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FBI Spied on Tea Parties
The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a report that tacitly acknowledged that certain segments of the population — such as veterans, those who are pro-life and anti-illegal-immigration and gun owners — could be liable for breaking laws.
This has since been followed up with a report from the Northeast Intelligence Network (NEIN) and the Canadian Free Press (h/t AtlasShrugs with additional commentary from AmericasRight and AmericanDaughter) that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been spying on the April 15 tea parties:
FBI spied on TEA Party Americans hat tip Anne
Exclusive to the Northeast Intelligence Network & Canada Free Press
Douglas J. Hagmann, Director & Judi McLeod,
19 April 2009: Even as average Americans were planning to get out in towns and cities to demonstrate against Big Government and Big Taxes, Federal Bureau of Intelligence Investigation (FBI) surveillance was being unleashed upon them. In fact, unsuspecting Tax Day TEA Party participants were being closely watched during the demonstration planning stages in a covert operationthat began on or about March 23, 2009.
If you one of the estimated 750,000 Americans who attended one of about 600 TEA parties last week, you might have seen media cameras covering the event. Media cameras, however, were not the only cameras taking video at these events, something that has at least one current FBI agent concerned over the future of America. According to this agent – the same agent who provided the Northeast Intelligence Network (NEIN) exclusively the unreleased photographs of the 11 missing Egyptian students who were the subject of a FBI BOLO in August 2006–placed his concerns for true patriots of the U.S. over his own career when he confided that covert surveillance was “planned and performed” at each of the TEA parties that took place last Tuesday.
“Listen to what I am saying,” stated the source during an interview with Doug Hagmann, founder (NEIN). “The Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Assessment that is receiving so much attention is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and the true patriotic citizens of this country are on the Titanic. This is what bothers me. But is goes far beyond that assessment. There have been very significant changes made over the last few years that redirect the focus and assets of the intelligence community internally. These changes have greatly accelerated under this administration, and the threats have been redefined to include those who used to be patriots. It’s not only chilling but absolutely insulting to God-fearing Americans.”
According to this unimpeachable source, a single-page confidential directive issued by the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC (FBIHQ) was sent to each of the 56 field offices located across the United States on or about March 23, 2009, instructing the Special Agents in Charge (SACs) of those offices to verify the date, time and location of each TEA Party within their region and supply that information to FBI headquarters in Washington. The source stated this correspondence termed the TEA parties “political demonstrations,” and added that the dissemination of the directive was very tightly controlled. “Not all agents were privy to this correspondence,” stated the source, who compared the dissemination to an older “Do Not File” classification.
In addition to obtaining or confirming the location and time of each “demonstration,” each field office was instructed to obtain or confirm the identity of the individual(s) involved in the actual planning and coordination of the event in each specific region, and include the local or regional Internet web site address, if any. The information collected by region was then reportedly sent to FBI Headquarters.
The source alleges that a second directive was issued on or about April 6, 2009 that reportedly instructed each SAC to coordinate and conduct, either at the field office level and/or with the appropriate resident agency, covert video surveillance and data collection of the participants of the TEA parties. Surveillance was to be performed from “discreet fixed or mobile positions” and was to be performed “independently and outside of the purview of local law enforcement.”
Although the level of detail collected from each operation is unclear, the information was reportedly submitted to Washington, where, “at the level of the National Security Branch (NSB), this information was to “include the office of the Directorate of Intelligence (DI), and integrated with a restricted access database, one that reportedly is accessible to only two agencies” [of the 14 agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community, according to the source.
“The implications to the citizens of the U.S. are ominous. It seems that there is a hostile political agenda coming from Washington that characterizes the supporters of our constitutional freedoms as threats to our domestic security, which is totally absurd. The redirection, the refocusing of domestic threats from al Qaeda cells to ‘flag waving right-wingers’ is something that has gone from a murmur a few years ago to a roar today.”
Training government-issued cameras on ordinary citizens, many of whom brought their children to an estimated 600 Tax Day TEA Parties is a page torn out of George Orwell’s 1984 and makes the term “God Bless America” more meaningful than ever.
The Northeast Intelligence Network and Canada Free Press expect the government’s denial of the surveillance of the TEA Parties to go viral as soon as this story is posted.
Go read it all. This is not your mom's America. [emphases in original]
Giving more credence to this Administration’s dislike of organized protests of disagreement includes this choice verbiage from Senior White House advisor David Axelrod (via CNN):
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senior White House adviser David Axelrod on Sunday suggested the “Tea Party” movement is an “unhealthy” reaction to the tough economic climate facing the country.
Axelrod was asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” about the “spreading and very public disaffection” with the president’s fiscal policies seen at the “Tea Party” rallies around the country last week.
“I think any time you have severe economic conditions there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that’s unhealthy,” Axelrod said. [emphasis mine]
And as if that wasn’t enough, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano effectively considers returning military veterans victims of right-wing extremist groups and their invitations (via HotAir.com):
…Yesterday on CNN, Napolitano tried explaining that the DHS doesn’t see these vets as threats. The DHS sees them as sapswho don’t know any better than to fall into extremist traps:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday portrayed veterans as victims – not perpetrators – of right-wing extremism as she sought to combat the political controversy arising out of an April 14 Homeland Security memo warning that returning soldiers could be ripe for domestic terrorism participation.
“The report is not saying that veterans are extremists. Far from it,” Napolitano said on CNN’s State of the Union. “What it is saying is returning veterans are targets of right-wing extremist groups that are trying to recruit those to commit violent acts within the country. We want to do all we can to prevent that.”
