Congratulations! You May Already Be A Terrorist!

Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment

While there is no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are planning acts of violence, such acts could come from unnamed "rightwing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, abortion, increasing federal power and restrictions on firearms -- and singled out returning war veterans as susceptible to recruitment.

Do you believe that government policies are immoral and infringe on individual liberty? That gun control violates your rights? That the government is violating the principles of the Constitution? That the government violates the principles of your religion? If so, the government already considers you a terrorist and wants you under surveillance.

Do you believe gun control is a way to remove our ability to protect ourselves?  Do you believe the Bill of Rights protects God-given rights, as opposed to granting rights from the government?  Do you believe U.S. sovereignty is threatened by the actions and actors at the United Nations?  

Questions and Ideas you should think to yourself:

Ø You should realize you are a terrorist before anyone gets hurt

Ø You will not receive a reward if you turn yourself in

Ø Did you attend a right-wing protest called a “Tea-Party?”

Congratulations.  You might be a domestic terrorist.

Janet Napolitano

Department of Homeland Security

* It goes without saying that holding any or all of the opinions mentioned above doesn't make you a terrorist.  But according to some, these beliefs may indicate you're a terrorist.  In fact, it might be enough to make you a "suspected terrorist."  And, under legislation proposed by Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, and opinions held by Janet Napolitano (head of The Department of Homeland Security) and President-Elect Obama, you may already be a terrorist, and not even know it!

None of the “protestors” admitted to having ever gathered for such a purpose before, and as such many weren’t sure what to do.  I saw several people taking notes—what a very “conservative” thing to do.  The procession walked by a hotel on the beach patronized by traveling businessmen—the procession received a hearty applause as it passed from several men in business suits who came out for that single purpose. 

Here is the report from Provo, Utah.  

Awesome!  I attended the tea party last night in Provo -- it was my first real involvement in a peaceful protest against oppressive government and taxation without representation.  I also sent some letters to Congressmen pleading with them to pay attention to what is going on and urging them to pass an amendment to hold Congress appropriations to a balanced and limited budget with clauses restraining the abusive use of "emergencies" to thwart such restrictions.  Even an individual or family in a crisis should have enough sense to not rack up the credit card!

I ended up holding a sign that said "F.A. Hayek was correct, THE ROAD TO SERFDOM is paved with good intentions (taxes)". I put the Russian hammer and sickle in the first "O", the swastika inside the first "D", the Chinese communist yellow star on a red background inside the second "O" and the Obama campaign logo inside the last "O".  I'll try to get a picture of it soon to send you.  Many fellow protestors complimented my sign so that fulfilled my own need to feel heard (my little bit of vanity if you will) -- some signs were elaborate while most were put together in haste (e.g. marking pen on cardboard).  I made mine over lunch.

Did you see the video of a CNN reporter interviewing a man holding his infant and trying to discuss how Obama purporting to be like Abraham Lincoln was shameful since Lincoln would never have condoned Socialism.  She basically curtailed the interview and implied that the rally was full of right wing nut jobs that only such radical media stations like Fox news would give voice to.  It was very revealing of how liberal the media has become.  This man was obviously agitated, but very composed and collected and obviously a family man, yet the media was trying to paint him in the same light as a flag burning neo-nazi .  Rather quite shameful.

Report from Bremerton:

Our quickly organized (NOTHING had been available before last Saturday) TEA Party on the Bremerton Boardwalk this evening amazed us.  We thought if 20 people showed up we'd be ahead of the game.  There were over 200 (we guesstimated).  They were exuberant, well behaved, knowledgeable, focused, articulate, and utterly spontaneous.  Only one blemish.  A 50+ probable Haight-Asbury 60's alumni, possibly a street person, who introduced himself as a professional harmonica player (and he had a belt harness with 4 or 5 harmonicas to prove it!) gained access to the microphone (since we didn't have any speakers planned to address the crowd, we allowed volunteers from the crowd to speak briefly on the subject at hand) and he began to harangue the folks for disrespecting the President, being traitors and rabble rousers and generally being WRONG about everything from choice of breakfast cereal to footwear.  People quietly permitted him to express his opinion for probably more than 30 seconds when it became clear that he was interested in disruption rather than persuasion and was seeking press attention.  Then the crowd simply began chanting " USA , USA , USA " until he was asked to permit the next in line to speak.  The next in line quipped, "I wonder how much the harmonica player paid in taxes this year", and the little old grandmother with bad knees sitting at the sign-in table with the petitions and handouts piped up, "probably less than $250,000".  We both nodded in acceptance of the applause, and the moment moved along.  For a quickly put together event, it turned out quite well.  A little bonus was the fact that the Governor's office was hosting a conference of the mayors from around the state in the conference rooms at the convention center overlooking the boardwalk at that time.  Keep in mind that the tallest building in Bremerton can only be five stories high, so they were NOT up there too high to hear us, and they must have been curious about who we were and what we were there for.  But they were not the focus of our attention, so most backs were towards them.  Anyway, I am glad that I made it out and enjoyed meeting so many nice folk.  Including the man who introduced himself as a "reformed extreme Liberal". 

At one point one of the impromptu speakers at the Bremerton TEA Party said it was the first time she'd EVER done anything like this and asked how many of the rest of us were also first timers.  It was overwhelmingly the majority, perhaps unanimous.  NO paid demonstrators in the group.  No professional activists.  Otherwise, they seemed to be a pretty diverse group.  All parties, differing views of other issues, but mostly obviously law abiding polite people.  And when that WWII vet offered to lead the singing of the National Anthem and that crowd SANG together WITH THEIR HANDS ON THEIR HEARTS, it was so moving.  More than just my eyes were being wiped by the end.  And every chin was raised.  It is a military town, after all.  And at least three of the speakers were active duty, set for redeployment to Iraq .  They each thanked the crowd for their support of our troops and for coming out to this event.  They really didn't seem like threats to Homeland Security to me.

