07-16-2020, 02:30 PM
(07-16-2020, 02:21 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: I take back the word "trashed" and will replace it with "scrutinize" or "critique". It was a charged word and the two of us are 99% of the time civil and respectful of each other. That's on me.
On to paragraph 2, With the DHS backing the project, I doubt it's a lack of funding. I think there was an attention shift back to homegrown terrorism after a decade of focus on foreign terrorism and right wing terrorism by what seems to be nearly every metric represents the biggest threat. The UMD project does look at other types of extremism, but the bulk of their work focusing on right wing seems to reflect the bulk of the incidences being right wing.
The memos from the DOJ focusing on multiple left wing groups while not naming any right wing groups seems to suggest a partisan ploy by appointees rather than the career staffers. For the reasons you state at the end, it absolutely it critical that the data be reviewed and left wing extremism be addressed. The issue still remains, though, that the actions revealed in the leak are problematic.
No worries, and we both agree that extremism of any sort is a problem. I think part of the issue here is, aside from the lack of data, is that right wing extremists tend towards the grander action while left wing extremists engage in more mundane, but frequent, activity. Post Vietnam era the type of organized left wing extremism does not exist on the same level as right wing. Also, bigger events tend to get more press and DOJ attention then day to day criminal activity. One need look no further than Islamic terrorism to see a perfect example of this.
Based on what I see, and what is reported to me by friends in the Seattle and Portland area, Antifa is a major fomentor of violence on a frequent basis. Whether you want to view them as one organization or a loose affiliation of like minded people the fact is they refer to themselves as a whole. They are a significant problem, especially in accelerating polarization and normalizing violence as a reaction to disagreement and they absolutely should be addressed, just as right wing extremism should.