Yes, the poor dears are victims that obviously can’t decide themselves not to join violent groups … none of which the report bothers to name, by the way. Unlike the report on left-wing extremism, which names several known groups with track records of violence, the DHS report that Napolitano continues to defend never bothers to name an actual threat….
I very much concur with the final analysis of the above posting:
DHS needs to stick to watching the groups themselves, and not people exercising their First Amendment rights and returning military veterans. In fact, the first thing Napolitano should do is to actually get threat data, instead of making up a bunch of scare stories about political dissent while not bothering to identify actual known racist and white-supremacist groups with track records of violence who should be watched.
Blogger Arlen Williams at InvestigatingObama takes this analysis further:
DHS Secretary and the (evidently ineligible) ”Obama administration” had two choices: either back down, or continue toward crackdown. They have, natural to their Marxofascist natures, opted to continue their plans for crackdown.
Be ready for more. Be ready even to consider the unimaginable: the “generated crisis” that Joe Biden (and Colin Powell) so oddly warned about. Be ready for that to be a false flag attack upon Americans, performed by the Obama minions themselves and blamed upon “right wing extremists.” That is what it would take (if even that would be successful) to manipulate our military and law enforcement patriots into actions against our own people, who may be forced to defend the Constitution against abrogations of the First, Second, Fourteenth Amendments, etc., standing in the way of the globally controlled society.
Our hope may lie with a combination of the constitutionally mandated free militia movement and an effort underway in our military and law enforcement communities. Enter, Oath Keepers – who met today, at Lexington Green. Question: are constitutionally sanctioned free militias and Oath Keepers the very targets of Napolitano’s big lie tactics? Do usurpers work in the White House? I know of no more significant “militant” threat to this building, global insurrection against free, constitutional America.
I am not guaranteeing a false flag atrocity will happen. I am saying that we do not adequately consider the Obama regime as the Marxofascists they are, unless we consider such an event. That is the track record, for this kind of people — and it seems strategically necessary, for their twisted game to continue to develop, to fruition. Remember the Reichstag Fire. Remember what the Kuwati professor said (Our next ‘Generated Crisis’ — by the Soros/Obama/Pelosi Insurrection?).
Regardless of what may ultimately happen with such governmental operations, I think it’s fair to say that any self-respecting American should always remember the adage:
Never trust the government more than the government trusts you.
It’s simply a very healthy — and natural — way to live. It’s also why the American Constitution delegates (from the States and the people) very specific powers and authority to the federal government and never any rights. All rights have been retained by the States and the People.
And for those who are actually in the opposition to such behavior, I will continue to trumpet this excellent posting regarding the 2nd Amendment. There’s nothing fringe about it, except maybe to DHS
-Phil
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Jury Update: Ft. Worth, TX Jury Forming; Citizen's Organization Offers to Help; USAToday Publishes!
In a recent posting at AmericanGrandJury.org, a new common law grand jury is forming in Ft. Worth, Texas (emphases original):
Today on the Mark McGrew Sentinel Radio broadcast we found out about a new Grand Jury organizing in Ft. Worth, Texas. Organizing the event is Robert DeBeaux. The first meeting is scheduled forSatruday, April 18th. The meeting is set to start at 4pm and will last as long as necessary. Anyone in this area of Central and Northern Texas who wants to be involved with this Grand Jury should try and be there.
The central Texas director for The Patriotic Resistance has offered to help the common law grand jury push:
As as result of Robert’s announcement we got a call for Gerry Donaldson who is the Central Texas Director with a very large Citizen’s organization in Central Texas. He would like to help Robert and the Ft. Worth Grand Jury if anyway possible.
Here is his letter to me:
Dear Bob,
I was just on the call with you and would love to work to coordinate the Grand Juries utilizing the Grassfire.org/Resistnet organization. We are pushing 1.5 Million members and I am the Central Texas Director the newly created “Patriotic Resistance” subdivision in Texas Congressional Districts 1, 6, 14, 15, 17, 25, 27, and 31.
Previously I founded the Constitutional Review Committee in 2001 where a group of Constitutional Scholars like myself put together an Accountability Bill for Public Officials. We had sponsors and co-sponsors committed, but it never saw the light of day. We are now pushing this same agenda in local communities, to the counties, then to the states utilizing Grassfire and Resistnet activists.
I’ll be looking for Robert’s meeting this Saturday in Fort Worth.
You can contact me at gerald.donalson[at]gmail.com…
Good work!
Gerry Donaldson
Central Texas Director
The Patriotic Resistance
http://www.resistnet.com/lonestarpatriotsUpdate: USAToday: “Grand Jury recommends: indict Barry Soetoro, a.k.a. Barack Obama.”
Other articles concerning common law grand juries include the following…
- Jury Update: American Grand Jury to Hear Evidence Soon
- Citizen Grand Jury: AGJ Reports 49 Member Requests, Swennson Found a Sheriff
- Citizen Jury Update: Illinois and Georgia
- GA: First Common Law National Grand Jury Convenes; Indictment Returned; ECR Interview
- WND: Citizens in 20 More States to Form Common Law Grand Juries
- New Site Speaks on Citizen Grand Jury Action in KY, OH, TN and IL; Update: GA Support for Jury, Taitz
- Leo Donofrio “Condemns” GA Common Law Grand Jury
- Concerned Citizens Encouraged to Contact US Attorney Over Eligibility
-Phil
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DHS Thinks Constitutionalists are Extremists
“Never trust the government more than the government trusts you.” — Unknown
Apparently folks like myself who support the “Bill of Rights,” are anti-illegal-immigration and questioners for the truth are being seen as a threat by our dear federal Department of Homeland Security agency. I suppose we had to see this coming when the phrase, “Global War on Terror” became replaced with, “Oversees Contingency Operations.”
