Posts in "extremism"

By Joshua Parrish at 7:04PM

Apr 16, 2010

Southern Poverty Law Center vs. Dr. Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano

In yet another attempt to equate political dissent to terrorism, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); an American legal advocacy organization that publishes a quarterly Intelligence Report investigating extremism and hate groups in the United States, included Dr. Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano in its April, 2010 Publication, Meet the "Patriots."

This publication labels Dr. Paul as a "Radical Libertarian" and a "Conspiracy Theorist." It suggests that Judge Napolitano missed out on an opportunity to "rub elbows with neo-confederates, conspiracy theorists, and antigovernment patriot activists" when he was unable to speak at a Tenth Ammendment Summit in Atlanta this past February. This publication also demonizes 2008 Presidential Candidate Chuck Baldwin, former IRS Agent Joe Banister, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America (GOA) and many more. It should be noted that many militia Organizers who may or may not present a legitimate threat also appeared in this same publication.

Kevin Carson: The Founders Were Extremists

And they were right. Carson comments on the fact that questioning the government, a concept that is simply unbelievable to many in our day in age, is the very principle upon which our country was founded. He writes:

...Today I heard Bart Stupak, referring to Michelle Bachmann’s allusion to Jefferson (“it’s a good thing to have a revolution every twenty years or so”), respond that we just had one in the last election. In this country, he said, we have our revolutions through the electoral process. “That’s what Jefferson meant by that quote,” he said. Um, no, it wasn’t. What Jefferson meant was the kind of revolution that Captain Shays was fighting in western Massachusetts at the time he wrote...
...As the anarchist Voltarine DeCleyre noted over a century ago, from the public schools’ accounts of the American Revolution you’d have difficulty understanding why it was even called a revolution, as opposed to just a patriotic foreign war against another country...

Opposing views on the Holocaust Museum shooting

The recent events at the Holocaust Museum are horribly tragic. Unfortunately, as always in politics, partisan hacks are trying to turn this event into an opportunity to enhance their own agenda. For instance, Michael Rowe at the Huffington Post has proven all too well that he is absolutely submerged in partisan hackery. He takes the opportunity not just to create a straw man version of conservatism which he then bashes, but also to emphasize the dangers of free speech. In a recent article, he writes:

There was a time when decency, even honor, was an essential part of the American dialogue in its most ideal form, and part of its very identity. There was a time when our culture would have recoiled in horror at the vituperation flowing unchecked from radios, televisions, and the Internet, instead of applauding it as "common sense," "free speech," or "mavericky," or "a spin-free zone."