Back in February and March, we wrote a series of posts about how the Religious Right was trying to get a supposedly "anti-Christian" provision stripped from the stimulus legislation, screaming and yelling about discrimination and threatening lawsuits only to utterly fall silent about it after the legislation containing the provision at issue was signed into law.
The over-arching theme of those posts was a sense of amazement that the Right fully knew that everything they were saying about this provision was blatantly untrue yet they continued to repeat it regardless. In fact, it seemed as if most of those screeching about it didn't even bother to read the provision itself or do any basic research ... presumably because doing so would have only undermined their ability to keep lying about it.
I am getting the same impression regarding the Department of Homeland Security report that has become the focus of the Right's outrage over the last few days. The fact that DHS has issued a statement explaining that the report is part of "an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States" doesn't matter. The fact that it was commissioned under the Bush administration and overseen by a Bush appointee does not matter either. Nor does the fact that the report obviously is not an attack on conservatives, veterans, or Christians, as they are claiming, which is something they would know if they bothered to actually read it [PDF].
Call Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, to demand an apology for the outrageous DHS memo disparaging America's veterans and pro-lifers
Barack Obama's Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security is stubbornly refusing to apologize to our nation's veterans for issuing a DHS intelligence assessment which disparages veterans as possible terrorist threats. The report also defamed peaceful pro-lifers.
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America said: "I agree with the Democrat chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Bennie Thompson, when he said he was "dumbfounded" that such a report would be issued. Veterans and pro-lifers should not be targeted as terrorist threats by the Obama administration. This partisanship must stop."
And, just as with the stimulus provision," the ACLJ is among those taking the lead in generating faux outrage once again, sending out an email to supporters blasting this "unconstitutional report":
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has labeled you, a member of the pro-life community, THE MOST DANGEROUS DOMESTIC TERRORIST.
The DHS warning entitled: ''Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment'' is so troubling that at first, I actually didn't believe that Homeland Security could issue such a document.
But it's true. We've verified it. And make no mistake, this unconstitutional report raises serious questions about the leadership and direction of the agency charged with protecting Americans in the ongoing battle against terrorism.
And why don't they care? Because they can use as part of their fundraising efforts:
Today, federal employees whose salaries we pay are issuing reports from the Department of Homeland Security that say some conservatives are a grave threat to America. Why? Because we oppose abortion and the massive growth of the federal government. Do they no longer see Al Qaeda or the Taliban as the greatest threat to Americans' liberty? Apparently they are now targeting us. I remind DHS and all who read this that we oppose all violence or lawbreaking. But speaking out is an American right we will not give up!
Parents with children are bearing the brunt of this administration's drive for ever greater control--control of our checkbooks, control of the schools, control of our communities, control of our churches, population control, gun control, environmental control. Control is the common thread.
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Will you help Family Research Council (FRC) fight excessive government and defend your rights with a donation today?
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What's their strategy in this new campaign to undermine America 's Judeo-Christian heritage and moral foundation?
* Money to silence your voice. Billions set aside for ACORN and other radical coalitions committed to creating a permanently left-wing government by whatever means necessary--including voter fraud which ACORN has committed.
* Money to teach immoral behavior in schools. New spending means more federal interference in local schools, loss of parental rights, and forcing our children to learn about immoral behavior.
* Money for abortion and a culture of death. Top abortion advocates get hundreds of millions of new federal subsidies from their liberal allies in Washington.
The one common thread to all of this "outrage" from the Christian Coalition, the Family Reserach Council, and others (aside from the lying) is that they don't provide a link to the actual DHS report itself, despite the fact that it is widely available.
If this report is so outrageous and offensive, why aren't these right-wing groups providing links to it so that their activists can read it for themselves?
Maybe because a) they haven't read it themselves or b) they have read it and know that it doesn't say what they are claiming it says and are hoping that their activists will just take their word for it and start sending in the checks.
