By Chuck Baldwin
In a report on its web site dated April 2010, entitled "Meet The Patriots,"
the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) profiled "36 individuals at the heart of the resurgent [patriot] movement." (In reading the list, I counted only 35 "patriots" and 5 "enablers" for a total of 40. I'm not really sure how the SPLC came up with "36." Perhaps their ability to count is commensurate with their ability to appreciate patriotism and liberty.) The SPLC (founded by Morris Dees) sees itself as America's guardian against "right wing militias" and loves to label conservatives and libertarians that it doesn't like as "extremists." The SPLC is one of the most ultra-liberal organizations in the country and should be dismissed as a group of paranoid leftists, not worthy of thought or mention.
The sad truth is, however, our federal government has chosen to exalt the SPLC to the position of being its "go to" source for information regarding "potential domestic terrorists" and similar characterizations. As a result, the information and reports disseminated by SPLC wind up in police reports and bulletins all over the United States. As an example, the SPLC had its fingerprints all over the infamous MIAC report. One could even question whether the SPLC is merely a front organization for Big Brother.
Therefore, it is highly likely that the report negatively profiling 40 American patriots will find its way into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fusion centers and be distributed to police agencies all across the country. So, should the 40 people who find themselves targeted by SPLC expect some kind of government/police attention? Are we really that close to Nazi-style persecution in America? If the SPLC has its way, the answer seems to be a definite yes.
I remind readers that in the book, Nazi Justiz: Law of the Holocaust (page 3), there were five steps to Hitler's plans for the destruction of European Jews. Step 1: Identification/registration of the targeted group as a public menace. Step 2: Ostracism of the targeted persons. Step 3: property confiscation. Step 4: Concentration of members into geographical locations. Step 5: Annihilation. In this latest report, SPLC seems quite willing to accomplish steps 1 and 2.
Here are the 40 names that are targeted in the SPLC report (and guess who is listed at the very top? Yours truly):
1. Chuck Baldwin, Pastor, Radio Broadcaster, Syndicated Columnist, 2008 Constitution Party Presidential nominee.
2. Joe Banister, former IRS special agent, tax protester.
3. Martin "Red" Beckman, tax protester
4. Catherine Bleish, head of the Liberty Restoration Project.
5. Chris Broughton, Second Amendment advocate, member of "We The People" group.
6. Bob Campbell, head of American Grand Jury.
7. Robert Crooks, Army veteran, retired commercial fisherman, anti-illegal immigration proponent.
8. Joseph Farah, CEO of World Net Daily
9. Gary Franchi, producer of "Camp FEMA: American Lockdown," national director of RestoreTheRepublic.com.
10. Al Garza, head of the Patriot's Coalition, an anti-illegal immigration group.
11. Ted Gunderson, retired FBI agent.
12. John Hassey, "The public face of Alabama's militia movement in the late 1990s," says SPLC.
13. Alex Jones, Radio Talk Show host.
14. Devvy Kidd, "prolific columnist, blogger, and public speaker."
15. Larry Kilgore, telecommunications consultant, former US Senate candidate from Texas, pro-secession advocate.
16. Cliff Kincaid, syndicated columnist and author, editor of AIM Report (Accuracy in Media's publication), founder and president of America's Survival, Inc., a UN watchdog group.
17. Mark Koernke, associated with the now-defunct Michigan Militia.
18. Richard Mack, former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff, author, and public speaker.
19. Jack McLamb, former Phoenix, Arizona, police officer, author, and public speaker.
20. John McManus, former member of the US Marine Corps, president of the John Birch Society.
21. Daniel New, father of Michael New (the Army medic who refused to wear a UN uniform), author, public speaker.
22. Norm Olson, founder of the now-defunct Michigan Militia.
23. Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America.
24. Stewart Rhodes, Army veteran and Yale Law School graduate, founder of Oath Keepers.
25. Jon Roland, computer specialist, founder of the Constitution Society.
26. Luke Rudkowski, founder We Are Change.
27. Robert "Bob" Schultz, founder of We The People.
28. Joel Skousen, editor, World Affairs Brief.
29. Jim Stachowiak, Radio Talk Show host, "Longtime militia organizer,"
claims SPLC.
