Very well said.I wrote this a bit ago, deleted it, read and thought some more and decided yes it was appropriate to post.
Forget the disclaimers on the slides, frankly they don't matter. It is the content of the slides which matter, and the content is disturbing if you are a patriotic American who has read the Constitution and our other founding documents, and have so much an an inkling of the basis of this Nation.
Frankly, you put the content of those slide in front of a group of people in that context, and their little disclaimer "The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation or serve as an indicator of illegal activity, as many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning, or other non-violent purposes" becomes utterly irrelevant. If you come on their radar and they find "When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty" along with another of their "indicators" such as "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"; bam you're on a list. To the professional bureaucrat you have ticked two boxes and are now a "threat" or "suspicious".
When I read the slides, the only thing which sprang to my mind were these quotes.
"... Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security... "
John Adams’ statement, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other,” rings louder and louder in my ears. Sadly, I no longer have confidence there are a majority of moral or religious people in our government.
Most anyone who has ever served in the military, or in any public office in the United States, has sworn an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” To me the quoted phrase means something. I may be wrong, as I haven't found anything explicit in the historical texts I normally refer too, but in reading the plain language a domestic enemy would be one who worked to subvert, ignore, or undermine the Constitution of the United States of America. (Any of it, you don't get to pick and choose)
The individuals producing the content identifying support for the founding principles of this Nation as "domestic terrorism" are dangerously close to identifying themselves as domestic enemies of the Republic. It is evident far too many of our elected officials, and their bureaucrat apparatchiks, do not honor the Oath they take. The current crop include far to many which actively work to subvert the Constitution and undermine this Nation's status and rule of law. (looking at you, Afghanistan exit, Southern border, failure to prosecute the insurrectionists in Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis and other locales, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Fast and Furious, and on and on and on...)
Our forefathers who fought for this Nation's independence, and then the generations which have gone on to expand and protect this Nation must be enraged by what they are witnessing from the grave. I cannot fathom the level of disappointment and disgust they must feel watching the continued deterioration of this Nation.
The individuals who authored those slides ARE YOUR EMPLOYEES, THEY ARE PAID WITH MONEY CONFISCATED FROM YOU! I have an expectation that those in the employ of my government that I pay for, will honor their oath and know the basis of this Nation. Those slides clearly associate elements of our founding documents and the historical basis of this nation with undesireable individuals to be surveilled and contained. That is a problem! </rant>
The people who are the actual enemies of the republic are trying very hard, and probably succeeding, at redefining the definition of what they are themselves, the enemy of the republic.
It should be obvious what is happening but peoples’ vision is darkened.