Here’s the report that is causing much consternation on the part of anyone who might think about speaking out against our present Administration. As Pamela Gellar of Atlas Shrugs explains:
The Department of Homeland Security banned Atlas two weeks back … the beginning. And the officers who read Atlas at the DHS tell me it’s still banned. And the DHS have targeted the tea parties (see this Atlas post).
I have documented and covered the most extreme anti-American leftist Islamic rallies across this country for the past five years, and have never seen garbage like this on the real enemies of this great country.
Federal agency warns of radicals on right Washington Times
9-page report sent to policeThe White House has distanced itself from the analysis. When asked for comment on its contents, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said, “The President is focused not on politics but rather taking the steps necessary to protect all Americans from the threat of violence and terrorism regardless of its origins. He also believes those who serve represent the best of this country, and he will continue to ensure that our veterans receive the respect and benefits they have earned.”
Here’s my whole report
SHOCKING NEW EPORT! OBAMA’S REAL TERRORISTS: TARGETING PATRIOTS AND THE RIGHTIt is the fascist blueprint to create a police state and legalize gulags. This is not a spoof. This is Obama’s “civilian army’s” MOB. (hat tip the Rockman)
What, exactly, was Ms. Gellar talking about? Check out the following:
An officer over at the Dept. Homeland Security – Customs and Border Protection sent me this screenshot when he tried to access Atlas. He is the third reader (who shall remain anonymous) who works at Homeland Security who cannot log onto Atlas. They had been able to access my site continually up until this week. “It went from to access to no access overnight”.
According to ABC, the President was “unaware of the tea parties.” Yes, those dangerous tea parties. Perhaps now federalism is the new extremism (via AmericasRight). Maybe it all fits the profile (via RedState.com) per DHS?
WorldNetDaily is also reporting on this by asking, “Why call Americans ‘extremists?’“:
The Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., says it has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security demanding why it calls Americans who oppose abortion, support 2nd Amendment gun rights and dislike lax immigration law enforcement “extremists.”
“This is not an intelligence report but a diatribe against those who oppose the policies of the Obama administration,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the organization.
“It is a declaration of war against the American people and our constitution. It is a prelude to extreme gun control legislation and hate speech laws targeting Christian churches and others who oppose abortion and same sex marriage,” he continued. “The federal government should be focusing its attention on the 35 radical Muslim compounds in the U.S. training its followers on how to kidnap and kill Americans.”
The report had been unveiled earlier by talk-radio host and WND columnist Roger Hedgecock.
WND reported the DHS’s report had alerted police across the nation to watch out for those who may have anti-abortion bumper stickers, claim the 2nd Amendment right of personal possession of weapons or express loyalty to U.S. Rep. Ron Paul or third-party political candidates.
The Law Center’s request seeks the “basis” for the “assessment.”
The report, called “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” specifically singled out military veterans as vulnerable to rightwing extremism.
And guess what? Secretary Napolitano is not backing down:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that she was briefed before the release of a controversial intelligence assessment and that she stands by the report, which lists returning veterans among terrorist risks to the U.S. …
In her statement Wednesday, Ms. Napolitano defended the report, which says “rightwing extremism” may include groups opposed to abortion and immigration, as merely one among several threat assessments. But she agreed to meet with the head of the American Legion, who had expressed anger over the report, when she returns to Washington next week from a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Fortunately, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is asking questions:
But the top House Democrat with oversight of the Department of Homeland Security said in a letter to Ms. Napolitano that he was “dumbfounded” that such a report would be issued.
“This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans – including war veterans,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in his letter sent Tuesday night.
The letter was representative of a public furor over the nine-page document since its existence was reported in The Washington Times on Tuesday.
Update: Michelle Malkin holds DHS accountable:
You cannot ignore the context or the timing of this DHS report. It’s no small coincidence that Napolitano’s agency disseminated the assessment just a week before the nationwide April 15 Tax Day Tea Party protests. The grass-roots events organized by fiscal conservatives, independents, Libertarians, and yes, even some blue Dog Democrats were fueled by the “current economic and political climate” of bipartisan profligate spending and endless taxpayer-funded bailouts. The growing success of the loose-knit movement has invited scorn, ridicule, and fear-mongering from Obama’s supporters. Liberal bloggers have likened the Tea Party movement to neo-Nazis, militias, and even Weather Underground terrorists.
These attempts to demonize the Tea Party movement come on the heels of widespread conservative-bashing over the recent shooting sprees in Pittsburgh and Binghamton, New York. Taking Hillary Clinton’s advice to “never waste a good crisis,” left-wing pundits and analysts have blamed the tragedies on everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Fox News to the NRA. …
If you can redefine dissenting opinion as “hate,” you can brand your political opponents as “extremists” – and you can marginalize electoral threats. “Antigovernment?” “Pro-enforcement?” “Disgruntled?” Feeling taxed enough already and “recruiting” and “radicalizing” your friends and neighbors through “chatter on the Internet?”
We are all rightwing extremists now. Welcome to the club.
It makes me wonder: who’s running the Executive branch of the federal government: Barack Hussein Obama or Saul Olinsky? Perhaps it’s the former in the flesh and the latter in spirit?
Update: AmericanThinker opines:
If you didn’t vote for Barack Obama, if you’re unhappy with our tanking economy and the government’s complicity in said tanking, or perhaps more odiously, you are a war veteran – you are, for all intents and purposes, an enemy of the state, subject to surveillance by law enforcement and security officials, who have been officially advised of the danger you represent.
