Which side has more ‘extremists’?
Liberals never miss a chance to smear conservatives as violence-prone fanatics while blithely talking about limiting free speech and reeducation camps for MAGA Republicans.
Congress is still trying to get to the bottom of the scandal at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
A slide presentation ostensibly used to educate soldiers on the threat of extremism was filled with lies.
The National Right to Life Committee, the country’s largest pro-life organization with 7 million members, was portrayed as a potential source of terrorists.
The Army asserted that the slides were developed locally, were not properly vetted and are no longer in use. But the man who developed them is still employed at the base, and there’s no word on whether he was punished.
The incident is ominous considering that after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin launched a campaign to root out right-wing extremists in the military, based on the fact that roughly 10% of those arrested had a military background — as does 6% of the population.
Mr. Austin ordered a one-day stand-down involving more than 2 million service members to deal with “extremist behaviors.” The Department of Defense’s fiscal 2023 budget included $34.2 million for “countering extremist activities.”
The Rand Corp. later released a report showing there was no credible evidence of an extremism problem in the ranks.
But for liberals, evidence is irrelevant.
After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, then-President Bill Clinton blamed conservative talk radio for keeping people “white hot” with rage.
“Words matter,” Mr. Clinton piously proclaimed. “We can’t let the debate veer so far into hatred that we lose sight of our humanity.”
Still, Democrats insist that calling former President Donald Trump “Hitler” did not lead to attempts on his life.
In 2009, then-President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security released a report, “Rightwing Extremism: Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” an indictment of those Mr. Obama called bitter clingers in the 2008 campaign.
The report consisted of conjecture. New gun control measures and an increase in illegal immigration might spur violence on the right, it hypothesized.
It was a way to stigmatize Second Amendment advocates and proponents of border security without evidence of illegality on their part.
Despite progressive attempts to vilify conservatives, most political violence in America comes from the left.
Those weren’t opponents of gun control who burned down U.S. cities during the George Floyd riots. The savages who assault Jewish students on college campuses aren’t fiscal conservatives.
Vice President Kamala Harris raised money for a bail fund for Black Lives Matter rioters. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, delayed sending in the National Guard to quell rioting in Minneapolis until the damage was done.
Over 1,400 people were arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. But when a pro-Hamas mob descended on Washington in late July – defacing monuments, burning the American flag and assaulting police – only 23 were arrested and nine charged.
While the bureaucrats who run our military are busy brainwashing about the threat posed by pro-life sidewalk counselors, there’s a ticking time bomb at the border.
Along with murderers and rapists, there is an unprecedented influx of potential terrorists.
In an Aug. 5 report, the Border Patrol disclosed that 375 illegal immigrants on the terrorism watchlist were apprehended in the past 3 ½ years. The Biden-Harris administration released 99 into the country.
Among those who were let in were 360,000 from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua and tens of thousands from terrorist states such as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. It also included 33,300 Chinese nationals, mostly men of military age.
If the administration were really concerned about national security, it might do something about Chinese companies buying land near our military installations rather than focusing on the clear and present danger posed by grandmothers with “Choose Life” license plates.
Instead of addressing real problems, liberals seek to suppress debate.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry says the First Amendment is a “major block” to countering disinformation.
In a 2022 MSNBC interview, Mr. Walz said that “there’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech.” He probably heard that in Tiananmen Square.
In an interview last year, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted at the need for “formal deprogramming” for MAGA “cult members.”
They attack the First Amendment, call for reeducation camps, condone political violence and ignore the palpable threat of terrorism from open borders.
And we’re the extremists.
This column was first published at the Washington Times.