30. John Stadtmiller, founder, Republic Broadcasting Network.
31. Orly Taitz, California attorney, a leader in the push to make President Obama disclose his US birth certificate.
32. Amanda Teegarden, executive director of Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise.
33. Mike Vanderboegh, anti-Obama health care activist.
34. Paul Venable, former candidate for the Idaho House of Representatives.
35. Edwin Vieira, Jr., attorney, author, proponent of constitutional State militias, lecturer.
36. Michele Bachmann, US Representative from Minnesota.
37. Glenn Beck, Fox News Channel TV host.
38. Paul Broun, medical doctor, US Representative from Georgia.
39. Andrew Napolitano, attorney, former State judge in New Jersey, Fox News Channel legal analyist, lecturer.
40. Ron Paul, former member of the US Air Force, medical doctor, US Representative from Texas, 2008 Republican candidate for President.
See the SPLC report at:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/the-patriots?page=0,0
The SPLC, no doubt, sees each person on the above list as being a leader of the "radical right," a "conspiracist," and "antigovernment." But understand, the SPLC makes its living off of big-government, leftist ideology. To say it is a shill for Big Government Liberalism is an understatement. The SPLC is so radical it makes the ACLU look conservative!
Again, this SPLC report would not even merit a mention (much less an entire column) except for the fact that the SPLC has become a source of information fuelling anti-freedom hysteria for countless bureaucrats at the DHS. Add this to the previously exposed MIAC and DHS reports, and the Army major's report blaming "millennialist" Christians for much of the ills of the world, and a disturbing trend is quickly developing: so-called right-wing ANYTHING is being targeted and demonized as a "public menace."
But the lists that you and I are not seeing are even more disturbing.
Joel Skousen quotes (Radar Magazine's) Christopher Ketcham's The Last Roundup as asking if the federal government is "compiling a secret enemies list of citizens who could face detention?" He goes on to say, "A number of former government employees and intelligence sources with independent knowledge of domestic surveillance operations claim the program that caused the flap between [former assistant attorney general under John Ashcroft, James] Comey and the White House was related to a database of Americans who might be considered potential threats in the event of a national emergency.
Sources familiar with the program say that the government's data gathering has been overzealous and probably conducted in violation of federal law and the protection from unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
"A veteran CIA intelligence analyst who maintains active high-level clearances and serves as an advisor to the Department of Defense in the field of emerging technology tells Radar that during the 2004 hospital room drama [between former Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Attorney General Ashcroft, in an attempt by Card to coerce a very ill Ashcroft to authorize President Bush's secretive domestic spying programs as his assistant--and acting--attorney general had refused to do so], James Comey expressed concern over how this secret database was being used 'to accumulate otherwise private data on non-targeted U.S. citizens for use at a future time.'"
The report further states, "According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, 'There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived "enemies of the state" almost instantaneously.'" At this point, Skousen noted, "And that is precisely why the census bureau took a GPS coordinate on every front door in America, secretly linking this to dissidents and their known addresses."
This database of Americans who are perceived to be potential "enemies of the state" goes by the code name "Main Core." And according to the report, "One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.
"Officials at the Department of Homeland Security begin actively scrutinizing people who--for a tremendously broad set of reasons--have been flagged in Main Core as potential domestic threats [sound familiar?]. Some of these individuals might receive a letter or a phone call, others a request to register with local authorities. Still others might hear a knock on the door and find police or armed soldiers outside. In some instances, the authorities might just ask a few questions. Other suspects might be arrested and escorted to federal holding facilities, where they could be detained without counsel until the state of emergency is no longer in effect."
The report also noted that former Assistant Attorney General James Comey "had concluded that the use of that 'Main Core' database compromised the legality of the overall NSA domestic surveillance project. 'If Main Core does exist,' says Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism officer and an outspoken critic of the agency, 'the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is its likely home. If a master list is being compiled, it would have to be in a place where there are no legal issues--the CIA and FBI would be restricted by oversight and accountability laws--so I suspect it is at DHS, which as far as I know operates with no such restraints.' Giraldi notes that DHS already maintains a central list of suspected terrorists and has been freely adding people who pose no reasonable threat to domestic security."