So let’s see: I didn’t vote for Obama. I am unhappy with the government’s complicity in our economic decline and the power grab that is the ultimate goal of the Fed’s fiddling. But, I am not a veteran. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. …
But today, dissent has become, well, if not unpatriotic, unfair and downright mean, to quote Michelle Obama. We have to give Barack Obama a chance. A chance to do what? Good question.
Our framers intended for the government to serve its citizens, not the other way around. As our government seeks more control over the markets and other segments of American society, average Americans are seeing the light and getting fed up with it. And if my not being afraid to say so makes me a “radical right wing extremist,” then so be it.
The only thing I ask is that my cell has a clean mattress.
I’ll end this posting with the ultimate group of “extremists:”
(Photoshop: Tennyson Hayes)
-Phil
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April 15, 2009: Tea Party Day (Updated)
While most of my updates will be via Twitter today, this posting will get things started for commentary on my blog RE: tea parties.
From Michelle Malkin, she presents a “cheat sheet” on what this thing’s been all about:
It’s here!
For the Johnny-Come-Latelys in the MSM who will be dispatched by their editors to file obligatory stories about the hundreds of Tax Day Tea Party protests across the country today, here is a cheat sheet to get you up to speed.
As I originally reported here, the following is the video that started it all:
More from Ms. Malkin’s post, especially #TCOT on Twitter:
On Feb. 21, the grass-roots Internet group, Top Conservatives on Twitter, founded by Michael Patrick Leahy and powered by Rob Neppell, announced “simultaneous local tea parties around the country, beginning in Chicago, and including Washington DC, Fayetteville NC, San Diego CA, Omaha Nebraska, and dozens of other locations” on Feb. 27. Patrik Jonsson of the Christian Science Monitor was one of the rare national MSM reporters who attended one of the tea parties (Atlanta) and provided a fair and balanced look at protesters mad at both parties:
To be sure, the federal spending package includes tax cuts for most Americans, and Obama has promised to eventually halve a US deficit the Democrats have largely blamed on the Bush administration.
But protesters like Kevin Tanner of South Dakota said deficit spending by both parties has unnerved Americans. “The Republicans have their own problems because we elected them and they didn’t do what we wanted,” says Mr. Tanner.
Many protesters expressed a sense that basic American freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are threatened by new Washington policies seen by many as more socialistic than capitalistic. The proposed taxpayer bailout of homeowners who may have inflated their earnings in order to secure mortgages is one example, says Jeff Crawford, a protester from Dacula, Ga.
“The first year after the Mayflower arrived, the colonists tried a communal method of storing and sharing food and it failed miserably,” says Mr. Crawford. “Why are things any different now?”
Eighteenth-century symbolism was rife at the Atlanta event as speakers drew comparisons with the Boston patriots who dumped the King’s tea in Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation, an act that began the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.Some kids at the Atlanta protest wore tri-cornered hats, and one held a sign that said, “When I grow up I want to be free.”
In Tampa, two dozen protesters held handwritten signs with slogans like “Keep Your Bailout; I’ll Keep My Freedom.” About 300 people showed up in 25-degree weather in Wichita, Kansas, and someone brought a pig.
In St. Louis, local media expected about 50 people to show up while actual turnout surged to over 1,000 people.
An Internet-based coalition spearheaded by TCOT, Smart Girl Politics, and the DontGoMovement formed to coordinate today’s Tax Day Tea Party. It is a totally unprecedented phenomenon that no Beltway GOP guru or elected leader can claim credit for. The grass-roots coalition has held open planning meetings on BlogTalkRadio every week and maintained the transparency that Washington abandoned during TARP/porkulus/budget process. They’ve spent weeks helping first-time political activists get connected, obtain permits, and learn the ropes.
Along the way, many different taxpayers’ groups, talk show hosts, individuals, and websites have stepped up to the plate to pitch in.And along the way, detractors have fumbled and bumbled over how to discredit the Tea Party organizers — first blaming a cabal tied to CNBC, then jeering at the amateurishness of the participants before crying “astroturf,” then claiming the events were “financed by Fox News” or (fill-in-the-blank) conservative conspiracy, then smearing the protesters as crazed gun nuts (FNC’s Bob Beckel) and racists (FNC’s Geraldo Rivera).
Wouldn’t it be refreshing if MSM coverage refrained from parroting all the lazy, groundless, uninformed canards and reported the simple truth?
Update: Blogger Kevin Jackson @ TheBlackSphere is similarly chiming in:
In honor of Tax Day and the Tea Parties happening all over the nation today, I thought I would give my take on taxes.
Being from a poor family, taxes were not much of a problem as my grandparents always seemed to get a little something back. That’s what happens when your combined income is little more than $15,000 a year.
But they raised their little rugrat in the capitalist tradition, so I grew up to become moderately successful, at least in the eyes of the government. So when I owned my own company I was rudely introduced to the tax system, learning quickly that ambition in America is indeed rewarded…with high taxes.
Yes, America is indeed the land of opportunity, if you want the opportunity to pay outrageous taxes to help illegal aliens, terrorists, and better yet…other lazy Americans. How I long for the good old days when Uncle Sam lived within his income and without most of mine….ahhh. It has almost reached the point in America where, if you take a day off, you fall behind in your income-tax payments.
Update: Online resources for the tea party:
I’m also stoked over this DM from Twitter:
Fred Thompson via Twitter to phil
Hi Phil and wife. Thanks for your help!! F&J
Fred Thompson / fredthompson
-Phil
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Obama Legal Fees Admission; Key Witness in Passport Fraud Dead; New Quo Warranto Suit Submitted; Update: Atlas on Passport Story
In from the tip line, the Politico is reporting that the Obama campaign fund is still in full operation. The posting includes this very interesting tid-bit:
Other interesting payments during the first three months of the year, the period covered by Wednesday’s report, included $688,000 in legal fees to the firm of Bob Bauer — the top lawyer for the campaign, the Democratic National Committee, the Obama political group Organizing for America, and the Obama family — and $6,400 to a firm founded by Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. [emphases mine]
You know where I’m going with this, right?
