Wait a minute....I thought activist judges were worse than Al Qaeda. Now it's environmental groups and PETA.
Look....I'll be the first to admit that groups like PETA and the Animal Liberation Front are the kind of groups that make the left look like idiots. I don't agree with their tactics. But to call these groups terrorists, while the various loose affiliations of militias, abortion demonstrators, some of whom advocate violence, and other right-wing kooks are ignored, not only is hypocritical and fascist, but it also blinds this Administration to REAL terrorism dangers....which is probably the whole point, since what they want is to keep people so frightened that they'll fall in line and worship Der Fuhrer, George Adolph Bus(c)h.
CNN reports the hysteria:
Violent animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists now pose one of the most serious terrorism threats to the nation, top federal law enforcement officials say.
Senior officials from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives told a Senate panel Wednesday of their growing concern over these groups.
Of particular concern are the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
John Lewis, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, said animal and environmental rights extremists have claimed credit for more than 1,200 criminal incidents since 1990. The FBI has 150 pending investigations associated with animal rights or eco-terrorist activities, and ATF officials say they have opened 58 investigations in the past six years related to violence attributed to the ELF and ALF.
In the same period violence from groups like the Ku Klux Klan and anti-abortion extremists have declined, Lewis said.
The ELF has been linked to fires set at sport utility vehicle dealerships and construction sites in various states, while the ALF has been blamed for arson and bombings against animal research labs and the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry.
No deaths have been blamed on attacks by those groups so far, but the attacks have increased in frequency and size, said Lewis.
"Plainly, I think we're lucky. Once you set one of these fires they can go way out of control," Lewis said.
ATF Deputy Assistant Director Carson Carroll agreed with Lewis' assessment.
"The most worrisome trend to law enforcement and private industry alike has been the increase in willingness by these movements to resort to the use of incendiary and explosive devices," he said.
I think that the FBI's real problem is that CORPORATE PROPERTY is being destroyed. As long as it's only blacks being lynched and abortion doctors being murdered and women being intimidated and harrassed, it's A-OK with those in charge. But start destroying property and the gloves come off.
Now I'm going to address the rest of this post to PETA and ELF and related groups who may have or may be thinking of using such tactics (and I'm not convinced the FBI isn't exaggerating; it wouldn't be the first time): Stop it. If you're thinking about it, stop. If you're doing it, cut it out. If you think that violence is going to further your agenda, I have three words for you: Symbionese Liberation Army. And another three: The Weather Underground. Torching Hummers may make you feel good, but it doesn't make you a freedom fighters, it makes you a vandal. You're not doing your cause any favors, you're not doing the left any favors, and frankly, I will NOT sit by and live in a fascist state because of you guys. It's bad enough I have to fight the Republicans. I don't want to have to battle against people who are supposed to be on the same team. Civil disobedience is called that for a reason. It's civil. When you give this particular version of the U.S. government an excuse to turn this into a dictatorship, they'll take it. Believe me, they will.
So knock it off. Now.
UPDATE: By increasing the list of organizations they can classify as "terrorist", the Administration can open the door to ever-more-invasive searches with ever-less-accountability. The New York Times reports:
The Bush administration and Senate Republican leaders are pushing a plan that would significantly expand the F.B.I.'s power to demand business records in terror investigations without obtaining approval from a judge, officials said on Wednesday.
The proposal, which is likely to be considered next week in a closed session of the Senate intelligence committee, would allow federal investigators to subpoena records from businesses and other institutions without a judge's sign-off if they declared that the material was needed as part of a foreign intelligence investigation.
The proposal, part of a broader plan to extend antiterrorism powers under the law known as the USA Patriot Act, was concluded in recent days by Republican leaders on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in consultation with the Bush administration, Congressional officials said.
Administration and Congressional officials who support the idea said the proposal would give the F.B.I. a much-needed tool to track leads in terrorism and espionage investigations that would be quicker and less cumbersome than existing methods. They pointed out that the administrative subpoena power being sought for the F.B.I. in terror cases was already in use in more than 300 other types of crimes, including health care fraud, child exploitation, racketeering and drug trafficking.
[B@B comment: And being a liberal, too, I presume]
[snip]
The proposal, which is likely to be considered next week in a closed session of the Senate intelligence committee, would allow federal investigators to subpoena records from businesses and other institutions without a judge's sign-off if they declared that the material was needed as part of a foreign intelligence investigation.
The proposal, part of a broader plan to extend antiterrorism powers under the law known as the USA Patriot Act, was concluded in recent days by Republican leaders on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in consultation with the Bush administration, Congressional officials said.
Administration and Congressional officials who support the idea said the proposal would give the F.B.I. a much-needed tool to track leads in terrorism and espionage investigations that would be quicker and less cumbersome than existing methods. They pointed out that the administrative subpoena power being sought for the F.B.I. in terror cases was already in use in more than 300 other types of crimes, including health care fraud, child exploitation, racketeering and drug trafficking.
[B@B comment: And being a liberal, too, I presume]
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