West Point Warns of Danger From 'Violent Far Right'

The racist, the libertarian, and the fundamentalist

In news that's getting play almost exclusively among conservatives, a think tank affiliated with the prestigious West Point, NY based US Military Academy is warning future leaders of the dangers posed by the nation's "violent far-right."

The Washington Times reports on a study dubbed "Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America's Violent Far-Right" from West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, which seeks to understand the "dramatic rise in the number of attacks and violent plots originating from individuals and groups who self-identify with the far-right of American politics."

The three main kinds of right wingers under scrutiny are the racist, the anti-government extremist, and the Christian fundamentalist. Of the anti-government types, it writes that they "espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals' civil and constitutional rights."

The study's summary ends with this minor civics lesson:

While the ability to hold and appropriately articulate diverse political views is an American strength, extremists committing acts of violence in the name of those causes undermine the freedoms that they purport to espouse.

Via The Washington Times.

Do you share the concern over America's violent far right?

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

What a joke. We're not out rioting and looting like the OWS crowd. We're not defecating on police cars and stabbing and raping people. The far right is dangerous? Please. It's the OWS crowd, those dirty and indigent bums crying out that they can't find welfare jobs that we need to worry about.

[Dan_Tien]

No, the far right is just planning to violently oppose any effort at regulating ownership of weapons and secede from the union,

[OhWiseOne]

I agree completely Neo. Women were raped also at the OWS gatherings. Pure un-American filth.

[OhWiseOne]

@Dan_Tien How do you know that? Stop reading the Huffington Post and think for yourself once in your life. Just once.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@Dan_Tien - The Tea Party wants two things: low taxes and freedom.

I'm tired of being labeled racist because I don't want my whole entire check being taken in taxes to go towards obama's slush fund and $222K bathroom for the Interior Secretary. If black people feel they have it hard financially in this country, they should be joining the Tea Party. What we want is to put more money back into their pockets. Why should they, or anybody else for that matter, what their ass off all year long just to have most of their money confiscated in taxes?

The way for blacks and Hispanics, women, Asians, and anybody else to get ahead would be to demand that the government stay out of everybody's pocketbooks and stop picking winners and losers in the marketplace. OWS is the ones we need to watch out for. The Tea Party is all about strengthening America.

[Waynestew]

Nope, The far right is far more organized than some riot. And a bunch of organized crazies is far more scary than a bunch of unorganized crazies. Listen to people like Alex Jones. They are actually advocating war with the US government, WAR!! You have people talking of succession bringing up Civil War II. CRAZY!! And dangerous.

[DARSB]

e.g., Timothy McVeigh, Scott Roeder.

[OhWiseOne]

What about the thugs who terrorize our cities on a daily basis? I guess they aren't violent huh?

[twinertia]

The Sheriff's Posse Comitatus, Randy Weaver, David Koresh, The Army of God, Eric Rudolph, The Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations.

[AlexMIA]

Timothy McVeigh was set off by acts occurring at Waco and Ruby Ridge. Psycho or not, something went wrong there and nobody else cared. Not justifying his act, just saying.

[AlexMIA]

@twinertia Weren't there grand master democrats in the Klu Klux Clan?

[jessejaymes]

@AlexMIA That's simply not true. Tim McVeigh corresponded at length with a white supremacist on death row in Arkansas. that guy asked that someone blow up a federal building on the day of his execution. McVeigh did exactly that and you can google that one.

[Food4thoughts]

Battle lines have been drawn...

[marine1]

All people have their breaking point and can be pushed just so far.

[Food4thoughts]

I was just kidding... Probably not a funny joke :-/

[Denizen_Kate]

. . . nobody's right if everybody's wrong. (I love that song. :)

[PoliticalSpice]

@Republican5001 I did not want you to miss the article posted here. Thought of you when I read it.

[Fishbone345]

I love how the headlines are personal reflections on the reality of the actual thing being said.
Apparently a Libertarian is now a " the anti-government extremist". Funny, I always thought the word for that was Anarchist.

[OhWiseOne]

It is. The left refuses to call out their own terrorists. They are labeled victims instead.

[AlexMIA]

No mention of occupiers in there huh, or panthers, or nation of islahm, or thug union members, or any of the people sending death threats to the NRA or people on the right. Has anyone collected Brietbarts reward yet for that genuine proof he was looking for?

