Apr 15 2009
DHS Lynch Mob Forming, Go Get Them Cons!
Update: DHS responds, conservatives could care less as they prepare for the lynching:
“Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don´t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence,” Ms. Napolitano said.
“We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not — nor will we ever — monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources,” Ms. Napolitano said.
– end update
As I feared this whole DHS mess is getting out of hand. I had to read over at Daily KoS (ugh, that sucked) that Newt Gingrich is calling for the people who wrote this report to be fired. Anyway, for all the drama queens on the right the lynch mob is now forming. Go gather your pitchforks.
The irony here has gone from funny to tragic. The last gasp of rationalization the conservative flame throwers have for their anger is the DHS report was vague (and as we learned was made vague by other Feds asking that certain groups not be named for valid reasons). Through this rational the right is now throwing vague and unsubstantiated charges (in fact, the evidence proves they are completely wrong), claiming DHS vagueness is a license for them to be vague when they smear.
OK, folks. Go get those traitors at DHS who have worked tirelessly to keep us safe!
Gingrich is living out the apocryphal story told of Robespierre, during the French revolution. The story goes that he was sitting in a Paris cafe when he heard a disturbance outside. Jumping to his feet he cried, “There goes the mob. I am their leader. I must follow them!â€
Gingrich has become almost a parody of his former self. He had his opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and statesmanship in the 1990s — over a decade ago — and after a good start with the Contract with America, he failed. He was corrupted, politically and morally, by his time in DC and he still hungers for the power he will never have. One can only wish he would go quietly into the good night — or at least take on only the role of a strategic thinker (something at which he was once brilliant and could be again) and permanently eschew any personal ambition.
Maybe these, they thought they were “leaders” need to go down in flames. Any excuse will do.
Obama thinks he is going to remake the American economy, so that the middle class will prosper, and those who “made” it in the past will get their comeuppance, he has a few economic lessons to learn as well. I wish he would articulate what the new economy built on a rock would look like, and how he intends to make those with wealth pay. That would be an interesting discussion. I don’t think he will let us in on the program as he sees it. AND THAT MY FRIEND IS WHY NOBODY WILL SPEND A PENNY THEY DON’T NEED TO. Until he puts his vision out, Americans will not spend, local and state governments will not collect taxes and neither will the Feds. The hole will get deeper until someone in his government wakes up.
I don’t support firing these guys–I believe that they should be reprimanded for putting out a useless report that raised the questions in the first place.
Cutting and pasting talking points from the SPLC, Code Pink, and Handgun Control, Inc. is not “research.”
kathie – when he does put his vision out, the pitchforks will come out and people will hide their money. I don’t think there is ultimately any appetite in this country for socialism once people realize there is no free lunch and that you can’t go on very long with a very small portion of the citizenry paying almost all of the bill – as is now the case and as will become even more pronounced.
Gingrich, in my opinion, is simply trying to stay in the spotlight. After all, he has a career to maintain and he needs to stay controversial in order to be invited to appear in various places.
Does anyone really believe that any significant portion of the population of the US takes Newt seriously these days? He knows who is most ardent supporters are and he feeds them with what they want to hear. How much does Newt make per speaking engagement and who are the people who hire him to speak?
I wouldn’t take the stuff that comes out of right-wing echo chambers with any more credibility than the stuff coming out of the ones on the left (like Kos).
From http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/04/15/napolitano_homeland_security/
Judge Andrew Napolitano, hardly a right wing extremist:
“6. My guess is that the sentiments revealed in the report I read are the tip of an iceberg that the DHS would prefer to keep submerged until it needs to reveal it. This iceberg is the heavy-hand of government; a government with large and awful eyes, in whose heart there is no love for freedom, and on whose face there is no smile.”
AJ, based on what I have seen and know, I concur with the Judge.
Yes, its clear that DHS did help keep us safe for the past 8 years, but know there are news voices, new policies, new enemies that are seem by the new people at DHS. This is the troubling thing. This new direction, this new focus, this new ideology, this leftest president and his far left appointees. This is a problem for DHS and could be a problem for the country.
What terrence said
I think Meghan McCain has taken over writing for AJ
Terrence44,
Better idea. You take a hike from my blog! Can I help you out, which way did you come in?
Why is it that Obamites calling moderates and conservatives terrorists is “ok” and they are so ‘right’, but if the moderates or conservatives complain, they are off the deep end. Oh well, I guess the deep end looks different if you are on the bottom vs the top.
Strange how someone can be so right on global warming, escr, religion and _______________________.
Redteam,
The chances of me being right on Able Danger, NSA-FISA, Iraq, Global Warming, Stem Cells, the implosion of the GOP on immigration reform and wrong on this are pretty damn slim.
But you know what – time will tell. As I noted many times, I am actually holding the drama queen right to the exact same standard I held the drama queen left on NSA-FISA.
Not my fault the right decided to go idiotic like the left.
Redteam,
One other thing – I have been proven right on this matter and Michelle knows it. We both got the same emails where highly respected conservative bloggers with DHS contacts agreed that there was no effort to target the mainstream conservatives, this is not an Obama admin report, etc.
Michelle has been proven wrong in her claims. I have the emails between a lot of well known bloggers.
The point is, per others who have done the digging, I was not wrong on this either. But those who leveled the untrue charges have not recanted or apologized.
So how does it feel to be lied to and made the gullible fool like that?
Thanks for leaving and raising the quality of the debate Terrence!
AJ, maybe you should read this. It seems the top Democrat overseeing DHS is upset about this report, too.
When the top Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee start reaching for the pitchforks and torches, maybe there really is a problem somewhere.
Here is a better link
AJ, can you tell me what is the story about Ms. Brooks at the Defense Dept.? I am very alarmed about her being there but I could be wrong.
IVE……you can google Rosa Brooks, also find at HOTAIR, ED Morrissey wrote about her. she is alarming, needs no conformation.
Rosa Brooks: We need government-owned newspapers
posted at 2:15 pm on April 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Thanks, Kathie! I was wondering, also, if AJ had any “inside baseball” info on Ms. Brooks…