Radical Right -- The Very Real Threat Of Extremism

June 11, 2009

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers, and Brad Johnson

RADICAL RIGHT

The Very Real Threat Of Extremism

Yesterday's tragic shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, by an "88-year-old white supremacist," is the latest in a string of right-wing extremist attacks. The number of hate groups such as the "Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, racist skinheads and Black separatists" operating in the United States is at an all-time high, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Moreover, gun purchases since President Obama's election surged. However, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declassified a report "detailing potential increases in right-wing extremism" in April, right-wing commentators and Republican politicians decried the report as a politically motivated attack on all conservatives. They claimed that "the Obama administration is targeting conservatives and others simply because they disagree with administration policies and proposals." Ignoring that the report -- like a similar one describing the threat of left-wing extremists -- was commissioned by the Bush administration, conservatives called for the resignation of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Media Matters Action Fund's Matt Finkelstein asks, "Will Republicans admit that their partisan 'outrage' was misplaced?"

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: The declassified DHS report warned, "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." The report further warned, "The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment." This description reflected recent extremist violence, including the July 2008 shooting spree in a Knoxville church "because of its liberal teachings," a thwarted attempt to assassinate Obama in October by two neo-Nazi skinheads, and "a racially motivated rape and murder spree in Brockton, MA" by a 22-year-old white supremacist the "day after Barack Obama was inaugurated." Since the report was issued last April, the trail of death has continued. "We have seen not only the murder of an abortion physician by a member of the radical right, but the murders of five law enforcement officers -- three police officers in Pittsburgh, two sheriff's deputies in Florida by radical right-wing extremists," SPLC's Mark Potok told CNN. "It's really been quite an extraordinary period." The Pittsburgh shooter "feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns," and the Florida killer was "severely disturbed that Barack Obama had been elected President." In an incident earlier this month, a "lone wolf" American Muslim extremist "shot and killed Army Pvt. William Long" outside a Little Rock, AR, mall in anger over the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

CONSERVATIVES VS. EXTREMISTS: Conservative politicians led the attack on the DHS report. Both House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) called it "offensive." Others went further: Gun advocate Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) claimed "the report has no intelligence value and only serves to blur our constitutional protections, such as the Second Amendment," and Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) argued that "it looks like the extremists are those running the DHS." "What is the Department of Homeland Security calling us now?" Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) asked at an April 15 tea party protest. "Extremists? Well, give me a button." "Now if you disagree with that liberal path that President Obama's taken the country down," Fox News' Sean Hannity claimed, "you may soon catch the attention of the Department of Homeland Security." Texas Rep. John Carter (R-TX), after demanding Napolitano's firing on the House floor, told Politico, "Singling out political opponents for working against the ruling party is precisely the tactic of every tyrannical government from Red China to Venezuela." As Mother Jones's James Ridgeway observed, "Conservatives haven't been branded dangerous extremists by DHS or the Obama administration; they've branded themselves."

'WARNING US FOR A REASON': Following the Holocaust Museum shooting, two Fox News personalities, Shepard Smith and Catherine Herridge, suggested that critics of DHS's report on right-wing extremism should re-think their objections. "The right went absolutely bonkers" over the report, said Smith, adding that DHS was "warning us for a reason." Though some conservatives have concluded that the recent string of right-wing violence has "vindicated" the DHS report, many others disagree. Blogger and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin, who led the charge against the DHS report, approvingly linked to a military blogger that called Smith and Herridge "pathetic." Malkin's Hot Air colleague, Ed Morrissey, defended the criticism of the report by claiming that it didn't "mention anti-semitism at all." But as Huffington Post's Sam Stein points out, the DHS report "warned specifically about an upswing of anti-Semitic behavior." "At this point it's little consolation," CBS News's Charles Cooper observes, "but Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano turned out to be more prescient about domestic extremism than many of her critics."