So, is there a secret list of 8 million "unfriendly" Americans kept by DHS (if there is, dear reader, you are probably on it!)? Does anyone reading this column doubt that our federal government is more than willing and capable of doing such a thing? All of us are quite familiar with the government's "no fly" or "flagged" airline passenger list. I can personally attest to the authenticity of this list, as airport officials in San Antonio, Texas, told me that I'm on it. I also made it to the "list of three" that were named in the MIAC report (the other two were Ron Paul and Bob Barr). And now I am on the SPLC list of "patriots" (not a compliment in the SPLC lexicon). Wow! I never realize how popular I was! (With the exception of Ron Paul, I'm probably on more lists than anyone in America.)
Who would ever have thought that the day would come in America when to speak up for freedom, constitutional government, and the principles expressed by our Founding Fathers would land one on a government watch list? Well, that day is here, my friend! No doubt, the major media and federal government--in order to further ostracize patriotic, God-fearing Americans--will use the SPLC patriot hit list as a vehicle to carry our country further down the road of oppression.
But what the radical left fearmongers at the Southern Poverty Law Center fail to realize is that the more they try to marginalize and ostracize American patriots such as you and me, the more they isolate themselves from America's future, because millions and millions of hard-working, God-fearing, liberty-loving Americans are not going to sit back and let Morris Dees and his cabal of Big Government elitists destroy the principles of freedom in our land.
So, people such as Morris Dees can put us on as many lists as they like; we will never let liberty die! And the more they try to demonize us, the more people will want to join with us. You see, freedom burns deep and strong in the hearts of real Americans. And that's something the SPLC can't extinguish--no matter how many lists it makes!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The rats scurry as the ship goes down.
The best thing the other Supervisor Paul Griffin can hope to do right now is to join Supervisor's John Bell Crosby and DI Smith in ordering a full audit of Madison County's books, and hopes the voters reward him for his change of heart. Either that, or he can take the path of Administrator Mark Houston and jump ship. Otherwise, Griffin can expect to drown with the rest of the rats.
From the Madison County Journal:
Bill Murphy was the highest paid charity bingo director in the state until regulators determined he was operating the dump for personal gain and shut him down.
The Secretary of State ordered the charity shut and levied fines totaling $50,000 against the organization and Murphy.
FAIM paid Murphy $155,000 in 2008 and spent only $22,000 on actual charitable giving, testimony showed.
Murphy's actions are indefensible, but look who's lurking around the bingo hall, District 2 Madison County Supervisor Tim Johnson, the charity's PR hack and their former lobbyist.
Murphy's attorney, Eric Hamer, - who happens to be the attorney for the Madison County Board of Supervisors, Murphy's former employer, as it would happen - argued during hearings that Murphy's compensation shouldn't be in question, claiming there are no statutory rules governing such things. Perhaps, but decent people have morals and principles.
To make things even more interesting, an asset sharing agreement FAIM had with Lynn Johnson, Tim Johnson's wife, was the red flag for regulators, they said.
What kind of confidence can Mississippians have in charities - or our elected public officials (Tim Johnson is president of the Madison County Board of Supervisors) -with these kinds of shenanigans going on?
If bingogate wasn't enough of a scandal, Johnson has been threatening to sue the state Department of Transportation over the failed $37 million Reunion interchange the county was going to build and give to the federal government.
Nearly 300 Madison countians showed up at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors in January to protest "wasteful and misdirected spending" of county tax dollars, including Reunion.
Examiners from the State Auditor's Office are currently reviewing engineering contracts connected to Reunion. The real meat of that story will be found in the subcontracts the county engineer arranged.
Bill Murphy should be ashamed and so should Tim Johnson and Eric Hamer.
What kind of people stand behind the kind of fraud Murphy was committing?
Read the entire Editorial at the Madison County Journal
The wheels are coming off. Ain't it GRAND?
Local Blogger digging in Madison County Supervisors backgrounds uncovers potential ethics violations by Karl Banks
Kingfish over at Jackson Jambalaya continues his investigative digging in Madison County Supervisors dealings, and it looks like he may have found where some of the bodies are buried. It appears Supervisor Karl Banks buried some of them in shallow graves.
Former Bush advisor says GOP should back immigration reform
By CHARLES C. FOSTER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The political and economic climate in our country is right for American leaders to fix our broken immigration system. Although they don't always agree on the solutions, Democrats and Republicans are in a position to forge a much-needed bipartisan consensus that a problem exists, and our Texas congressional delegation should take the lead on a bipartisan basis. No state or city is more affected by immigration than Texas and Houston. And as unfortunate as it is, the current U.S. economic recession has resulted in an exodus of illegal workers who came to our country for jobs that now don't exist. Before the economy resumes steam and new jobs again attract large numbers of workers across our borders, it is essential we confront the problem.
