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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (298211)	3/26/2009 11:20:36 AM
From: ManyMoose	1 Recommendation Respond to of 793896

Maybe we are just yellow. God, that's disgusting.

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (298211)	3/26/2009 8:28:48 PM
From: Joe Btfsplk	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793896

State retracts militia report Nixon withdraws support amid growing backlash. by Chad Livengood • News-Leader • March 26, 2009 Jefferson City -- Gov. Jay Nixon's administration on Wednesday made an about-face on a controversial militia profiling report, retracting the document in the face of growing criticism. Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent James F. Keathley ordered the Missouri Information Analysis Center to "permanently cease distribution" of the Feb. 20 report, which labels fundamentalist Christians, members of third-party political movements, strict followers of the U.S. Constitution and people who oppose taxes, abortion and illegal immigration as possible members of militias. Nixon and officials in his administration have previously defended MIAC's report, which has brought national attention to the secretive intelligence-gathering work of state fusion centers. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder spoke out against the report, saying it unfairly maligns "Christians, anti-abortionists and advocates for protecting our borders and supporters of certain political candidates as potential threats to the public safety." Kinder called on Nixon to place Department of Public Safety Director John Britt on administrative leave pending an investigation of how the report came about. Nixon's office did not comment on Kinder's demand, but said it backed Keathley's plans to reform the process of releasing MIAC intelligence reports . In a lengthy statement, Keathley expressed remorse for the lack of oversight in the creation and distribution of the report, but he did not apologize for its contents. Keathley said his office "would undertake a review of the origin of the report by MIAC." The Highway Patrol's decision to recant the entire report came two days after Britt ordered the militia report be amended to exclude the names of 2008 presidential candidates Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin and Ron Paul, who have raised the national profile of the controversy. Britt sent an apology to Barr, Baldwin and Paul. Outrage about the militia report spilled over into the legislative process late Wednesday afternoon when the GOP-controlled House barred the Department of Public Safety from spending any "state or federal funds for political profiling." The House's action was widely viewed as the legislature's way of reining in MIAC and the Nixon administration. "It is our job to hold them accountable," state Rep. Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, said on the House floor. "We must be strong ... and we must stand up for the people because that was what we were sent here to do." On a voice vote, the House adopted an amendment to the budget bill for Department of Public Safety along party lines, with Republicans voting "yes" and Democrats largely voicing a "no" vote. Keathley vowed to ensure future MIAC memos are better prepared. The militia report contains numerous spelling and grammatical errors and does not cite any sources for its broad statements about the political affiliations and beliefs of "right-wing" militias. "In the future, high-level review of these reports prior to issuance will ensure not only that law enforcement officers get better quality intelligence, but also that certain subsets of Missourians will not be singled out inappropriately in these reports for particular associations," Keathley said in a written statement. MIAC is an arm of the Missouri Highway Patrol, which is a division of DPS. State officials believe someone in the state law enforcement community leaked the report to news organizations and Internet bloggers. Keathley said neither he nor Britt reviewed the report before it was released. "Had the report been reviewed by either my office or by leaders of the Department of Public Safety, it would never have been released to law enforcement agencies," Keathley said in a written statement. Keathley said his department will review how MIAC distributes intelligence reports to police officers. "Further, I am creating a new process for oversight of reports drafted by the MIAC that will require leaders of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety to review the contents of these reports before they are shared with law enforcement," Keathley said. The report said it's "not uncommon" for militia members to be part of the third-party political organizations and be "supporters" of Paul, Barr and Baldwin, according to the eight-page militia report. Kinder called a morning news conference to decry portions of the report meant to help police officers profile members of potentially violent militias. He said the report unfairly maligns "Christians, anti-abortionists and advocates for protecting our borders and supporters of certain political candidates as potential threats to the public safety." "There is no reason why Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, atheists, Christians, pro-life or abortion advocates or vegetarians should be targeted because of certain beliefs which they hold dear," Kinder told reporters. Kinder said the report makes no mention of environmental or Islamic terrorism. "There is no mention of that kind of extremism and the threat that it poses to our liberties in this report because apparently it's more important to focus on pro-lifers," Kinder said. Gary McElyea, a spokesman for Kinder, later said Keathley's retraction of the MIAC report does not go far enough in explaining why the report was written in the first place. Kinder, the only Republican statewide officeholder, suggested at a morning press conference in the Capitol that Britt should be called before a House or Senate committee to answer questions about the report. "One of them or both of them need to answer questions about how this came about," McElyea said of Nixon and Britt. When asked, a Nixon spokesman offered no comment on the issue, but said the governor supports Keathley's changes in distributing MIAC reports. news-leader.com