4 ms·
Well on the extreme end of things you have ruby ridge and waco. Then you've got the addition of militia groups to Domestic terror lists. And then you have the
by steveplace 13y ago
Well on the extreme end of things you have ruby ridge and waco. Then you've got the addition of militia groups to Domestic terror lists.
And then you have the IRS specifically targeting right wing non-profits.
- jbooth 13y agoWell, let's distinguish between degrees here. Both Occupy and the Tea Party have silly, simplistic solutions to real problems, and aren't violent. The cops really have no business hassling either group, let alone infiltrating them like they want to be secret agents. Actual militia groups.. I mean, Oklahoma City happened, right? Imagine if there was a group of hippies or, god forbid, Muslims with the level of rhetoric that some of these militia groups have along with the training routines and arsenals to prove they're serious. My beef with how the police treat hippies and muslims is the well-documented, "infiltrate, keep suggesting violent actions until someone says 'maybe', then arrest them" routine. If someone's suggesting violent actions ahead of time and making actual preparations for such without prompting, then that may actually be a threat. Regardless of politics. EDIT: This is not to say the ATF acted appropriately at Ruby Ridge or Waco. They shouldn't be the first ones shooting.
- djur 13y agoThe IRS never specifically targeted right wing non-profits. The list of keywords they used included both right wing indicators like "tea party" and left wing indicators like "progressive". The tax categorization these organizations were applying for is meant to exclude political activism, so flagging organizations with explicitly political names was a reasonable approach.
- afterburner 13y agoExcept that it turns out the IRS wasn't actually targetting right wing groups. Whereas COINTELPRO on the other hand...