NoisyRoom.net

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

I read this first thing this morning and just saw red: ‘Fusion center’ data draws fire over assertions.

If you care about your country and the Constitution, you should read all of that article and then get really mad…

Key excerpt:

Tim Neal of Miller County was shocked recently when he heard a radio program about a strategic report compiled by state and federal law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism.

Titled “The Modern Militia Movement,” the report is dated Feb. 20 and designed to help police identify militia members or domestic terrorists. Red flags outlined in the document include political bumper stickers such as those for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, talk of conspiracy theories such as the plan for a mega-highway from Canada to Mexico and possession of subversive literature.

Well, that just about includes every conservative I know and I certainly am on that list…

Next excerpt:

“I was going down the list and thinking, ‘Check, that’s me,’ ” he said. “I’m a Ron Paul supporter, check. I talk about the North American union, check. I’ve got the ‘America: Freedom to Fascism’ video loaned out to somebody right now. So that means I’m a domestic terrorist? Because I’ve got a video about the Federal Reserve?”

Blogs and Web sites frequented by people interested in civil liberties issues have been overloaded in recent days with comments from angry readers who view the document as a precursor to an American KGB spying on U.S. citizens.

“The government is out of control, we are just trying to survive,” wrote one poster who identified himself as John Adams.

Let me get this straight, it’s against the law to profile, that is unless it is a conservative:

The report’s most controversial passage states that militia “most commonly associate with third-party political groups” and support presidential candidates such as Ron Paul, former Constitutional Party candidate Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate last year.

And now if you go to a ‘tea party’ or display ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ you are considered a potential militia member and your name goes on their list:

Not everybody agrees. At a “Tea Party” to protest wasteful government spending Thursday in Flat Branch Park, several people displaying the Revolutionary War-replica “Don’t Tread On Me” flag were upset to learn the MIAC report lists the banner as a “militia symbol.”

Last but certainly not least, chew on this last excerpt:

Roger Webb, president of the University of Missouri campus Libertarians, also took offense. “It’s absolutely obscene,” he said of the report. “It seems like they want to stifle political thought. There are a lot of third parties out there, and none of them express any violence. In fact, if you join the Libertarian Party, one of the things you sign in your membership application is that you don’t support violence as a means to any ends.”

Neal, who has a Ron Paul bumper sticker on his car, said the next time he is pulled over by a police officer, he won’t know whether it’s because he was speeding or because of his political views.

“If a police officer is pulling me over with my family in the car and he sees a bumper sticker on my vehicle that has been specifically identified as one that an extremist would have in their vehicle, the guy is probably going to be pretty apprehensive and not thinking in a rational manner,” Neal said. “And this guy’s walking up to my vehicle with a gun.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond angry. This is blatant profiling, censorship and a gross violation of first amendment rights. I for one will speak my mind until they put me in the ground and you can take your list and stuff it…

UPDATE: Missouri report on militias, terrorists draws criticism

UPDATE: Bob McCarty Writes – Yikes, I Might Be Part of the Militia Movement! (Updated)

UPDATE: ‘Fusion Centers’ Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members