What is a "patriot"?
According to Merriam-Webster, its the following:
"one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests" and in the case of America, that authority is the Constitution which bestows limited power to the government, and each branch (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) is to keep in check the other two branches from assuming too much power. Thus the term "Checks and Balances".
As Jefferson once said, "That government governs best, which governs least."
And the interest of this country, America, is the freedom and individual sovereignty of its citizens. My freedoms are limited only where they would infringe upon your own freedoms, and vice versa.
Do you also remember that the terms "patriot" and "militia" were dirty words? Such terms were considered somehow villianous? This all came up with the Murrah Federal Building which was attacked by Tim McVey and Terry Nichols; both were members of militia groups, and thus any who were part of a militia group were looked upon with suspicion.
Yet State militia is a provision in our own Constitution -
U.S. Constitution: Second Amendment - Bearing Arms
Amendment Text Annotations
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
(taken from the following site: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment02/)
Then 9-11 happened and the creation of The PATRIOT Act was developed which is quite the scary document, decimating the very Constitution that any true patriot would uphold.
Now the term of "Patriot" is even further villified, and a "hit list" is being formed of patriots who are considered "potential domestic terrorists" and the like. Who was responsible for the development of this hit list?
The Southern Poverty Law Center, that's who! And their findings may well be included in the Department of Homeland Security data base!
Check this out:
By Chuck Baldwin
April 21, 2010 - www.NewsWithViews.com
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.
See the SPLC report here.
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."
To read this article in full, please visit Chuck Baldwin's web site posted here:
http://newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin583.htm
We as Americans love to shout out the immortal words: "Let freedom reign!" . . . yet in the days which we now live, we must ask the question -
Will it?