HEALTH CARE -- AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION COMES OUT AGAINST PUBLIC INSURANCE PLAN: The New York Times reports today that the American Medical Association (AMA), a 250,000-member physician group, is "letting Congress know that it will oppose the creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan," which President Obama supports. The AMA "has more influence than any other group in the health industry," in part because of" its "generous campaign donations"; the group has contributed nearly $10 million to federal candidates since 2000. Historically, the group, which has a "strong lobby operation," has opposed almost every major health care reform initiative, even coining the term "socialized medicine" to better attack proponents of reform. But as the Times reports, the AMA is "not the political behemoth it once was," with many doctors becoming "so fed up with the administrative hassles of private insurance that they are looking for alternatives." Obama is set to address the group next week, but White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to say whether the President would discuss a public option in his speech. Instead, he said Obama would "outline the case for health care reform and make clear why we can't afford to wait another year, or another administration, to bring down costs that are crushing families, businesses and government." As the Progress Report has argued, "A new public health insurance plan could restore competition into the consolidated health insurance market, lower health care premiums, lead the way in innovation, and improve health quality."

While some small-business groups have opposed requiring companies to purchase health insurance for employees, the Small Business Majority has a new report concluding that "proposals now being considered by the Obama administration and Senate leaders could save small companies tens of billions of dollars a year in health care costs -- even if there is a mandate for employer coverage."

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor once described herself as 'a product of affirmative action' who was admitted to two Ivy League schools despite scoring lower on standardized tests than many classmates," according to videos released to the Senate Judiciary Committee. She also defended the value of diversity, saying, "I accept that different experiences in and of itself, bring merit to the system."

Congressional Democrats and the White House reached an agreement yesterday that will allow Guantanamo Bay detainees to be transferred to the U.S. for trial as long as they are not "jailed here permanently." If passed, the decision "would effectively ratify the administration's decision earlier this week to move" Ahmed Ghailani to New York to face capital charges for bombing the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

"The economy delivered two upbeat reports Thursday: New claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected in the most recent week, to 601,000 and May retail sales rose by the largest amount in four months."

According to RealtyTrac, "U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root." Foreclosure filings "dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record."

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the U.S., France, Britain, Russia, and China -- along with Japan and South Korea "reached agreement Wednesday on a draft U.N. resolution that condemns North Korea's recent underground nuclear test and imposes additional military, financial and trade sanctions on the communist state." The draft could be considered by the full, 15-member Security Council as early as tomorrow.

Gun-control advocates said yesterday's shooting at the Holocaust Museum "highlights the need for lawmakers to reconsider efforts to ease the District's tough gun laws and allowing firearms into national parks." "Congress should think very hard about their responsibilities for public safety before weakening gun laws in our nation's capital," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

"The Obama administration will announce plans today to tighten scrutiny of mountaintop coal mining, in an effort to reduce environmental damage from operations that shear off peaks and fill Appalachian valleys," the Washington Post reports. The policy changes will not end the practice, but are aimed at curtailing its worst impacts, according to administration officials.

And finally: MTV has announced that the 23rd season of its reality show "The Real World" will be filmed in Washington, DC. The show's creative and executive producer, Jonathan Murray, said, "Young people have never been more engaged in what's happening in this country and Washington, DC, is the perfect place for The Real World cast to express their opinions and pursue their passions." DC Mayor Adrian Fenty agreed, saying it was a "pleasure" to have the show come to the city.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin returns to spread shoddy research defending tax breaks for wealthy heirs.

Large deficits aren't a moral failing for which we need to hold someone accountable, but a potential future practical problem that needs to be solved.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) calls out Frank Luntz on the Senate floor.

Michael Steele: It's "not inflammatory" for me to say "God help you if you're a white male coming before Sotomayor."

The Iranian election is revealing some changing views toward America.

But as Iranians get ready to vote, official Washington is staying quiet about the election.

China's stunning new renewable energy standard: 20 percent by 2020.

The National Review's Jonah Goldberg tries to claim that affirmative action in college admissions is wrong -- because of slavery.

Q: Do you take some responsibility, meaning you, the Bush eight years for [the current budget deficit]? ROVE: No.
-- Karl Rove, 6/10/09, on Fox News

VERSUS

"About 33 percent of the [negative budget] swing stems from new legislation signed by Mr. Bush. ... Mr. Obama's main contribution to the deficit is his extension of several Bush policies."
-- The New York Times, 6/09/09

Think Progress

The Very Real Threat Of Extremism

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