Right Wing Extremism on the Rise??

I think it's more than that.

BO knows that his proposals and policies are going to generate a storm of dissent from the conservatives in this country. He wants something which will deflect any real discussion and literally "change the subject" of public discussion. What better device than a "report" that claims it's all due to "right-wing extremism"? This whole episode is a pre-preemptive strike at legitimate discussion and dissent of the changes BO wants to make. It doesn't matter that the report doesn't cite evidence or even assert facts, most people (and the media certainly won't make the distinction) won't read it, they will only remember the headline; "Right-wing Extremism on the Rise". And they will simply attribute any resistance to Mr. Obama's agenda as the KKK and other racists acting up.

It's a typical Liberal, Left-wing smear campaign to inoculate themselves against any criticism and any attempt to use logic and factual data to counter what they want to do. I noticed they were careful to specifically mention additional firearms restrictions, as if these were reasonable and needed legislative measures; that's a very masterful attempt to portray the NRA as a bunch of "right-wing extremists" and any arguments against new firearms restrictions as then rantings of extremists and white-supremacists.

 

They probably did, but that's not really relevant. It's the opinions and conclusions (in lieu of any real data) which matter and those belong to the current administration.

What passes for the "far right" in the rest of the world is center of the road here, so that really doesn't mean much in this country. What the report is actually implying is that extremism has been growing in this country and warns that economic factors and certain policies that the BO administration intends to employ (like more gun control) will cause those extremists to dissent, possibly through violence, against the government. It is a pretty transparent attempt to paint the political opposition in this country as potential criminals, or at least wild-eyed fanatics. By contrast, the BO camp will use the media to portray themselves as the voice of moderation and reason.

It's an old trick.

 

Heh heh, I was insulting Janet by calling her a he ;-))

But seriously, now I also begin to wonder when "WE" all are going to get "OUR" slices of "THAT" stimulus pie?

 

UGHhhhh, I never could stand that grinning Baboon biden more effectionally known as "Teeth."

 

Hi DA, I can't find any fault of what you said here-and in fact-I completely concur with you on it. Smear campaign indeed, and I also think that those scumbage are also going to make it a vague description of how they can also go about placing more and more people in prison--just because they will not conform to wearing the same brand of underwear oa Jethrobama Bodines wears. Somehow, when Okrah Winfrey got her paws into this thing by suggesting this dork run for prez to begin with.

Are there any Reagans left in this Country? If so, we need you NOW.

 

Hi DA, I can't find any fault of what you said here-and in fact-I completely concur with you on it. Smear campaign indeed, and I also think that those scumbaggios are also going to make it a vague description of how they can also go about placing more and more people in prison--just because they will not conform to wearing the same brand of underwear as Jethrobama Bodine wears. Somehow, when Okrah Winfrey got her paws into this thing by suggesting this dork run for prez to begin with-somehow I knew we were in for it.

Are there any Reagans left in this Country? If so, we need you NOW.

 

I'm not entirely sure this makes sense. What you seem to be saying is that what the rest of the world (well, the west anyhow) regards as dangerous right wing extremeism is actually quite normal middle of the road stuff in the US and therefore it isn't a problem. That doesn't really make sense to me, I mean isn't it a bit like someone in Germany in 1939 saying 'what the rest of the world regards as an extreme racial policy is pretty middle of the road over here so it isn't a problem.'

Just because something is fairly normal, doesn't mean it is right.

That said, I take your point on this as a 'smoke and mirrors' effort by the government, though I wonder how much this is a part of it as this document was never meant for public circulation even if it is rather 'convenient' that it did find it's way to the public eye. That said, is a rise on the extreme right not a bad thing? If it is actually happenning (as it is throughout the world, so it probably is in the US) should we not be aware of it and prepared to deal with it?

 

Well that's very true of course, but even if there's reassurances of that - which I don't think there has been - it doesn't really mean much does it?

Take our recent pile of Anti-Terrorism legislation, quite reasonable concerns were expressed about it being applied out of context, reassurances given and this year we've seen an MP arrested under them as well as that bizarre pile of raids in the last week which rounded up over 100 students planning a protest at a power station who were all released without charge, but not without first questioning them about terrorism including the remarkable "Are you proud of being a terrorist?"

Misguided plod or someting more sinister?

I think here, as well as the rest of Europe, far-right is more an understated version of extremist or neo-nazi, that's the jackbooted, Hitler saluting type.

I'd like to claim you're wrong, but I do recognise the manipulation which you suggest. It sounds like the same used to reduce dissent in the UK, however we've not got freedoms enshrined in any real form of constitution so it's very much business as usual for us. However for a nation which actually enjoys it's freedom quite evidently I do understand the concern.

No it's not. You know as well as I do that simply equating something to Nazi Germany is a cheap trick to score points over idiots. It's not really going to work here is it mate?