[Bobolinsky]

Uh-oh... Have Libertarians lost their immunity to being straw manned as evil violent haters?

Welcome to the club libertarians... Get used to it.... It never stops.

[Libertyiskey]

I think that was a little unfair to throw libertarians in the subtitle but as I most closely align with that I'm sure I'm a little biased.

[sylehrman]

Just listen to what they say and watch what they do. A black man is inaugurated as president and they run out to buy guns. What are they afraid of? They say they want to resist the tyranny of the government which wants to take away their guns, which they just bought to resist the tyrany of the the government that wants to take away their guns that they just bought .... and so on.....My name is Yon Yonson......

[Raptor]

Something I've been predicting for a long time now. You have the perfect storm brewing. They stoped the John Birch Society once and now you have the right wing and the NRA calling for insurrection and disrespecting the laws of the land. The hand writing is on the wall.

[jessejaymes]

Oh it's coming. Just picture as this as the old west with a bunch of semi literate hicks with pitchforks and torches. With technology. And they'll lose this time also.

[Cheenoguy]

@jessejaymes
When these idiots revolt, which I think is almost inevitable at this point, it won't be what they picture. They seem to think they will be the Wolverines hiding in the woods and conquering an army as they are cheered as heroes. Instead they will try to revolt and be quickly smashed by their local police department. If the police also commit treason the NationalGuard will handle it.

[jessejaymes]

@Cheenoguy They will go down like dominoes in one of those grand setups where a thousand fall. I wish I could remember the name of the movie that was about a compound of religious nuts armed to the teeth who killed their version of "infidels". Had John Goodman in it. Once they killed a federal agent it was on in the movie. Same result as Waco. You just don't have the firepower to deal with the feds. Or the state. It won't happen. Not with any success,

[Cheenoguy]

@jessejaymes
Red State.
Now that you mention the flick (one of my faves) I think that all of these Rambos should watch it before considering revolt. Make them realize that doing so will also endanger their children. Hopefully they love their kids more then their 100 round magazines.

[Denizen_Kate]

@jessejaymes - "Red State" ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0873886/...

[TheJimmy]

When the people fear Da Gubmint there is tyranny; when Da Gubmint fears the people, there is liberty.
TJ

[AlexMIA]

They are full of it and atleast in NY we now know they can't be counted on to uphold the constitution or defend its people. They may as well be compromised as instruments of tyranny, many soldiers are robots, atleast the ones they deam make the best.

[HungryJoe87111]

I really resent THE HELL out of being lumped in with racists and religious fundamentalists! You have one HELL of a lot more to worry about from Anti-Abortion extremists. I've yet to hear of a Libertarian engaging in any act of violence, terrorism, etc. based on ideology. tinyurl dot com/Jim-McCauley. What the HELL are they teaching at The Point nowadays? How to brown nose and score future brownie points with the radical autocratic left?

[TheJimmy]

Sounds like West Point might be in the business of grooming political soldiers for the administration.

[thumper11]

"'I've yet to hear of a Libertarian engaging in any act of violence..." I remember hearing a report that one of the several Million who marched on Washington DC in September of 2009 (who might have been a Libertarian) was seen throwing an empty water bottle in a recycle receptacle - with somewhat excessive force - which may have frightened a nearby liberal pacifist news reporter. But, I think that's just a rumor, myself.

[cleverusername]

LOL good stuff. Thanks for the much needed humor.

[jessejaymes]

You can't name a single "liberal" organization that is stockpiling weapons and ammo, building extensive bunkers in the woods, flying the Confederate flag at compounds and all claiming Fundamentalist Christianity. I bet I can name a hundred right wing ones.

[TheJimmy]

That's because unlike the hippie counterculture of the late 60's today's Lefties are a bunch of conformists. It's sad really.

[jessejaymes]

@TheJimmy so you're saying that the white supremacist groups are a bunch of what?

[TheJimmy]

@jessejaymes
Nonconformists.

[jessejaymes]

@TheJimmy Seems to me that being a white trash supremacist is very conforming in the bible belt.

[Cheenoguy]

@TheJimmy
So it is better to be white supremacists and right wing terrorists then to be what you think to be a conformist.
No one who has ever known me has called me a conformist, but if your idea of conformist is to not be a terroristic traitor to these United States I will gladly prefer conformity.

[tomincali]

look around it is not the far right who riot and run around in mob fashion.

