Weekly Opinion Editorial
WHO DEFINES EXTREMISM?
by Steve Fair
Wasteful government spending is not new or a surprise. The Heritage Foundation says the federal
government has lost almost $2.4 trillion in simple payment errors over the last
twenty years. Improper/incorrect
payments cost taxpayers $247 billion each year.
From 2011-2014, the late Senator Tom Coburn, (R-OK) published “The
Wastebook.” Coburn found taxpayers
funded an $856,000 federal grant to train mountain lions to walk on
treadmills. During the war in
Afghanistan, the Department of Defense erroneously bought $28 million dollars
of forest camouflage uniforms to be used in the deserts of Afghanistan. Opps! Squandering taxpayer money by not being
a good steward is one thing, but when the government uses taxpayer money to
attack political ideology and free speech, that’s something else.
In February of 2023, the University of Rhode Island’s Media Education
Lab (URIMEL) was awarded a $700,000 federal grant by the Department of Homeland
Security’s (DHS) counterterrorism program to use propaganda to attack conservatives. “Propaganda can also be used for socially beneficial
purposes,” URIMEL’s grant
application read. “The U.S. has long
made use of beneficial propaganda during WWI, WWII, and the Cold War.”
URIMEL has used the grant money to write blog posts attacking former President
Donald Trump and his supporters. They conduct
seminars (Courageous RI) for the stated purpose of countering disinformation,
enhancing civic participation and improving media literacy. They used tax dollars to pay young people to
post on social media attacking conservative policies. Three observations:
First, tax dollars used to attack free speech should be a non-partisan
issue. No matter what political ideology,
all Americans should be outraged their government is using tax dollars to
attack free speech. In America, a fundamental
basic right is for each citizen to have a right to their
opinion/values/convictions. Their view
may be wrong in other’s eyes, but the right to be wrong should be respected. URIMEL’s stated mission is to prevent rising
violence and extremism in Rhode Island with authentic and respectful
conversation. But who determines what is
extreme? What is considered authentic,
respectful conversation and who makes that judgment? If it is the Party in power, then extremism changes
with who is in charge.
Second, it is not government’s function to dispense propaganda. In America, government’s job is to make laws,
implement and execute those laws and adjudicate them as necessary. Government’s purpose doesn’t include publicizing
a particular political point of view, promoting a political cause, or attacking
fellow American’s perspective. Governing
policies may contradict one another from administration to administration, but using
taxpayer dollars to brainwash fellow citizens is improper.
Third, politics has become an echo chamber. Americans live in an environment where they
encounter only beliefs and opinions that coincide with their own. Alternative views are never considered. Graciously allowing someone to disagree with
a viewpoint is considered weak and lacking in character. People
are placated and told what they want to hear by media and politicos. Considering a differing view could be right
is considered sacrilegious and inexcusable.
People who agree 80% of the time are political enemies because they focus
on the 20%. Nothing gets done because no
one will concede any ground or barter.
Edmund Burke said, “All government, indeed every human benefit and
enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and
barter.” Compromise and barter are
dirty words in modern American politics.
Taxpayers should be up in arms tax dollars are being used to attack conservatives. The URIMEL grant should be revoked/repealed/canceled and the DHS officials who approved it should be held accountable. Those bureacrats are the extremists.
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