Brent Nyitray
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Let the mutherfuker burn!
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Kevin S. Willis
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ScottC
yellojktI was really busy with family matters from 2007 to early 2009 and then became consumed with the health care debate from 2009 to 2010 but I remember this story and thought it was fascinating at the time. Remember that Homeland Security report that raised such a ruckus regarding domestic terrorism in 2009. I think the report was probably badly worded in a few areas, such as referring to “right wing” extremists a little too frequently and it pissed a lot of conservatives off. It also referred to environmental extremists but that was lost in the brouhaha I think.
Anyway the DHS nixed the report and actually eliminated the entire department except for one analyst. The rest of the staff was shuffled around to other departments and according to the guy who was in charge pre shuffling, Daryl Johnson, basically given the big cold shoulder treatment or worse, and he at least left with a story to tell.
I love these kind of insider or whistle blower stories, and yes I know they’re not always completely believable, but this one sounds intriguing to me.
Spencer Ackerman tackles some of it here:
Johnson, who has written a forthcoming book about far-right extremist groups, concedes that the definition of “right-wing” in his product was imprecise. In retrospect, he says he should have clarified that his focus was on “violent” right-wing organizations, like white supremacists, neo-Nazis and so-called Sovereign Citizens who believe the U.S. government is an illegitimate, tyrannical enterprise. Much like mainstream Muslims denounce terrorism and object to over-broad analysis portraying Islam as an incubator of extremism, so too do mainstream conservatives denounce neo-Nazis and white supremacists and dispute that those groups are authentically right-wing.
Johnson left DHS in April 2010 after “they dissolved my team,” he says. Had he still been at DHS, he says he would have published an analysis calling attention to a growing number of attacks on mosques, which he thinks could serve as a “warning” to Sikh communities that are often mistaken for Muslim ones. But finding so-called “lone wolf” terrorists like Page is a challenge no matter their motivations, since they operate outside established extremist cells and often don’t have criminal records, making it difficult for law enforcement or homeland security officials to spot them.
Amy Goodman has an interesting interview with Johnson here:
(Scroll down the link for transcript)
AMY GOODMAN: What were the critical findings?
DARYL JOHNSON: Basically, that we were seeing a resurgence. We had experienced very early on, right after the election, we saw arson activity at black churches, we had a bombing out in the Pacific northwest where some police officers were killed that were carried out by anti-government extremists. We had a neo-Nazi up in Massachusetts that went on a shooting spree, and we saw a lot of extremist chatter talking about how they were fearful of an African-American president and possible gun confiscations, gun bans and the immigration issue was still being unresolved. So all these things kind of came together into the perfect storm which we saw very clearly and put out very clearly what our findings were.
AMY GOODMAN: Back in 2009 a handful of Republicans in the House called for Janet Napolitano to step down as head of the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of your memo that warned of right-wing political extremism in the United States. House Majority Leader, John Boehner, said the report focused on “[A]bout two-thirds of Americans who might go to church, who may have served in the military, who may be involved in community activities… I just don’t understand how our government can look at the American people and say, ‘You’re all potential terrorist threats.’” Those were Boehner’s comments. Daryl Johnson, your response.
DARYL JOHNSON: That is a gross misrepresentation of what was said in the report. Basically, I think what Boehner is alluding to is a very broad, vague definition that was in the footnote of one of the pages. Basically, the definition was written very broadly so it could encompass the wide range of extremist groups we were talking about which were primarily the white supremacist movement which has neo-Nazi groups, Ku Klux Klan groups, Christian Identity groups which is a racist religion that thinks whites are the true Israelites. We have skinhead groups. We have other types of white supremacists. It also was alluding to sovereign citizens, those that reject federal and state authority in favor of local authority. It was also talking about the militia extremists. So, basically, some of the conservative radio talk show hosts took this definition out of context, and without the scope of talking about violent extremism and terrorism which was stated upfront in the scope note, and took this definition out of context and applied it to a broad range of people. I think it was done deliberately as a political maneuver to use against the new administration.
Somewhat tangentially I read this in The Atlantic yesterday and it gave me the chills as it’s almost exactly what some of us here have been talking about for months. The author here is referring to the attack last weekend at the Sikh temple.
Attacks like his are disconcerting to some white Americans for a seldom acknowledged reason. Since 9/11, many Americans have conflated terrorism with Muslims; and having done so, they’ve tolerated or supported counterterrorism policies safe in the presumption that people unlike them would bear their brunt. (If Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD sent officers beyond the boundaries of New York City to secretly spy on evangelical Christian students or Israeli students or students who own handguns the national backlash would be swift, brutal, and decisive. The revelation of secret spying on Muslim American students was mostly defended or ignored.)
In the name of counterterrorism, many Americans have given their assent to indefinite detention, the criminalization of gifts to certain charities, the extrajudicial assassination of American citizens, and a sprawling, opaque homeland security bureaucracy; many have also advocated policies like torture or racial profiling that are not presently part of official anti-terror policy.
