOM. This is a far cry from reality, however, as there have been numerous counts of domestic terrorism both successful and thwarted in just the last 20 years. Almost all of it based on Right Wing rhetoric and politics.
But “numerous” really doesn’t capture the essence of just how much violence emanates from the Right. The Southern Poverty Law Center has compiled a handy list of incidents. It is quite long so I will just post the dates. Feel free to read the descriptions if you have a free hour or two.
Attempted or successful acts of Right Wing extremism during Clinton (missing the first two and a half years of his administration):
- July 28, 1995
- October 9, 1995
- November 9, 1995
- December 18, 1995
- January 18, 1996
- April 12, 1996
- April 26, 1996
- July 1, 1996
- July 27, 1996
- July 29, 1996
- October 8, 1996
- October 11, 1996
- January 16, 1997
- January 22, 1997
- March 26, 1997
- April 22, 1997
- April 23, 1997
- April 27, 1997
- May 3, 1997
- July 4, 1997
- December 12, 1997
- January 29, 1998
- February 23, 1998
- March 18, 1998
- May 29, 1998
- July 1, 1998
- July 30, 1998
- October 23, 1998
- June 10, 1999
- July 1, 1999
- July 2, 1999
- August 10, 1999
- November 5, 1999
- December 5, 1999
- December 8, 1999
During Bush:
- March 9, 2000
- April 28, 2000
- March 1, 2001
- April 19, 2001
- October 14, 2001
- December 5, 2001
- December 11, 2001
- January 4, 2002
- February 8, 2002
- July 19, 2002
- August 22, 2002
- October 3, 2002
- January 8, 2003
- January 18, 2003
- February 13, 2003
- April 3, 2003
- April 10, 2003
- June 4, 2003
- October 10, 2003
- April 1, 2004
- May 24, 2004
- October 13, 2004
- October 25, 2004
- May 20, 2005
- June 10, 2005
- March 19, 2006
- April 26, 2007
- June 8, 2008
- August 24, 2008
- October 24, 2008
- December 9, 2008
- December 16, 2008
- January 21, 2009
- April 4, 2009
- April 25, 2009
- May 31, 2009
- June 10, 2009
- June 12, 2009
- June 25, 2009
- Oct. 28, 2009
- Feb. 18, 2010
- March 25, 2010
- March 27-28, 2010
- April 15, 2010
- April 30, 2010
- May 10, 2010
- May 20, 2010
- June 8, 2010
- July 18, 2010
- July 21, 2010
- Sept. 2, 2010
- Sept. 7, 2010
- Sept. 19, 2010
- Jan. 14, 2011
- Jan. 17, 2011
- March 10, 2011
- May 14, 2011
- May 25, 2011
- August 24, 2011
- October 5, 2011
- November 1, 2011
Now with all of this as precedent, it is not hard to see why Homeland Security has taken to keeping a close eye on Right Wing militias and their affiliates. A few years ago, DHS released a report detailing that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan might be prime targets for this kind of groups to recruit.
Anti-immigration: “Rightwing extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence. If such violence were to occur, it likely would be isolated, small-scale, and directed at specific immigration-related targets.”
Recruiting returning vets: “Rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”
Gun-related violence: “Heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms…may be invigorating rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements.”
The reaction? The Right went insane and demanded an apology and resignations and inquiries and human sacrifices. Not a single second was spent on looking in the mirror and saying, “Hmmmm…there might be a problem here on our part.”
Skip ahead to now and the Right looks to be gearing up for another round of outraged disbelief at how DHS defines certain kinds of domestic terrorists:
(U//FOUO) Groups or individuals who facilitate or engage in acts of violence directed at federal, state, or local government officials or infrastructure in response to their belief that the government deliberately is stripping Americans of their freedoms and is attempting to establish a totalitarian regime. These individuals consequently oppose many federal and state authorities’ laws and regulations, (particularly those related to firearms ownership), and often belong to armed paramilitary groups. They often conduct paramilitary training designed to violently resist perceived government oppression or to violently overthrow the US Government.
And the Right is again deliberately misinterpreting it as an unjustified attack on their rhetoric:
So what drives militia extremism according to DHS now is “belief that the government deliberately is stripping Americans of their freedoms.” It is demonstrated by opposing “many federal and state authorities’ laws and regulations, (particularly those related to firearms ownership).” Would writing about those topics (as I am now) fall under “facilitation”? On its face, it’s hard to see how it could be excluded under DHS’s broad definition.
Well, at least they’re honest enough to admit that their fear mongering can, and does, lead to real world violence. So that’s progress of a sort. But, really, the Right will deny with its last breath that nothing they say could possibly convince people to violently lash out at the government. Even when they’ve convinced a disturbingly large percentage of the population that President Obama is a foreign born Muslim usurper that is going to take their guns away and enslave them. But how could they be held responsible for the actions of a few LONE WOLVES in completely ISOLATED INCIDENTS?
The clarion call for “personal responsibility” apparently ends with real world consequences.
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Yup, the KKK, Ayarian Nation, skin heads, and dozens of other right wing groups are just a bunch of godly, peace loving, Americans.