Thursday, June 11, 2009

Free Speech & Personal Repsponsibility

My sympathy goes out to the family, friends, and colleagues of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, who was killed yesterday at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. For additional information, read/watch info at WAMU radio.

Here is a story from the Huffington Post from April 14, 2009:

....take a look at a new report issued by the Department of Homeland Security that says right-wing extremism is on the rise throughout the country.

In the report (a full copy of which is below), officials warn that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit new members to their cause....

......The agency warns that an extended economic downturn with real estate foreclosures, unemployment and an inability to obtain credit could foster an environment for extremists to recruit new members who may not have been supportive of these causes in the past....

The right wing conservatives have turned up the heat with their hate talk and attacks on the administration. When Rush Limbaugh says things that are hateful, these words give fuel to these homegrown hate groups. Limbaugh can and should contribute to the discussion of issues, but his verbal attacks on the race and background of the President are wrong. Yes, we have freedom of speech, but there is responsibility that goes with that.