Yes, a tacit admission concerning the eligibility cases!
But wait, “illegitimizers” — a term I coined for those who think this President shouldn’t be questioned over eligibility — will counter, “But, Phil, I don’t see anything in there specifically pertaining to any eligibility cases.”
OK, then answer me this question: What is the President doing spending three-quarters of a million dollars from January forward to incur legal fees? After all, the campaign is over. And we already know that the Politico has a beef against “birthers,” so if some/most/all of these fees were regarding eligibility, I would not expect them to fully disclose this info.
Also from the tip line, The Washington Times had reported that a “Key witness in passport fraud case fatally shot:”
A key witness in a federal probe into passport information stolen from the State Department was fatally shot in front of a District church, the Metropolitan Police Department said yesterday.
Lt. Quarles Harris Jr., 24, who had been cooperating with a federal investigators, was found late Thursday night slumped dead inside a car, in front of the Judah House Praise Baptist Church in Northeast, said Cmdr. Michael Anzallo, head of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Cmdr. Anzallo said a police officer was patrolling the neighborhood when gunshots were heard, then Lt. Harris was found dead inside the vehicle, which investigators would describe only as a blue car. …
The Washington Times reported April 5 that contractors for the State Department had improperly accessed passport information for presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, which resulted in a series of firings that reached into the agency’s top ranks.
One agency employee, who was not identified in documents filed in U.S. District Court, was implicated in a credit-card fraud scheme after Lt. Harris told federal authorities he obtained “passport information from a co-conspirator who works for the U.S. Department of State.”
You will recall my January 13, 2009 posting covering NewsMax’s coverage of then-President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama’s intelligence advisor had been involved in a security breach as the head of a State Department contractor.
Obviously, this story is becoming even more interesting.
Update: Pamela Gellar at AtlasShrugged brings huge context to this story, something of which many of us are only now becoming aware:
OMG, they are killing people.
Do you remember this curious story during the Presidential election? A couple of months before rumblings began about Obama’s birth circumstances and the discovery that BHO’s COLB (certification of live birth) was a forgery, a story broke in late March 2008 that State Department employees had tampered with the passport files of Barack Obama.
At the time ”State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the violations of McCain and Clinton’s passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the unauthorized access of Obama’s records and a separate search was conducted”.
The incidents raise questions as to whether the information was accessed for political purposes and why two contractors involved in the Obama search were dismissed before investigators had a chance to interview them.
I always thought they rifled through Clinton’s and McCain’s to make it look like it was all three but it was Obama’s passport records that they accessed. Secondarily, almost as an afterthought, there were “violations” concerning Clinton and McCain. But who stood to gain from a tampering, and why?
There is a video here of Obama’s response to the passport “breach” back on March 21, 2008. Watch it – I think it’s telling that he says, not that he has anything to hide, “not because I have any particular concerns” [minute -.23]. This is before the birth certificate scandal. Who would say that? …
Oil of Immigration goes one step further:
Comment: See my article about General Dynamics – the company used by the Obama campaign to tamper the passport. Tom Ayers (Bill Ayer’s Father) was on the board of General Dynamics. Also, right after Obama Usurped Office, GD was contracted to improve the security of the Passport system.
[...]
Gets better ……….Tom Ayers served on board of General Dynamics. General Dynamics now wants “hackers” to work for the Government hat tip Denice
Federal authorities aren’t looking to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation’s networks.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could “think like the bad guy.” Applicants, it said, must understand hackers’ tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
Tom Ayers, father of Obama friend, communist and unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, served on the General Dynamics Board. As head of the corporation’s finance committee, Northern Trust was the trustee of the corporation’s Salaried Savings Plan and the Hourly Savings Plan that was overseen by the committee along with fellow members Lester Crown whose son, Jim, and daughter-in-law, Paula, are $200,000 bundlers for Obama’s presidential campaign.
Northern Trust Bank is also the same bank that gave Obama his below prime rate home loan for his current mansion.
Many believe General Dynamics was also involved in the “security breach” or tampering with the Obama Passport before the election.
Just after the election, the State Dept. awarded the same company that breached the initial passports to come up with a new Passport technology:
(Source) The State Department awarded a $99.3 million, five-year contract today to a team led by General Dynamics Information Technology to print the passport card.
The contract calls for one base year and five option years. State’s Logistics Management Office, Management Acquisition unit processed the acquisition.
Research is pending on this, but you can already see disturbing [emphases in original]Ms. Gellar has more at the link.Dr. Orly Taitz, one of the prominent attorneys and activists in the eligibility saga, has begun yet another blog, OrlyTaitzEsq.com. She also mentions some news on the quo warranto front:
As I finally have a new blog, new home free of all the Obama thugs, I can finally launch a new line of attack, that got delayed by two weeks because of the blog problems. I am sending today Matthew Michael Edwards v Obama Quo Warranto to the Attorney General of Wyoming and Governor of Wyoming.
I will explain in simple terms, what I am doing. Quo warranto, as I explained previously is a cause of action that is usually filed by the government against one holding a position in the government, whereby he is required to prove that he is eligible for the position. The first Quo Warranto I served on Attorney General Eric Holder, second on US attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey Taylor. This third one I am filing on behalf on my client Matt Edwards, active National Guardsman in Wyoming.