Obama also said that the government would pump $6 billion more into the auto industry—if GM put a “for sale” sign on its front door, I’m not convinced that there would be any takers at $6 billion—save Obama and his magical, endless bag of money. 

Obama said that he doesn’t want the government running GM—but he and his advisors will only allow it to operate if they approve the new restructuring plan.  This sounds a lot like ‘running’ it to me.  At the very least, they will be responsible for the new direction each car company takes, that agrees to both government help and to the government’s restructuring policies. 

For those unfamiliar with the "8th Grade Final Exam" currently circulating the web, here is the link:
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

Here is the 2009 edition:

1.  Name 3 ways you can reduce global warming.

2.  Illustrate (please, do not draw) how Al Gore changed your life.

3.  Explain why it is okay for a woman to abort a fetus in the 3^rd trimester, and why capital punishment is not okay for a person allegedly convicted for murder.

4.  We have learned how important the ‘Separation of Church and State’ is to our country and that there is no place for god or the american flag in schools.  Please illustrate (please, do not draw) how Islam is a religion of peace, and list at least three ways that Islam is better than christianity.  Describe the Iranian flag ( * extra credit for bringing an Iranian flag to class).

Math

1.  If Tom has a bucket that holds 3 gallons, and Michelle has a bucket that holds 2 gallons, how many buckets are there?

Grammar

1.  Punctuate this sentence using non-standard (non-cellphone) grammar rules:

            i will walk 2 schl 2day bc my bike is @ my bfs house

Literature

1.  “Romeo and Juliet’ is a famous play, written in verse, that contains a quintessential use of dramatic structure beginning with a 14-line prologue in the form of a sonnet.  Choose the best answer below:

a. The author’s name is Billy Shakespear.

b. The author’s name is Britney Shakespears.

c. The author’s name is William Shakespeare.

d. The author’s name is J.K. Rowling.

Geography

1. Name the city and state in which your school is located. 

* This test is open-book

Did anyone catch the “Watch it Live” of Obama’s presence in Virginia today? I saw two people ask Obama questions at the pulpit. The second person was a dorky-looking 19 year old, dressed in full McDonald’s uniform, complete with sideways turned hat. I wondered why he wasn’t at work. He said he had been working at McDonald’s for 4 ½ years, which makes me wonder if there are child labor laws in Virginia, and is going to school. He didn’t elaborate; we can assume that he isn’t attending the University of Virginia on an academic scholarship. After professing his unbelief for the opportunity to speak to Obama (even Obama thought it was over the top, he interrupted his proselytization with “Do you have a question.”). He wanted to know, “Is there anyway you can make McDonald’s pay more?” 

I wanted to scream. Sure, I would answer, if McDonald’s raises their prices on everything, then they can pay more. That’s one way. If you work harder, get promoted, that’s another. One thing reality doesn’t provide is a way to make more money out of nothing, which is what he is after. Obama is encouraging it. It seems like a reverse pyramid scheme—everyone is scrambling to take (be given) whatever they can get, bailouts, houses, vouchers, and the buck is passed on, and on, until at some point, there won’t be anyone left to pay for it.

It’s one thing to encourage the whiners, beggars, and perpetual welfare recipients—we have to deal with this every time a Democrat takes office, but it is compounded now with a Democratic House and Senate—but Obama is taking it a step further by legislating it. Once these programs are instituted, it will take decades to reverse them—if even possible. What I fear in the meantime is not only the bankrupting of America, but also the ‘land grab’ that is occurring, which will surely strip America to its very core.

2) "The Promise of German/American life is to be fulfilled -- not merely by a maximum amount of economic freedom, but by a certain measure of discipline; not merely by the abundant satisfaction of individual desires, but by a large measure of individual subornation and self-denial....The automatic fulfillment of the American/German national Promise is to be abandoned, if at all, precisely because the traditional German/American confidence in individual freedom has resulted in a morally and socially undesirable distribution of wealth."

3) "It combats the selfish spirit within and around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility."

4) "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other."

Random thought

There are so many topics to comment upon—where to begin.  Following on the heels of gas prices is Obama, and the typical Democrat/Socialist demagoguery that threatens the foundations on which this country was formed.  As in criminal cases, we need only “follow the money.”  This is the typical starting place for “change”—though it is only the starting place. 

One need only look to California for guidance—it is the most populous state in the union and has a GDP of many large countries.  What happens when one targets a few, for the betterment of the many?  We raise capital gains taxes while lowering (or nullifying) taxes on the poor to reach economic equanimity; but at what price?  As we are now experiencing in California, when Google has a bad year, we are in trouble.  We cannot put the economic burden solely on less than 1% of the population, and then panic when there is no more money. 

But this is the 1% of the issue that we see.  Like we see all across the nation, with each targeted group—they are picking us off one by one.  Martin Niemöller’s words may have reached the dreaded cliché status, but we should remember them now and take them as an aphorism of guidance—remembrance of another aphorism that holds more dust than the chancellery building; remember history or you are doomed to repeat it. 

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,

habe ich geschwiegen;

ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,

habe ich geschwiegen;

ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,

habe ich nicht protestiert;

ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,

habe ich geschwiegen;

ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,

gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

They say money is evil; and for the those who do not posses it, this may be a readily held belief—prejudiced as it may be.  But money is an easy target—we can see its beneficiaries abound.  But when they come for the capitalists, who will speak out?