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If you're a
veteran of this the grassiest of grassroots movements, you know that part of
the drill for the Pro-Life Movement is to be linked to whomever it is a given
commentator is using to try to pigeonhole and marginalize us. You can't just
be opposed to the wanton slaughter of defenseless unborn babies. You have to
be in cahoots with [fill in the blank]. This recurrence is as predictable as
swallows returning to Capistrano. That does not
mean there is an ounce of truth to it. It does mean that smear tactics are a
perennial hazard that we face. My email box is
filled with links to the recently published Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) report on "Rightwing Extremism" which, in an evidence-free
footnote, included pro-lifers. When you read
something this stupid you are tempted either to overreact or ignore it
altogether. Let me try a middle-of-the-road approach. Just a few words
about the overall report produced by DHS's Office of Intelligence and
Analysis. The full title is "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and
Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."
I skimmed the
report the first time through, then read it closely a second time. And then,
just to be sure I wasn't missing something, I read it a third time. I needn't
have put in that much time. One page into the nine-page report and a
fourth-grader could have figured out that the authors had come with a
pre-determined conclusion. Its reasoning is
painfully, embarrassingly shoddy and supportive evidence of actual threats
non-existent. It's entirely speculative--about what might happen if
"x" or "y" comes to pass. A conversation over the water
cooler carries as much weight and would be much more balanced. So how did the
report arrive at the conclusion that rightwing extremism "may include
groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as
opposition to abortion or immigration"? Let's back up a second to see
how we got swept in. The report
bifurcates "rightwing extremism" into hate groups and those that
are "mainly anti-government." Do pro-lifers
hate "particular religious, racial, or ethnic groups"? Of course
not, and there is not a shred of evidence in the report that suggests we do.
In fact, it is the Abortion Industry that targets minority communities. How about
"antigovernment"? Coursing through the veins of every pro-lifer is
an abiding faith in the capacity of government to change. That's why we are
active in all 50 state legislatures and in the halls of Congress. I guess even the
dim-witted authors of "Rightwing Extremism" grasped that we fit
neither of these categories. So they just lumped us in by employing the
all-purpose "may" word. Again, not a word to explain why pro-lifers
should be tarred with the extremist brush. From the
earliest days of the Obamamania phenomenon, the "mainstream media"
has let us know in unsubtle and unmistakable ways that it is close to
un-American to criticize what he proposes or what he stands for. We have
never allowed that to stop us from opposing the policies of any man who
carries water for the Abortion Establishment with both arms. Nor will we. I don't do
paranoia. But I do believe that "eternal vigilance is the price of
liberty." Click here to visit ‘Today’s
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