Wesley Howe

I got a copy of a document that was prepared by out U.S. Homeland Security, a “lexicon” of “extremists”. I will also refer to the fact that Michael Savage, a talk radio show personality, was banned from travel to the U.K. for his positions. Certainly, if you believe that freedom of speech and association are Constitutional rights, think of ideas being defined as indicators of  suspicious activity.

This is not a healthy trend. People that belong to groups that have done nothing wrong will get lumped together with genuine extremists in a guilt-by-association. You could find your travel restricted, be wiretapped and have your movements secretly tracked (by electronic or physical surveillance).

While the general theme is to prevent violence from extremists, the scope of what they are on the alert for is wide-ranging. Some of the parts of the document I find unnerving classify people for being having such views as:

“They believe animals are sentient creatures that experience emotional, physical, and mental awareness and deserve many of the same rights as human beings;”

“A movement of groups or individuals who are vehemently opposed to illegal immigration, particularly along the U.S. southwest border with Mexico”

“A term used by black separatists to promote the unification and separate identity of persons of black or African American descent”

“Groups or individuals who believe that whites—Caucasians—are intellectually and morally superior to other races”

“A movement of groups or individuals who do not recognize the legitimacy of the Communist Cuban Government”

“A movement of groups or individuals that embraces anticapitalist, Communist, or Socialist doctrines”

“A rightwing extremist movement composed of groups or individuals who adhere to an antigovernment ideology often incorporating various conspiracy theories.”

“Groups or individuals who vehemently believe taxes violate their constitutional rights. Among their beliefs are that wages are not income, that paying income taxes is voluntary, and that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed Congress to levy taxes on income, was not properly ratified.”

“Religious extremist groups predisposed toward violence. These groups often stockpile weapons, conduct paramilitary training, and share a paranoid interpretation of current world events, which they often associate with the end of the world.”

“A term used by white supremacists to emphasize what they perceive as the uniquely white (European) heritage of the United States.”

Are you sympathetic to any of the above causes? Have you gone to any tea parties or other demonstrations? Did you send a check to any groups that might be characterized above?

Read another excerpt from the document that should make you very afraid:

(U) Reporting Notice:
(U) DHS encourages recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and the FBI.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 8:13 am and is filed under Randomness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.