Rightwing extremism

I received an email that referred to this Department of Homeland Security Threat Assessment:

http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf

The following abbreviations are used in this report:
(U) = Unclassified.
(U//LES) = Unclassified//Law Enforcement Sensitive Information.
(U//FOUO) = Unclassified//For Official Use Only.

The first paragraph discusses the threat that DHS is concerned about:

(U) Key Findings
(U//LES) The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

The asterisk (*) after the word “rightwing” leads to the following footnote:

* (U) Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

It is no surprise for me to learn that I am now an extremist because I “reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority”. I will wear this label as a badge of honor.

“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue.” – Barry Goldwater, 1964.