 

I agree, but I'm not sure this is the same thing is it? The 'climate of fear' created by the war on terror has certainly been used to take away civil liberties (habeas corpus? What's that?) but don't think this is being used to crack down on those who oppose the government. That said, if it is then you really do reap what you sow. As I was saying on another thread, it is all very well saying 'it's fine to hold people without trial because they are dangerous extremists' right until the government starts to define you as a dangerous extremeist.

True but the point stands, just saying 'what you call extremeism we call normal' doesn't stop it being fairly extreme. If anything surely it just means there is more of a problem?

 

Just lies....Lmao at their g20 riots reports....

 

Fox news, fair and balanced....you decide....Its a comedy network right?

 

No, proves there is hope for the world after all.....Mind you if you get any insider news.....Remember your mates

 

Well, Stefan, I figured you'd get it wrong again.

What I meant is that you guys are so far to the Left that everything that happens appears to be "right-wing" extremism to you. So the so-called "rise of right-wing extremism" that you fear so much is really just some good common sense. Yes, I know that is frightening enough to left-leaning Liberals like you. What we think of as middle-of-the-road moderation here id a scary swing to the right in Europe. It's not bad unless you look at through your rose-colored socialist glasses. I don't expect you to make sense of it, as you usually don't make sense anyway.

As for the report not being for public circulation, BS! It was meant to be leaked to the media and that's exactly what happened. If the report was meant to be a serious internal discussion of "right-wing extremism" why no factual data? Why was it simply someone's opinion? What was the purpose of circulating an "internal" report that was merely speculation? It was claerly meant to stoke debate in the media over the dangers of "right-wing" dissent and smear anyone who disagrees with BO over taxes, gun control, immigration, etc.

 

I like that. Is that for real though DA or are you joking?

 

No I think I get the gist of that now...But similar to even some on here who equate left thinking with Communism.

The pond seems to push the understanding of the boundaries of right and left wing further and further apart the more miles it travels between our continents

 

You guys got any American ism...? I'm just asking, what is Americanism to you?

YouTube - Socialism Communism Marxism Wingnuttery Continues to Flow

 

Well good points, but although not exactly the same thing it's in the same cricket ground I think. To me it boils down to the manipulation of real threats for political gain which also has the likelyhood of overlooking the real dangers by being distracted by the abuse of the powers claimed. Although we're not seeing this from Uncle Obama it might well just be a matter of time.

Look at Bob Quick, until recently our most senior counter terrorist officer, can't manage to walk around with a secret piece of paper properly but had no problem in arresting Damian Green MP really rapidly as "a danger to national security", once you're declared as that the anti-terror laws roll in and in that case in exactly the way we were told would never happen.

I understand how a lot of it might simply be oppositional guff, but only time will tell.

True enough but it does become incredibly semantic and relative. Their freedom of speech means you will get some extreme loons coming out with nonsense but in a quite legitimate way for that society. We don't have a similar right, so the idea of such loon speak is not natural to us. To be honest I'd rather have a constitutional right to free speech than not, it would be a small cost to put up with the odd nutter for a freer UK, and I think most of our seppo cousins think that way.

Plus the US is much more conservative on average than us, we're very Christian Democrat as a whole in comparison. Look at some of the issues which are massive in the US and not so in Europe.

pip pip

 

You see I think that actually over here we do have free speech, guarenteed by law. The only impediments to it are the same sort of 'race hate' legislation that people have in the US.

Sorry, firstly Europe isn't the socialist workers paradise you seem to think it is, I agree with urqh however that your 'scary right wing' stuff is exactly the same as the way you start to bluster about 'communists' and 'liberals' as soon as someone suggests that maybe you don't have a god given right to rule the world and maybe a bit of tolerance isn't a bad thing.

I also question how much you know of European politics, particularly when you seem to think that we regard middle of the road US as 'politically extreme.' This simply isn't the case, I think that fairly middle of the road in the US isn't that different to that over here. I would however say that we are apparently talking across purposes when referring to the 'right wing.' Whilst you are clearly referring to legitimate conservatism (which admittedly is semantically correct) I think in Europe (and indeed this report, I cite the direct reference to the groups I am about to mention as examples) the term is used to refer to racist extremeists, authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism and those fighting for an oppressive social policy. Now, if you are suggesting that these things are 'common sense' or indeed 'middle of the road' over there then I can't help but worry.

It isn't a 'report' or a 'discussion' though is it, it is simply a publication of one agencies assessment of intelligence data. These kinds of things circulate all the time, there doesn't appear to be any reference to 'moderate' right wing dissent, simply to racist nutters, religious fundamentalists and other genuinely dangerous groups.

 

Free speech is the right to say what they tell you, not what you want to say.