Posted on 04/20/2009 8:39:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Janet Napolitano continues to thrash around for any rationalization she can find for the DHS report that painted political organizing on abortion, federalism, and immigration as potential national-security threats and called returining military vets a danger to the country they served. Yesterday on CNN, Napolitano tried explaining that the DHS doesn’t see these vets as threats. The DHS sees them as saps who don’t know any better than to fall into extremist traps:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday portrayed veterans as victims – not perpetrators – of right-wing extremism as she sought to combat the political controversy arising out of an April 14 Homeland Security memo warning that returning soldiers could be ripe for domestic terrorism participation.
“The report is not saying that veterans are extremists. Far from it,” Napolitano said on CNN’s State of the Union. “What it is saying is returning veterans are targets of right-wing extremist groups that are trying to recruit those to commit violent acts within the country. We want to do all we can to prevent that.”
Yes, the poor dears are victims that obviously can’t decide themselves not to join violent groups … none of which the report bothers to name, by the way. Unlike the report on left-wing extremism, which names several known groups with track records of violence, the DHS report that Napolitano continues to defend never bothers to name an actual threat. Instead, it repeatedly states that DHS has no data on actual threats:
The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues.
And how does the DHS identify “domestic rightwing* terrorists”?
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. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
So the Federalist Society has gone from being a group that follows the Constitutional tradition to being a potentially dangerous extremist group! And what did the report actually say about veterans? Page 2, the first mention of veterans in the report, makes veterans sound more like perps than victims:
The possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.
That doesn’t say that terrorist groups will exploit senseless veterans and trick them into becoming violent terrorists. It presumes that veterans have a predisposition to become violent extremists because of the difficulties that they have “reintegrating into their communities.” It’s the latest corollary to the every-Vietnam-vet-is-a-powderkeg belief. It’s not until two pages later that the report mentions the issue of recruitment and radicalization. And on page 8, we get this rather large section header: (U) Disgruntled Military Veterans
Napolitano is not only condescending towards veterans in her latest rationalization, she’s being completely dishonest about the way the DHS assessment treats returning combat vets. The report identifies them as a potential national-security threat to the country which they defended on the front lines.
DHS needs to stick to watching the groups themselves, and not people exercising their First Amendment rights and returning military veterans. In fact, the first thing Napolitano should do is to actually get threat data, instead of making up a bunch of scare stories about political dissent while not bothering to identify actual known racist and white-supremacist groups with track records of violence who should be watched.
3 years and 9 months to the day more of this and then I HOPE we CHANGE to another President!
Nothing worries corrupt politicians more than able citizens.
“3 years and 9 months to the day more of this and then I HOPE we CHANGE to another President!”
Yeah, to someone who actually RESPECTS our veterans:
SARAH PALIN, 2012!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO YEAH!!!!!!!!
Did you know that n 1991, while a partner with the private Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, Napolitano served as an attorney for Anita Hill.
Hey hey ho ho
napolitano’s got to go
That all depends on the capons running the GOP nationally.
If Boehner, McConnell, Steele et al have their way, we will be looking at another four years of this jackass after 2012, simply because they refuse to take advantage of political vulnerabilities.
At least we know what side the military will be on, when this administration causes all hell to break loose in this country.
Vets have nothing to be upset about - unless you think the Obama plan to make them pay their own medical bills for combat injuries would irritate them. They might be a little vexed about the VA determining that they weren’t going to pay disability for hearing loss because it would be too expensive due to the number of claims. Maybe they got wound up about the budget cuts that will have them fighting with outdated equipment. It could be that the budget cuts eliminated crucial training and sends GIs into combat without ever having conducted live fire with the equipment they operate.
Figures.
and yet we are into Week 2 of this scandal without a single elected Republican calling for her ouster
It's the 'Civilian national security corps, as powerful and as well-funded as the military' that we might be concerned about.
If this wasn’t so very sad, it would be funny. She has Joe Biden disease........
Maybe she could arrest one right off the plane ...
http://dailytimes.com/story.lasso?ewcd=515c7e1b01b3207a
Tivy grad turned soldier returns from Kuwait
About 85 well-wishers welcomed home a Tivy High School graduate recently, following his 10-month deployment to Kuwait.
The celebration, organized by the soldier’s mother, Delores Goodloe, of Kerrville, took place April 4 at Carver Park and came somewhat as a surprise for Army Reserves Sgt. Marlon “Jocko” Goodloe, 37.
“I was expecting a little get-together, a few friends, nothing at that level. Wow,” he said, earlier this week.
While the soldier’s decision to join the military came as no surprise to his mother, she said she’s proud all the same. Goodloe’s father, Dorsey Battles, of Georgia, is a retired Air Force officer. Also, his grandfather, uncles and cousins served in the military.
As is his wife?
Can I assume all liberals are potential terrorists bases on Ayers?
If I "profiled" you back - wondered how you could self identify with Bill Ayers - would you find it “hateful”? Or just stupid?
They’re still searching for their gonads with hands and a mirror and coming up empty!!
>Napolitano is not only condescending towards veterans in her latest rationalization, she’s being completely dishonest about the way the DHS assessment treats returning combat vets. The report identifies them as a potential national-security threat to the country which they defended on the front lines.
Perhaps they fear them marching into the houses and arresting them for Treason... and there is certainly enough evidence to set some hanging. (Murtha’s slander of then uninvestigated & untried marines who were IN A WAR-ZONE and ACTING ON THE ROE! {you always have the right to defend yourself; you always have the right to defend US forces... except when a Congressman might see you. [/sarc]}, The stand against regulation by Franks & Dodd {On record} who then blame the current ‘catastrophic’ economic crisis on deregulation {also on record} refusing so much as an ‘I was wrong’; many of the sitting members of Congress who, amidst their constituents calling in a 300:1 raite AGAINST the first bailout, refused to even slow-down/think and passed it anyway {and it is being used as an excuse to rob more taxpayer monies!}, Also the Federal Judges who ruled that Murtha’s slander WAS protected by law {He is NOT an employee; we can fire employees. The immunity for speech only applies to senitors/representitives for the speech/debate IN THE HOUSES... not as public, on-record news-press statements.} )
Hell, maybe _I_ should become a USSC judge... at least I can read and look up the meanings of words! [/disgust]
That’s BEAUTIFUL!!!!
They ARE a bunch of capons and eunuchs!!!!!
“Napolitano: Returning VEts too Stupid to Avoid Extremists”
Maybe, Uh, Y’ow, uh, we’re, uh, not as, uh, ya know, as, er, uh, um, articulate, as, uh, er, y’ow, our, ah, y’ow, new, uh, president, ya know?
IMHO
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