by
Tom DeWeese
When
I first became involved in political issues and events some 45 years
ago as a young man just out of high school, it was because I believed
in the ideals of our Founding Fathers. I had a young man’s zeal
for the American dream of individuals living their lives free of government
control and harassment. I was comfortable in the knowledge that I lived
in the greatest nation on earth, where I could speak my mind; choose
my own future; and nothing but my own limitations would stand in my
way.
The
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were my guidelines.
I learned of them in a public school classroom, where we were taught
why the American system of free enterprise and limited government were
the reasons the United States had the highest standard of living in
the world. It was the reason our solders were proud to serve and defend
those ideas. Around the world, we were known as honest, trustworthy
friends and allies. We were the envy of the world.
I
got involved in politics, supporting these ideas, at a time when radical
leftists who hated our style of government, were marching in the streets,
carrying placards of Mao and labeling our nation “Amerika.”
I stood against them. I gave speeches to local service clubs; I wrote
articles; I took action on college campuses, fighting to keep them open
and safe as these extremists were shutting down classes and even burning
buildings. It was a time of great violence and it was the beginning
of a long revolution that has now completely changed our nation.
How
severe has America changed? Today, as I stand for exactly the same ideals
of American liberty as I did in 1967, I have just been labeled a threat
to my country by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). In fact, they
say I am a right wing extremist, a racist and a potentially violent
domestic terrorist.
In
a recent SPLC report entitled, “30 New Activists Heading Up The
Radical Right,” I have been named along with what SPLC calls “Islamophobes,”
“Political Opportunists,” “Religious Right Anti-Gay
groups” and “Patriot groups.” Says the report, “Most
dramatically, so- called ‘Patriot’ groups – which,
unlike most hate groups, see the federal government as their primary
enemy – have grown explosively in just the last three years…”
Of course they’re talking about the Tea Party as a hate movement,
and I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m listed. In particular,
they report on my efforts against Agenda 21, saying “DeWeese’s
outfit is only one of several obsessed with what has become one of the
main conspiracy theories of the antigovernment ‘Patriot’
movement.” This new report from SPLC is just the latest in a series
of attacks against Conservatives and others who support the founding
principles of the United States, dating back over the past few years.
In
March, 2010, SPLC issued a report entitled “Rage on the Right:
The Year in Hate and Extremism,” in which groups opposed to issues
like the Obama health care plan and illegal immigration were lumped
with white supremacist groups like the National Socialist Movement and
Neo-Nazi Skin Heads.
In
August, 2010 SPLC launched an attack against my organization, the American
Policy Center, and our national conference, The Freedom Action Conference,
held at Valley Forge, PA. The event featured such speakers as best selling
author Tom Woods, former presidential candidate Michael Badnarik, Sheriff
Richard Mack, five respected state legislators, and many more well known
spokesmen.
The
title of the SPLC attack against me read, “Patriot Rhetoric Becomes
Increasingly Violent,” and said we were “united by rage”
at the federal government. Not one speaker at our conference advocated
violence or lawlessness of any kind. I can prove these statements because
we have the entire conference on video tape. Yet we were labeled as
dangerous and potentially violent terrorists by SPLC. In fact, Sherriff
Richard Mack was specifically singled out as one of our speakers whom
they say advocated violence. He has filed a law suit against SPLC and
will use our video as part of his evidence.
Of
course, annually SPLC puts out its list of what it calls “hate”
groups and individuals it deems dangerous to the nation. That list is
almost exclusively respected pro-Constitution spokesmen.
I
live in the world of rough and tumble politics. Charges are regularly
made in both directions. I give as good as I get. I attack over opposition
to policy. They attack me for the same reason. It’s called political
discourse; debate; and free speech. It’s been our right to participate
in such public activity for over 200 years. So, why do I care what this
one private organization (SPLC), with its own political agenda, says
about me?
I
care because the Southern Poverty Law Center has direct ties to the
Department of Homeland Security, helping to write official DHS policy
that may affect my life, my freedom, my ability to travel and my ability
to speak out.
Consider
the following facts:
Item:
In 2009, The DHS issued a report entitled “Right-wing Extremism:
Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization
and Recruitment.”
That
official document of an agency of the United States government said
“Right- wing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided
into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented
(based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),
and those that are mainly anti- government, rejecting federal authority
in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority
entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to
a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”
Item:
Two weeks later, the DHS released a second report entitled: “Domestic
Extremism Lexicon,” designed to provide specific definitions of
just who may be Right wing extremists.
That
report labeled the following to be extremists, bordering on terrorism:
Those concerned over the economy; loss of jobs; foreclosures; antagonism
toward the Obama Administration; Criticism of free trade programs; anti-abortion;
oppose same sex marriage; believe in the “end times;” stock
pile food; oppose illegal immigration; oppose a New World Order; oppose
the UN; oppose global governance; fear of Communist regimes; oppose
loss of US manufacturing to overseas nations; oppose loss of US prestige;
use of the internet (or alternative media) to express any of these ideas.
Right
after both of these reports were issued, there was the shooting at the
Holocaust Museum. Next to their news reports on the incident, many newspapers
carried side bar articles citing the DHS reports, basically confirming
that such violence is perpetrated by right wing nuts and justifying
the concerns of the DHS – just like clockwork. Yet there was absolutely
no connection found between that shooter and the right wing. But the
damage was done.
And
there’s more.