Given the state of our economy, President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress know they cannot pass immigration reform without significant Republican support, and that has been a tough sell to date. GOP congressional members will tell you that their base strongly opposes illegal immigration and are angry when illegal immigrants commit crimes and abuse our social services.
Unfortunately, merely being angry about illegal immigration does not constitute effective policy. Republican leaders should recognize that no one supports illegal immigration and we all agree that with an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, some break the law and use health care and other services (even if actual statistics show that they do so in percentages lower than other groups in society).
A Republican policy of opposing both illegal immigration and at the same time any meaningful immigration reform results in a dangerous affirmation of the status quo. That is a critical point missed by radio and TV commentators and other shrill anti-immigrant groups that fail to offer realistic answers. When pressed in one of the GOP presidential primary debates about his proposal for the estimated 12 million illegal workers here, Mitt Romney could only say that if elected president, he would issue an executive order giving all illegal aliens 90 days to depart the country. Ultimately, all sides agree that having risked their lives and treasure, illegal workers will not leave on their own and it would be logistically impossible, inhumane and economically insane for the government to round up 12 million men, women and children and deport them.
Just building a longer, higher, more durable fence is no answer, either. Candidly, fence contractors and Border Patrol officials concede that no barrier is foolproof. Illegal aliens will climb over, around, under and even through any fence that is built as long as there is the powerful magnet of higher-paying jobs in the U.S. Ironically, as we have increased border enforcement over the last several decades, the primary beneficiary has been organized crime, which simply charges a greater premium for smuggling services. Further, a harder border only fences illegal immigrants inside our country rather than allowing them to return home and maintain family ties. Legislation mandating use of electronic verification (E-Verify) of all new hires by itself would only push illegal workers further into the underground economy.
Any serious proposal to deal with illegal immigration should include the following points:
* A reliable forge-proof identity document. To dry up the job magnet, Congress should provide a uniform forgery-proof biometric document in the form of an upgraded Social Security card so employers can determine on the spot who is authorized to work. Congress failed in 1986 when it designated the easily copied Social Security card as the primary document to establish U.S. work authorization and did not require that it be upgraded. At the same time, Congress should increase penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and address the independent-contractor loopholes that allow employers to bypass verification laws. That alone would be far more effective than quadrupling the Border Patrol.
• Temporary worker program. Most illegal workers who come to get a job only want to work, save money and go home. Yet there is no viable temporary worker program for semi- or low-skilled workers. Congress should restrict same to applicants from North America, thus permitting circular immigration, and protect U.S. workers by requiring proof of prior recruitment of U.S. workers at the prevailing wage.
• Registration of illegal workers. Congress should require those here illegally to come forward within a reasonable time frame to be identified, registered and fingerprinted. Those without criminal records would be eligible for an interim status that would allow them to work, pay taxes and travel in and out of the country. Such status could be extended only upon payment of a fine for violating U.S. immigration law and back taxes and registering in English-language and civics courses. Further extension would also be conditioned upon completion of the latter.
• No automatic citizenship. No one would be allowed to cut in line and apply for lawful permanent residency (LPR) or so-called green-card status ahead of someone who has already legally applied through family ties or a U.S. employer. Thus, at best it would take eight to 12 years to establish eligibility to apply for LPR. Furthermore, with interim status and authorization to work in the United States and travel home, many would never seek to apply for LPR. Those who did would not be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship for another five years. Based upon current statistics, a smaller percentage of those individuals who achieve LPR would gradually apply for citizenship. Thus, immigration reform would not result in an increase in any new voters in our country for decades, but their U.S. citizen children will vote.
By being viewed as obstructionists, Republicans risk alienating Hispanic-American voters who interpret the heated anti-immigrant rhetoric as anti-Hispanic. In the not-too-distant future, this growing generation of Texans will attain political power just as other ethnic groups did in the past. While those voters share many values with the Republican Party, they could condemn the Republican Party in Texas to minority status for years unless it can find a way to support realistic, common-sense immigration reform.
Foster was the senior immigration policy adviser to President George W. Bush during the 2000 and 2004 elections and today chairs the Immigration Task Force of the Greater Houston Partnership.
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