[marine1]

You are not suppose to bring that kind of truth out, it offends their immoral position to life, liberty and justice for ALL.

[Cheenoguy]

I love how people get on here everyday talking about how they need assault rifles so they can overthrow the government they view as tyrannical and then go insane when they are viewed as threats to the government.

[jessejaymes]

I wonder how much good their rifles are going to do them when a tomahawk missile crashes into their bunkers? I own guns and that's an absurd defense. Absolutely absurd.

[thumper11]

Cheenoguy,
It seems YOU are the only one talking about the "overthrow of the government". You might want to reconsider that plan.

[Cheenoguy]

@thumper11
Read any thread about gun control on this site. Lots of these right wing terrorists saying they need their assault rifles so they can overthrow the government. I find it disgusting and think that kind of traitorous talk should be punished as the treason that it is.

[thumper11]

@Cheenoguy,
I have read the threads you mention - and I have seen nothing of the sort. What exactly do you consider "treason"? Would it include a public servant willfully violating his/her sworn oath to uphold and defend the constitution? Would it include a public servant openly advocating for something that the constitution prohibits? Would it include a public servant willfully breaking the law - resulting in the death of an American official? Please help me understand your concerns.

[Cheenoguy]

@thumper11
You should read more carefully next time. These people have openly stated that if the government bans assault rifles they will take up arms against the government. That is treason.

[blue_yahoo]

Soooooooo now I'm a terrorist..........nagnabit.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

You're not a terrorist, you're a productive taxpaying citizen. But to a liberal, yea, a productive taxpaying citizen is basically a terrorist.

[thumper11]

@Neo_NtheMatrix
Technically, it's the "productive taxpaying citizen" who fails to fully appreciate the opportunity to provide a free ride for the 50 Million government 'employees' and welfare-squatters - who now call him a "terrorist".

[whataGOVwehave]

The opposition should be shakin in their boots bout now.

[russ]

Let's be realistic, government and corruption have become interchangeable terms. The right wing extremist wingnuts can be as prepared as possible but it's unlikely they can be ready for airstrikes, artillery, tanks etc. Checkmate...

[thumper11]

Russ,
Are you making a threat?

[russ]

@thumper11
lmao....naw, but I do think extremist loons may be biting off more than they can chew.....

[thumper11]

@russ,
Can you please elaborate on the "right wing extremist wingnuts"?

[russ]

@thumper11
That's a tall order. In this case, I'm referring only to those who believe they can bring about insurrection or stand against superior power.

[thumper11]

@russ,
Can you name two of them?

[Russell797]

Zealots and ideologues definitely pose the greatest danger to society. People who feel threatened, like the paranoid right in this country, have become a dangerous animal.

[AlexMIA]

Poked and prodded by the statist left!

[thumper11]

Now you're dehumanizing your fellow American - reducing him to an "animal" - just because he may disagree with your politics? How monumentally intolerant!

[Russell797]

@thumper11 Yes, people tend to act viscerally when acting on emotion. Deeply felt ideologies promote a fight or flight response when threatened. Just the way it is. BTW, people are animals, you and me both, but regardless "dangerous animal" is a figure of speech.

[thumper11]

@Russell797,
I reject your groundless notion that "people are animals". And your crude denunciation of a certain portion of American citizens, as "a dangerous animal", is a classic attempt to dehumanize them - to facilitate their extermination. The same tactics were employed by someone you should feel a kinship with - in 1939 Germany.

[Russell797]

@thumper11 You can deny modern science all you want, biologically humans are animals. Therefore I have not dehumanized anyone. I would say to you, stop politicizing everything and face facts. Do you equate the biological sciences with evil?

[Vance1]

I would have more absolute concern over America's violent far left.
Just compare the OWS protestors with the Tea party.
OWS = Rape, Filth, Violence,Drugs, setting fires, shytting on Police cars.
Tea Party = Non violent protest.

Yes I guess I will always take the right over the left.

[MongoAPillager]

here we go,yep lets brand patriots violent and mentally unstable,better disarm them,I can hear the motors for the propaganda machine chugging in the distance,,,just trust big brother and everything will be ok!. War is Peace...Freedom is Slavery...Ignorance is Strength!!!!

[Cheenoguy]

Patriots don't regularly speak of taking up arms against their country. Traitors do.

[MongoAPillager]

@Currently you are showing great strength