The
Department of Homeland Security has established Fusion Centers in each
state. These are designed to combine federal, state and local law enforcement.
Their stated purpose is to assure immediate and efficient response to
a terrorist attack or a Katrina-like disaster without bureaucratic red
tape.
Item:
However, in 2009, the Missouri Fusion Center set off a fire storm over
a report it issued entitled “The Modern Militia Movement.”
Reported Fox News, the report “identifies the warning signs of
potential terrorists for law enforcement communities.” In other
words, this report was issued to law enforcement agencies across the
state as official documentation warning who the cops should look out
for as potential violent terrorists.
The
list of potential terrorists included Americans who voted for presidential
candidate Ron Paul; Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck
Baldwin (who is included on the new 2012 list); and Libertarian Party
presidential candidate Bob Barr. It also cited those of us who opposed
the creation of a North American Union with Canada and Mexico.
Item:
Immediately following the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords,
the Arizona Fusion Center issued a report saying that the shooter was
influenced by a right wing group called American Renaissance. Immediately
the mainstream media picked up the report and flooded the airways with
the story that the radical and violent right wing was responsible for
the shootings.
The
information was completely wrong. There is no evidence that there was
ever any connection between the shooter and American Renaissance. Moreover,
American Renaissance has never advocated violence or extremism.
Item:
in the Spring of 2010, the Department of Homeland Security organized
a “Countering Violent Extremism Working Group.” This is
an advisory council given the task of creating a plan to reach out to
local law enforcement and community activists for training to respond
to potential violence and terrorist threat.
Leafing
through the report one gets the distinct impression that the plan is
basically a “turn in your neighbor,” neighborhood- watch
approach. It talks extensively of “sharing” information,
along with “training, training, training.”
Training
for what? To identify potential terrorists, of course. And who are those
potential terrorist? A look at the members of the working group offers
a clue. While the group includes several public officials and law enforcement
officials from around the nation, and it also includes Mohamed Magid,
president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an un-indicted
co-conspirator in a case concerning the funding of Muslim terrorist
organizations. Note that the new 2012 SPLC report labels those who oppose
radical Islamic activities as “Islamophobes.” Coincidence?
The
working group member list also includes Richard Cohen, President of
the Southern Poverty Law Center. In addition, as one of the “Subject
Matter Experts,” it lists Laurie Wood, an analyst for the Southern
Poverty Law Center and an instructor for the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center.
That
training center is run by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is one
of the most visible direct links between DHS, the Fusion Centers and
SPLC. Law enforcement agencies actually send their personnel to these
training classes to gain Federal Law Enforcement Training Center certification.
That
means that policy for this DHS working group is being created by the
very organization that has labeled those who advocate Constitutional
law to be potential terrorists. In addition, the “training”
called for in the report will most likely be conducted, at least in
part, by the SPLC’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
The
pattern is clear, one of the nation’s leading hate groups, the
Southern Poverty Law Center, which opposes even the right of free speech
by people it labels potential terrorists, is helping the largest federal
enforcement agency in the nation to create its policy.
That
policy clearly implies, according to DHS reports, that anyone disagreeing
with actions of the American government is a potential terrorist and
must be, at least, watched and monitored by federal, state, and local
authorities.
The
result of such surveillance could possibly lead to loss of freedom,
loss of jobs, loss of the ability to travel, and loss of the ability
to speak publicly, for anyone who opposes the private agenda of the
Southern Poverty Law Center. It is an effort to silence their opponents.
Honest political debate is now being interpreted as dangerous extremism.
Why
is DHS dealing with such people? Are the policies of SPLC the same policies
of the United States? If so, then freedom in America is in grave danger,
indeed.
I
believe there needs to be an immediate Congressional investigation into
the ties between the Department of Homeland Security and the Southern
Poverty Law Center and any other radical groups.
Particular
attention should be paid to SPLC’s tax exempt status and the amount
of money it receives from DHS or any other agency. And there should
be an immediate stop to American law enforcement being trained by SPLC’s
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
The
specific purpose of the Department of Homeland Security is to protect
the “STATE” against all enemies. According to its own reports,
that has come to include anyone who uses their first amendment right
to speak out against specific policies. Apparently, that has been interpreted
by DHS to mean a threat to the STATE.
May
I remind every American that the tanks which ran over the student protesters
in Tiananmen Square in Communist China were also protecting the STATE
against its enemies.
I
fear that if private groups with their own political agendas, like the
SPLC are allowed to continue feeding their own brand of hatred into
the policies of DHS, then such a comparison with China is not too far
off. I don’t think that is the America any of us, whether liberal
or conservative, wants.
Tom
DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty,
free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics
education and American sovereignty and independence.
A
native of Ohio, he’s been a candidate for the Ohio Legislature,
served as editor of two newspapers, and has owned several businesses since
the age of 23. In 1989 Tom led the only privately-funded election-observation
team to the Panamanian elections. In 2006 Tom was invited to Cambridge
University to debate the issue of the United Nations before the Cambridge
Union, a 200 year old debating society. Today he serves as Founder and
President of the American Policy Center and editor of The DeWeese Report
For
40 years Tom DeWeese has been a businessman, grassroots activist, writer
and publisher. As such, he has always advocated a firm belief in man’s
need to keep moving forward while protecting our Constitutionally-guaranteed
rights.
The DeWeese
Report , 70 Main Street, Suite 23, Warrenton Virginia. (540) 341-8911
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