The Hill:
Responding to outrage over a report suggesting the Department of Homeland Security is keeping tabs on right-wing organizations, Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday her department does not monitor political beliefs.
The statement came after a department analysis warned local law enforcement organizations about potential risk of attacks from right-wing extremist organizations. Napolitano said the report, authored by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, is part of a series of assessments aimed at improving situational awareness.
"We monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States," Napolitano said Wednesday. "We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence."
"We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not — nor will we ever — monitor ideology or political beliefs," she said. "We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources."
This is a nice change of pace from when Bush spied on Quakers and nuns who opposed the war on Iraq. Now we're looking at people who aren't committed to nonviolence.
It's hard to come up with a good reason why it wouldn't be stupid not to keep an eye on militia nuts, white power types, and religious fanatics -- all of which have been responsible for domestic terrorism in the past.
But not everything's about you, GOPers. I know you guys enjoy the occasional nice unfounded panic, but you can go ahead and knock it off now. Get over yourselves.
