You have to hand it to Obama – he is nearly as bold as Nixon when it comes to using presidential power against his real or imagined enemies. He dealt with Chrysler’s creditors who were holding out for a better deal by threatening to publicly pound them as greedy hedge fiends. The creditors caved. They had seen the relish with which he bashed Limbaugh and others.
Especially noteworthy was the release of the Department of Homeland Security’s report to law enforcement agencies warning them about right-wing terrorism. Cheerfully entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” it went out to the country’s police and sheriff’s departments.
Apparently, the people who are especially worrisome to Obama’s administration are pro-lifers, gun rights supporters, military veterans, immigration opponents, and of course white supremacists. Since according to the Gallup poll pro-lifers alone are now a majority, Obama’s list targets rather a large majority of Americans. Conspicuously missing from the report was longtime Obama friend Bill Ayers, who actually did bomb federal buildings before he got tenure in an Illinois institution of higher learning.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a half-apology for some of the language in the report when some veterans groups (such as the American Legion) expressed anger at its focus on vets as potential recruits, using Timothy McVeigh – who blew up a federal building, but was executed before he could get tenure – as an example. The vets pointed out that there are tens of millions of people like them who haven’t blown up anything (on American soil, at least). But the DHS apparently thinks that the sight of an African-American president will drive veterans into the hands of the domestic jihadists.
I confess that I am now a bit nervous. While I am moderately pro-immigration and pro-choice, I am also a devout believer in gun rights. Worse yet, I’m a skinhead – though not by preference, I hasten to add. My hair fell out of its own accord when I was relatively young.
Still, I guess it is just a matter of time before the DHS puts me on an enemies list. At least I will have lots of company.
