The US government has a terrible track record of trying to rid the US of
"extremists." From COINTELPRO to Ruby Ridge, they have only made
matters worse. The fact is, in a nation
with hundreds of millions of people, there will be plenty of folks with
antisocial or harebrained notions. But even if the government could
eliminate everyone with heretical beliefs, the sheer extent of
repression would spawn legions of new rabble-rousers. Freedom of speech
is a more reliable antidote to toxic ideologies than unleashing the FBI
or other federal agencies.
