Pro-Life People - "Domestic Terrorists and Violent Racketeers:" Who Knew?

Somebody killed Dr. George Tiller.

'Obviously,' it was the work of those pro-life people.

Also 'obviously,' America's government must protect its citizens from pro-life people and other terrorists.

Written like that, the last two of those three statements will seem foolish to most people. At least, I hope so.

But, take those ideas, couched in a less blunt and terse way, and I think there is a real possibility that they will be taken seriously.

The President and NOW on "Domestic Terrorists and Violent Racketeers"

Newspapers and TV reporters have to be careful about jumping to conclusions. That's why we hear and read so many "allegedlys" in the news. American presidents can be a bit more free with what they say.

"...'However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence,' Obama said in a statement...." (AP)

The late Dr. George Tiller's fame for killing babies in the third trimester makes it quite likely that his killer had 'Dr. Tiller the abortionist' in mind. Although evidence seems to point that way, it's by no means certain.

The National Organization for Women, NOW, is a bit more forthright in assigning blame and calling for action:

" 'root out and prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades.'

[...]

" 'We call on the new attorney general Eric Holder and head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to treat these murders in the same way they would treat politically-motivated domestic terrorism of any other kind and put the full resources of their two departments behind that effort,' " (The American Catholic)

The suspect in Dr. Tiller's killing has a name now: Scott Roeder. He's got a criminal record. He also has "a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites."

I don't think that the two are connected, but then I'm one of 'those people' who think that killing babies isn't nice. News coverage, by The Associated Press, at least, has been - interesting.

"...A man with the same name as the suspect has a criminal record and a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites. In one post written in 2007 on the Web site for Operation Rescue, a group that closely followed Tiller's work and legal troubles in recent years, a man identifying himself as Scott Roeder asked if anyone had thought of attending Tiller's church to ask the doctor and other worshippers about his work...." (AP)

NOW is calling on America's legal system to "prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades." The police say they haven't found evidence that Scott Roeder had any help: but NOW seems to have made up its collective mind.

The Associated Press isn't quite as vehement, but putting "suspect has a criminal record and a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites" in one sentence could imply a connection between "a criminal record and a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites".

I'm inclined to agree with an op-ed in The American Catholic:

"...In addition to NOW, the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post have gone a step further in linking Scott Roeder to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck in a hebephrenic effort to paint everyone that opposes their pro-abortion views and President Obama, as complicit in abortionist George Tiller’s death...." (The American Catholic)

I've seen the trailing edge of something like this before. I was born in the Truman administration, and grew up in a period when quite a few people earnestly believed that 'the commies' were behind most of their problems.

We won't see another McCarthy era, exactly. Intellectually challenged anti-communism has been discredited to the point where a character like M*A*S*H's Frank Burns is funny.

Human nature hasn't changed, though. As I wrote in another post:

"...it seems that anyone who is distinctly to the right of center, or an American veteran, is - in the eyes of MIAC and the DHS - a potential terrorist. (April 15, 2009)

"I saw the mess left by America's McCarthy era. I'd just as soon not see another period when people with views which deviate from officially approved beliefs are targeted as enemies of the state." (Another War-on-Terror Blog)

Related posts:

• "Dr. George Tiller Murdered: Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right"
  (May 31, 2009)
• "Assumptions, the Great Satan America, Commie Plots, and Right Wing Extremists
  part of "U. S. Bombed Mosque: Iran Official - 'When in Doubt, Blame the Americans' " on Another War-on-Terror Blog (May 29, 2009)
• "The Right to Peaceful Assembly: As Long as the Government Approves"
  (May 28, 2009)
• "DHS Report Identifying Veterans and Pro-Lifers as Potential Terrorists (Quietly) Withdrawn"
  (May 14, 2009)
• "'Hand of Hope' Spinal Bifida Case - Eugenics, Ersatz Compassion, and Life"
  (May 6, 2009)
• "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
  (April 19, 2009)
• "Capital Punishment: for Troy Davis, it's Personal"
  (April 18, 2009)
• "Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 15, 2009)
• "Sandra Cantu: Terrible Loss; High Emotions; Time to Think and Pray"
  (April 13, 2009)
• "This Time it's Clover Road Baptist Church: 'Everybody Knows' What Those People are Like"
  (April 11, 2009)
• "Pro-Life? You May be a Dangerous Domestic Terrorist! MIAC Says So"
  (March 23, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  (February 2, 2009)
• "The Catholic Church Won't Even Let People Kill Themselves"
  (January 28, 2009)
• "Psycho Santa's Slaying Spree - The Catholic Connection"
  (December 26, 2008)
• "Pro-Abortion Slogans Sound Nice, Hide Nasty Facts"
  (November 15, 2008)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)
• "Life: It's a Single Issue, and an Important One"
  (November 2, 2008)
• "Capital Punishment: Killing Those Who Deserve to Die"
  (October 2, 2008)

News and views:

• "Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor"
  CNN (June 1, 2009)
• "Obama Demonizes Pro-Lifers With Reckless Rhetoric"
  The American Catholic (June 1, 2009)
• "Suspect jailed in Kansas abortion doctor's killing"
  The Associated Press (June 1, 2009)

More, at "Who Knew? Assertions, Assumptions and Assorted Weirdness from All Over"

More, about Dr. George Tiller's murder:

• "Dr. George Tiller's Murder Link Page"

---

A tip of the hat to KofCStore on Twitter, for the heads-up on The American Catholic op-ed.