Filed under: 2012 | Tagged: domestic terrorism |
All Things in Moderation 
Thanks for this LMS — good post. Clicking through to that Atlantic story, found this line:
“for terrorist attacks have always been with us; the tactic has never been exclusive to a single ideology for very long; and the power the state marshals against one sort of terrorist is sure to be first to hand when another sort strikes.”
And I think that’s the important thing here. it’s a tactic. today it’s neo-nazis. tomorrow it might be radical environmentalism. but look at what they are reduced to. PJ O’Rourke put it best in his book Peace Kills*:
“But as frightening as terrorism is, it’s the weapon of losers. When someone detonates a suicide bomb, that person does not have career prospects. And no matter how horrific the terrorist attack, it’s conducted by losers. Winners don’t need to hijack airplanes. Winners have an air force.”
This guy shot up the temple, bombed a bus or a train, because that’s all he had left. His ideology is going nowhere and he knows it.
*I liked the book. But I’m a fan.
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I think a lot of times these stories get hijacked by politicians and so we lose focus.
This guy shot up the temple, bombed a bus or a train, because that’s all he had left. His ideology is going nowhere and he knows it.
Yes
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lms:
Will you forgive me for going OT?
“The most withering criticism came from fellow conservative Freind, who wrote last month in the Delaware County Daily Times that although he has enthusiastically backed the GOP governor on thorny issues including natural-gas drilling and school choice, (Pennsylvania Governor and former AG Tom) Corbett simply had lost him on the Sandusky probe.
“One of two things seems to be true, as there is no third option,” Freind wrote. “Either A) you were an incompetent attorney general, which virtually no one believes, or B) the investigation was deliberately understaffed and drawn out because you did not wish to be the gubernatorial candidate who took down fabled Penn State — with its massive and intensely loyal alumni network — and the beloved Joe Paterno.”
This was about the 1998 probe that went nowhere. This thing keeps moving outward
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I’ve often wodered why there are relatively few people who are going to end up paying for a cover up that obviously involved a whole lot of powerful people. Maybe that question answers itself. The civil suits, if not settled quickly and quietly, may be what ends up getting the governor booted from office.
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No problem john, every thread here is an open thread afaic. I think that’s the really sad aspect of the Penn State story, that people knew about it that far back and kept quiet………………..disgusting excuses for human beings.
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I haven’t been around much lately, but let ms just say that the main reason I am around at all is posts like this (and NoVa’s from earlier today). Thanks!
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Ash, you mean you don’t want all Romney, all day, every day?
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you don’t want all Romney, all day, every day?
I get all Romney all day, every day on my TV…that’s plenty.
Am I crazy or wouldn’t a brilliant strategy of some Obama Super PAC be to vow to pay down the US deficit by $1 dollar for every $10, $100 or $1,000 dollars Romeny spends on attack ads? Then have some internet site keeping track of it.
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“US deficit by $1 dollar for every $10, $100 or $1,000 dollars Romeny spends on attack ads?”
imagine the good we could do if the money directed at politics when to something useful. that’s a lot of school books, or check-ups, or roads
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imagine the good we could do if the money directed at politics when to something useful
Yep, it wouldn’t even have to be all of it. I do understand that the money politicians spend does benefit some business and I know campaigns employ people, but I think our points remain.
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Sort of like a swear jar……………………..I think everyone at the PL is obsessed with the guy. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s some sort of subliminal attraction thing going on.
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you know, damned if I didn’t try to talk to sue over there about nothing (seriously –it was how are you?) without someone being a jerk.
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Nova
I said during Meg Whitman’s campaign that if she’d started up a new manufacturing company with Made in CA products and jobs instead of wasting so much of her money on a whimsical campaign, she probably could have sold herself to the voters in the next election.
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Wow, you folks have been busy today. It’s great to see all these posts! Also great to see you here, ascot [waving]. It’s been way too long.
This guy shot up the temple, bombed a bus or a train, because that’s all he had left. His ideology is going nowhere and he knows it.
I’m not so sure. It was longer ago, but the OKC experience with McVeigh does not comport with it. McVeigh expected his ideology to burgeon if he were successful. Perhaps the motivation makes the difference, i.e., racism vis-a-vis anti-government militia.
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This was a great post and link, Lulu. Thanks.
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FWIW, these are the types of people I’ve debated and battled for years. They are not just Neo-Nazis either. They are of all types and can be next door neighbors. I read that the recent shooter had some dealings with the National Vanguard group and they are really a mixed bag. You do not have to be a Neo-Nazi to dislike everyone who is not white, wears odd clothes, has diffeent looking eyes, etc., to be a hater. McVeigh is the last above was influenced by many things including a book whose title I’ve long forgotten. However, I do know that many Americans do not know differences in religious cultures and faiths. This is a major failing in the U.S.
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