Thanks to the federal government’s constant overreach and deference
to international organizations such as the United Nations, many
Americans have become increasingly distrustful of government
institutions and officials. Meanwhile, government officials seem to have
become increasingly distrustful of individual liberty, a distrust that
manifests itself in a number of bizarre and frightening ways.
To cite a particularly absurd example of this distrust, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) issued a report in 2009 titled “The Modern Militia Movement” warning that “militias” — very broadly defined — were on the rise, and that readers of the report should be wary of individuals displaying the Gadsden (“Don’t Tread On Me”) flag or whose vehicles displayed bumper stickers supporting two-time Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, 2008 Constitution Party presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin or me (I was the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nominee).
MIAC later apologized for these idiotic statements, which it deleted from the online version of its report. The federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS), however, has not let up in its crusade to demonize all manner of liberty-oriented groups. Around the same time that MIAC published its report on “right-wing groups,” DHS issued its own report — which happened to come out just as the tea party movement was becoming a force in national politics — lumping together tea party organizations and white-supremacist groups, and labeling them all “right-wing extremists.” DHS said that these groups are “hate-oriented” and noted that “extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures.” Such concerns about our economy obviously were valid political expressions then, and remain so today. Linking such views to inappropriate if not unlawful behavior is abhorrent.
To cite a particularly absurd example of this distrust, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) issued a report in 2009 titled “The Modern Militia Movement” warning that “militias” — very broadly defined — were on the rise, and that readers of the report should be wary of individuals displaying the Gadsden (“Don’t Tread On Me”) flag or whose vehicles displayed bumper stickers supporting two-time Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, 2008 Constitution Party presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin or me (I was the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nominee).
MIAC later apologized for these idiotic statements, which it deleted from the online version of its report. The federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS), however, has not let up in its crusade to demonize all manner of liberty-oriented groups. Around the same time that MIAC published its report on “right-wing groups,” DHS issued its own report — which happened to come out just as the tea party movement was becoming a force in national politics — lumping together tea party organizations and white-supremacist groups, and labeling them all “right-wing extremists.” DHS said that these groups are “hate-oriented” and noted that “extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures.” Such concerns about our economy obviously were valid political expressions then, and remain so today. Linking such views to inappropriate if not unlawful behavior is abhorrent.
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