Friday, March 27, 2009

Missouri seems to have discovered that their 'report' on militia

and conservative types has some holes in it. And really pissed people off.
JEFFERSON CITY | The Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies.

The Highway Patrol also will open an investigation into the origin of the report, which linked conservative groups with domestic terrorism and named former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin
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So they're not sure of the 'origin' of the report. How the hell did that happen?

The Highway Patrol’s announcement followed a news conference in which Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, suggested putting the director of public safety on administrative leave and investigating how the report was produced.
What? Holding the boss responsible? That idea needs to spread.

But it suggested that domestic militias often subscribed to radical ideologies rooted in Christian views and opposition to immigration, abortion or federal taxes. The report also stated that it was “not uncommon” for militia members to support third-party political candidates.

The Highway Patrol’s superintendent, Col. James F. Keathley, released a memo saying the report did not meet the agency’s standard for quality and would not have been released if it had been seen by top officials
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And just how did something like this get turned loose without you being aware of it? And what's in it? Damn.

The memo noted the report was compiled by an employee of the information analysis center and reviewed only by the center director before being sent to law enforcement agencies across the state.

So one person put this all together? And showed it to their director? Who apparently had no problem with it?

Before Keathley’s memo was released Wednesday, Kinder criticized the report for suggesting that only issues championed by conservatives motivated domestic terrorists. The report “slanders” opponents of abortion and critics of illegal immigration, he said.

“Under the guidance of the present director, who apparently must think it is Nixon’s secret service, the Department of Public Safety has taken on the new and sinister role of political profiling,” Kinder said.

Also troubling Kinder said, the report makes no mention of Islamic terrorists or those who might subscribe to ideologies associated with liberals, such as environmental radicals
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And makes the blanket accusation that anyone who is part of a 'militia'- which definition seems to be 'anyone who makes the gummint agents nervous- is automatically to be suspected of being a terrorist. Especially since they're not politically-correct types like enviroweenie arsonists and islamic jew-haters and infidel-murderers.

The state’s response to the conservative outcry over the report evolved over the last few weeks. In one early response, the information analysis center released a statement reaffirming its “regard for the Constitutions of the United States and Missouri” and expressing regret that “any citizens or groups were unintentionally offended by the content of the document.”
Wow, a genuine non-apology apology; isn't that wonderful?

Then earlier this week, Department of Public Safety Director John M. Britt retracted the portions that noted third party and Republican presidential candidates by name and sent letters of apology to the politicians.
"We're sorry we got all this bad publicity, will this help it go away?"

But even with the retraction and the investigation announced Wednesday, Britt should be suspended and the General Assembly should investigate how the report was prepared, Kinder said.

“Director Britt has still not answered any of the questions about what other reports may have been developed and the procedure behind these memos,” Kinder’s spokesman, Gary McElyea, said in a statement. “Until those questions are answered Mr. Britt should be placed on immediate leave.”

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