What most people don’t understand is that Quo Warranto can be not only federal, but also state. Each governor of a state is in charge of it’s National Guard, however in the military theatre in Iraq and Afghanistan all the National guards are under orders of commander in Chief or greatly influenced by the orders of Commander in Chief. Their lives are dependent on the decisions of the Commander in Chief. In this Quo Warranto on behalf of my client, Wyoming Guardsman Matthew Michael Edwards I demand that the Governor and the Attorney General of Wyoming institute proper Quo Warranto action to verify Obama’s eligibility to serve as Commander in Chief, due to the fact that he is not a Natural born citizen and never qualified to be the President and Commander in chief.
A current listing of eligibility lawsuits can be found here.
-Phil
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Federal Lawsuit, Senators Demand Answers from DHS; Levin Responds
In reaction to the Department of Homeland Security’s recent threat analysis, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Thomas Moore Law Center announced that it had filed a federal lawsuit in US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against DHS on behalf of 3 Plaintiffs:
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host, Michael Savage, Gregg Cunningham (President of the pro-life organization Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc (CBR)), and Iraqi War Marine veteran Kevin Murray. The Law Center claims that Napolitano’s Department (DHS) has violated the First and Fifth Amendment Constitutional rights of these three plaintiffs by attempting to chill their free speech, expressive association, and equal protection rights. The lawsuit further claims that the Department of Homeland Security encourages law enforcement officers throughout the nation to target and report citizens to federal officials as suspicious rightwing extremists and potential terrorists because of their political beliefs.
The Law Center stated the following as the basis for their suit:
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center stated, “Janet Napolitano is lying to the American people when she says the Report is not based on ideology or political beliefs. In fact, her report would have the admiration of the Gestapo and any current or past dictator in the way it targets political opponents. This incompetently written intelligence assessment, which directs law enforcement officials across the country to target and report on American citizens who have the political beliefs mentioned in the report, will be used as a tool to stifle political opposition and opinions. It will give a pretext for opponents of those Americans to report them to police as rightwing extremists and terrorists. You can imagine what happens then.”
The Report specifically mentions the following political beliefs that law enforcement should use to determine whether someone is a “rightwing extremist”:
- Opposes restrictions on firearms
- Opposes lax immigration
- Opposes the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship, and the expansion of social programs
- Opposes continuation of free trade agreements
- Opposes same-sex marriage
- Has paranoia of foreign regimes
- Fear of Communist regimes
- Opposes one world government
- Bemoans the decline of U.S. stature in the world.
- Upset with loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India
- . . . and the list goes on
…
The Law Center is asking the court to declare that the DHS policy violates the First and Fifth Amendments, to permanently enjoin the Policy and its application to the plaintiffs’ speech and other activities, and to award the plaintiffs their reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for having to bring the lawsuit.
The complaint can be found here.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano released a statement following up on the report. The following except is quite telling in what it doesn’t say:
Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence.
We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not – nor will we ever – monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources. [emphasis mine]
One must admit that this is a bit of a politicat canard, as DHS isn’t in the business of doing the actual monitoring of activities; that’s left up to other agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, etc. who all happen to have a hand in the DHS. Therefore, of course DHS doesn’t do any actual monitoring. Rather, they take data that has been collected by other agencies and analyze that data.
In fact, Pamela Gellar at AtlasShrugs makes the point quite clearly (of course, in relation to the tea parties):
Md. Guard Issues Warning to Staff about Local TEA Party Protestors Southern Maryland (hat tip Randall)CALLAWAY, Md. (April 15, 2009) - A document issued by the Maryland National Guard on April 9 warns full-time Guard personnel to be aware of threats from local citizens protesting income taxes during grass roots events known as TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Parties -- one of which was held on Solomons Island March 22. The Guard document, “Planned TEA Party Protests (FPCON Advisory 09-004),” was believed to have first been revealed by a blog called The Jawa Report. A call today to Col. Kohler, Md. National Guard Public Affairs in Baltimore, confirmed the authenticity of the document. The document was officially classified as UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U/FOUO). (The document appears in its entirety at the bottom of this article)
The Guard document describes the TEA Party protests as a movement. “Numerous entities have formed recently to express displeasure/anger over recent federal/state government actions: more taxes, increased spending, higher deficits, a surge of borrowing to pay for it all, bailout of the financial institutions,” stated the document under the heading of SITUATION.
The document appears to treat protestors as potential terrorists. The Point of Contact is identified as “Antiterrorism Program Coordinator” and provides a redacted army.mil email address.
The verbiage in the document advises Guard personnel to prepare for the worst. “Commanders are encouraged to update alert rosters and review emergency evacuation plans/rally points. Ensure all facilities have emergency phone lists posted (i.e. FBI, FIRE, POLICE, HOSPITALS, EMS, ETC…). Be aware of and avoid local protests.”
Despite the alarmist warnings in the document, the lead paragraph states, “there is no known direct threat to MDNG facilities and MDNG members, they may become a target of opportunity during plan protest activities throughout Maryland.”
The Guard document follows closely on the heels of a Dept. of Homeland Security document, released on April 7 that profiles American citizens who are concerned about gun rights and the “current economic and political climate” as potential rightwing extremists and domestic terrorists. The document is titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” and was recently profiled in a Washington Times article.
Yet another Homeland Security document from the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), leaked to the press in March, profiles vocal supporters of Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin as potential domestic terrorists. The so-called MIAC document also cautions police to be aware of citizens carrying a copy of the U.S. Constitution, labeling the document as “political paraphernalia.”
Ron Miller, a prominent Republican from Calvert County who ran against Rep. Steny Hoyer in 2006, and one of the organizers of the TEA Party protests in Maryland, told somd.com that the revelation of the Md. Guard’s document was “kind of timely” given the discovery of the aforementioned Homeland Security document.
