I am, according to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, an extremist and potential terrorist. I oppose the American holocaust of the slaughter of the unborn and I am the extremist? I oppose the twisting and perverting of our Constitution into a national suicide pact of socialistic dogma and I am the extremist? I oppose both excessive taxes and the manner in which they are spent (and redistributed) and I am the extremist?

Despite what the Mainstream Media may try to tell you, Tea Party participants and like-minded Americans are not the extremists. They are the average working men and women of any and all races, religions, and backgrounds that only the current real crisis has managed to inspire to sacrifice their limited time. They have jobs, after all, unlike the true extremists who simply run off on a whim and protest the imaginary dangers to our planet and perceived slights to their little group.

Yet in the aftermath of the release of the official Homeland Security report “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” Americans who oppose abortion, do not agree with our new President, or rightfully express concerns about big government are slandered as a danger to our nation.

The report claims that this so-called “right-wing extremism” is “divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

But all this can be taken as the usual and expected drivel from the left. Where the report goes too far is suggesting that the members of our military are particularly susceptible to recruitment from these groups. “Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists,” the report claims, adding that our government is concerned that such groups will seek out “and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities.”

I admit that any group, even one as honorable and courageous as our military, will have its few bad apples. But if you want to focus on a real threat to America you should look to our nation’s capitol. There the task becomes sorting through all the bad apples to find the few good ones. After all, the military doesn’t threaten my freedoms like the federal government does, it protects them. I guess this is just one of those radical views of mine that makes me an extremist.

And if being an extremist means that one respects life, from conception to natural death, then I am an extremist. If being an extremist means that one believes that since you have to work to support yourself that others that are capable should work to support themselves, too, then I am extremist. If one believes that a government as vast and powerful as ours can (and indeed, does) pose a real threat to our liberties, then I am extremist. If one believes they should not spend more than they bring in than I am an extremist. And, as evidenced by the Tea Parties, I am not alone in my extremism.

But no, we who gathered on April 15 are not extremists. The extremists are those who devalue human life, who would place international law above our Constitution, who punish the successful and innocent and reward the slothful and criminal, who seek to give the Constitutional protections of our “justice” system to terrorist monsters, who trade common sense for a left-wing socialist ideology that has historically proven ineffectual at best and frighteningly destructive to not only liberty but human life as well.

But if liberals want to redefine the meaning of extremist, as they have attempted to redefine so much else in our society (marriage, free speech, liberty, the meaning of “is,” etc.) then fine, I’m a right-wing extremist. And proud of it, too.

Jeff O’Bryant is an amateur historian and holds two degrees, a bachelor’s in education and a bachelor’s with honors in history. He can be contacted at jeffobryant@catt.com. or through his blog, rightnewsandviews.com