Friday, July 10, 2009

Democrats Push to Brand Partisan Opponents as 'Hate Groups'

From the Washington Examiner, "Political Opposition Is Not a Hate Crime":
What's wrong with this picture? The federal government spends billions on homeland security, but apparently can't stop foreigners from illegally crossing the border or overstaying their visas. The Obama administration wants to bring violent terrorists captured overseas to the mainland and close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Yet in the latest bizarre twist, legislation quietly making its way through Congress would give the White House power to categorize political opponents as hate groups and even send Americans to detention centers on abandoned military bases.

Rep. Alcee Hastings - the impeached Florida judge Nancy Pelosi tried to install as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee until her own party members rebelled - introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that gives Attorney General Eric Holder sole discretion to label groups that oppose government policy on guns, abortion, immigration, states' rights, or a host of other issues. In a June 25 speech on the House floor, Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, blasted the idea: "This sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as 'extremists.'"
Whoa. I guess the discredited DHS “right-wing extremism” report wasn't enough for the Obamaniacs.

More from the Examiner: It turns out that Representative Hastings is also sponsoring additional legislation that proposes to "legally declare someone a 'domestic terrorist' and send them to a government-run camp." You know what? That buzz on the "FEMA concentration camps" doesn't quite sound so "baseless."

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.

Added: Ed Morrissey, "The Lock-Up-Your-Opponents Bills of 2009?" Also, Cold Fury, "Farewell, America; It Was Nice While It Lasted" (via Memeorandum).

2 comments:

Dave said...

I have been telling people, especially conservatives, for years that all this PC bullshit nonsense was designed, and will be used to, ultimately stifle dissent in this country by the left.

All I ever get are blank stares and mumbled assurances that "Oh, no, that could never happen here," even from a lot of people who should know better.

One of these days (and probably a lot sooner than many think), the goober-cheeses who waddle around in the halls of congress are going to tuck a bill like this in behind 2,347 pages of some stupid farm bill that just absolutely, positively has to be passed overnight.

Nobody will know anything about it until they try to log in to their own conservative blog or favorite conservative website, and see "ACCESS DENIED," or turn on Fox News and see a test pattern, or tune in to their favorite talk radio station and hear dead air.

What is so difficult to understand about the concept that, in Obama's New Amerika, dissent will not be tolerated?

-Dave

The Vegas Art Guy said...

Gee what a shock. Not...

The far left is concerned with only one thing, getting and keeping power by any means necessary.