Miller said he had received reports from unknown sources that some individuals opposed to the TEA Party message might try to insert themselves into the protests to discredit the initiative. However, nothing happened at any event, to Miller’s knowledge, that supported the reports.
Miller was on the way home from today’s TEA Party protest in Annapolis when we spoke to him. The Annapolis event was specifically mentioned in the Guard document.
Miller said he estimated there were 2500 people at the event he attended. “There were no problems that we could determine,” said Miller. “Given the weather, it went very well.”
Protests were also scheduled today for Baltimore, Bel Air, Cecil County, Frederick, Cumberland, Havre de Grace, Salisbury, Westminster, and Washington, DC.
[...]RELATED INFORMATION:
Anti-Tax Protest Draws Hundreds on Solomons, April 1, 2009
HEADQUARTERS, MARYLAND ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
13620 Meuse Argonne Circle
Camp Fretterd Military Reservation
Reisterstown, Maryland 21136JFHQ-MDARNG-G3 9 April 2009
MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION
SUBJECT: Planned TEA Party Protests (FPCON Advisory 09-004)
1. (U) This Maryland Army National Guard (MDARNG) Force Protection advisory is in response to a nationwide planned protest activities scheduled for April 15, 2009. Although there is no known direct threat to MDNG facilities and MDNG members, they may become a target of opportunity during plan protest activities throughout Maryland.
2. (U) FORCE PROTECTION CONDITIONS.
a. (U) USNORTHCOM FPCON baseline for the continental United States, Alaska, and Canada remains unchanged at ALPHA.
b. (U) MDARNG is not recommending a FPCON baseline change at this time.
3. (U//FOUO) SITUATION: Numerous entities have formed recently to express displeasure/anger over recent federal/state government actions: more taxes, increased spending, higher deficits, a surge of borrowing to pay for it all, bailout of the financial institutions, and etc. This movement can be identified by different variations of “TEA Party” or “Tea Party.” Past “TEA Party” events have been peaceful. There was a “Tea party” event at Solomons, Maryland, on March 22, 2009. “TEA” stands for “Taxed Enough Already.”
4. (U) KNOWN LOCATIONS AND EVENTS: According various websites and open source information, planned protest locations and time on April 15 in Maryland are:
*Annapolis, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Campbell Park (Dock/Boardwalk), Annapolis Harbor
*Baltimore, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm, The Inner Harbor
*Bel Air, 12:00 pm, Bel Air Courthouse Plaza on Main Street
*Cecil County, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Elkton Christian Academy, 144 Appleton Road
*Frederick, 3:00 pm, City Hall then march to Winchester Hall
*Cumberland, 12:00 pm, Baltimore and Mechanic Streets
*Havre de Grace, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Tydings Park Gazebo
*Salisbury, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm, Downtown Salisbury
*Westminster, 6:30 pm, Legends Cafe off of Route 140 in Westminster
*Washington DC, 12:00pm-2:00pm, US Treasury Department – National Stage; 11:00am-3:00pm Lafayette Park – Grassroots Stage (not MD)
5. (U) FORCE PROTECTION RECOMMENDATIONS:
a. (U) Full-time personnel (i.e. armories) and recruiters need to be aware their surroundings. Contact local law enforcement when feel threaten by protesters or protesters trespass into MDNG property.
b. (U//FOUO) Commanders at all levels should establish relationship with local police in order to understand the local threats. Keep family members informed. Talk to other service personnel to share information. Practice OPSEC. Don’t provide personal information to anyone you don’t know. Avoid high risk areas.
c. (U//FOUO) Commanders are encouraged to update alert rosters and review emergency evacuation plans/rally points. Ensure all facilities have emergency phone lists posted (i.e. FBI, FIRE, POLICE, HOSPITALS, EMS, ETC…). Be aware of and avoid local protests. Report all potential protest activities to your next higher headquarters.
d. (U//FOUO) Continue implementation of RAM and a review of policies and procedures, especially in regards to cooperation or assistance with local emergency responders.
5. POC is Antiterrorism Program Coordinator, –[redacted- at (410) 702-[redacted] or by e-mail [redacted]@us.army.mil
[Redacted LTC author's name]DISTRIBUTION:
ATOs
MSCs CDRs [emphases in posting]RedState and Michelle Malkin report that 7 GOP Senators submitted a letter to DHS requesting the bases for the report’s claims (PDF):
Dear Secretary Napolitano,
We write today regarding the release of the Department of homeland Security (DHS) report entitled “Rightwing Extremism Current Economic and Policial Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment”and prepared by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division.
While we agree that extremists of all varieties represent a potential threat to the United States, we are troubled by some of the statements included as fact in the report titled above.
First, your report states that “rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.” Using the DHS rationale, do you also believe that weapons familiarity and tactical training means local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel, and members of the National Guard, are also being recruited? To suggest that a soldier returning from a combat tour is more prone to join an extremist group is unconscionable and insulting to our brave men and women who risk their lives protecting our freedom.
Second, the report states that the millions of Americans who believe in the Second Amendment are a potential threat to our national security. Why? Do you have statistics to prove that the law-abiding Americans who purchase a legal product are being recruited by so-called hate groups? If so, please present us with DHS’s independent data.
Third, the report identifies those individuals who believe in such issues as pro-life legislation, limited government, legal versus illegal immigration and limited federal government as potential terrorist threats. We can assure you that these beliefs are held by citizens of all races, party affiliations and sex, and should not be listed as a factor in determining potential terror threats. A better way to describe them is as citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.
Also, you listed those who bemoan the decline of U.S. stature and the loss of U.S. manufacturing capability to China and India as being potential rightwing extremists. We would suggest that the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the manufacturing industry to foreign countries are no potential terror threats, but rather, honest Americans worried about feeding their families and earning a paycheck. Once again, to classify Americans who have lost their jobs as potential terror threats does a disservice to millions of Americans.
In closing, we support the mission of the DHS in protecting our country from terror attacks and are proud of the many DHS employees who make it possible, in conjunction with our state and local law enforcement. We ask that DHS not use this report as a basis to unfairly target millions of Americans because of their beliefs and the rights afforded to them in the Constitution, and that you provide us with the data that supports the claims listed in the report titled above.
Sincerely,
David Vitter (R, Louis.)
Sam Brownback (R, Kansas)
Jim Demint (R, So Car.)
Tom Cobrun (R, Oklahoma)
Richard Burr (R, No. Car.)
Lisa Murkowski (R, Alaska)
James Inhofe (R, Oklahoma)Nevertheless, another poster at RedState thinks that “Vitter, DeMint, et al: time to go Patrick Henry on Obama’s assault on conservatives.”
In fact, the report even got FoxNews’ Judge Andrew Napolitano in an uproar.
As HotAir.com notes, what’s really interesting is that civil liberties lawyers’ warnings were apparently ignored in the rush to release the report:
The DHS pushed its report out on right-wingers in one hell of a hurry, according tothe AP. Internal reviews of the document showed concerns over potential civil-liberties violations before its publication, but DHS ignored them in order to quickly make the document public. What was the rush?
Civil liberties officials at the Homeland Security Department flagged language in a controversial report on right-wing extremists, but the agency issued the report anyway. …
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the report was issued before officials resolved problems raised by the agency’s civil rights division about analysts’ definition of right-wing extremism.
In a footnote in the report, right-wing extremism was defined as hate-motivated groups and movements, such as hatred of certain religions, racial or ethnic groups. It went on to say, “It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”
This answers the rather absurd meme that has popped up on liberal blogs, that the Bush administration is responsible for this report. First, while the Bush administration might have wanted an assessment of right-wing extremist threats, it didn’t necessarily want one that painted returning veterans and conservative thought on abortion, illegal immigration, and federalism as extremist threats, nor did it want a threat assessment that couldn’t find a threat and had no data on actual, specific groups. Secondly, and most obviously, this report was dated April 7, 2009, almost 3 months after Bush left office. [emphasis original]
Update: Talk show host Mark Levin also promises to sue if DHS starts coming after conservatives (thanks, RovingPatrol):
This thing isn’t over by a long shot, folks, especially in light of the anecdotal evidence that seems to point to the President not only being aware of the tea parties happening (and remember that if there were only, say, 500 parties around the nation and they all averaged 500 attendees a pop, that’s still 250,000 based on that very conservative calculation; besides, if these things weren’t that big of a deal, why would even CNN stoop to the level of performing a journalistic hit job?) but likely rushed this report out in order to divert attention from the goings-on.
As I said in my previous DHS posting, never trust the government any more than that government trusts you.
-Phil
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CNN Tea Party Push-Back: Tea Parties "anti-CNN"; Update: Blog Catches Reporter Off Camera; Reporter's Email AWOL
SHOCK! CNN taking the tea parties personally (via MediaBistro; @PoliticalSurf):
CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen could barely get through her live shot at the Chicago tea party this afternoon. Over shouts of, “You’re not a reporter,” Roesgen quickly wrapped up an interview with an attendee, then said, “I think you get the general tenor of this. It’s anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox.”
FoxNews responded:
A Fox News spokesperson responds to TVNewser, “Judging by their lack of ratings, everyone seems to be anti-CNN.”
Also, Shepherd Smith and Neil Cavuto briefly mention:
While this has not been the only reporting done by CNN, this is yet further evidence that the mainstream media (of which CNN appears to be the top source) is, quite obviously, exceptionally elitist and couldn’t care less about what concerned citizens without a title have to say about reality in America.
Seriously — where do they get these reporters? That wasn’t a report; that was a journalistic hit job.
Update: Per FoundingBloggers, the same CNN reporter got a “what-for” from a couple of other concerned citizens:
CNN shut the segment down quickly, with a few editorial insults toward the Tea Partiers thrown in for good measure.
“I think you get the general tenor of this. It’s anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox.”
Founding Bloggers was on the scene, and we have footage of the schooling Susan Roesgen received from angry attendees after she signed off.
Update: FoundingBloggers.com recieved another video from a different angle from another reader:
Michelle Malkin covered this, too:
So, the Tea Party protests are “not fit for family viewing” according to one very unhappy CNN reporter, Susan Roesgen, who also fumes over what she calls an “offensive” anti-Obama sign that compares Obama to a fascist. (And yes, I told you this was going to happen.)
But guess what? Newsbusters caught the same indignantly indignant Susan Roesgen covering an anti-Bush rally in New Orleans in which she blithely refers to a huge Bush puppet with horns and a Hitler mustache as a “lookalike.”
Update: CNN’s Susan Roesgen has a different tone when it’s a left-wing protest:
Update: Ms. Roesgen’s email is toast:
…Well, for the past day Americans have been emailing her to let her know how they feel about her unprofessional attitude. Apparently, CNN does not appreciate hearing from its viewers, though, because all of a sudden anyone that sends an email to Roesgen’s CNN email address will have it returned as address unknown! …
If you’d like to email CNN about its unprofessional “journalists” try these other email addresses:
CNN Executive Vice President Ken Jautz: [email protected]
Philip Kent, the Chairman & CEO of CNN: [email protected]
-Phil