The biggest threat to the United States of America is not the Muslim terror cells that are believed to be operating in this and other countries with intentions of attacking us in large scale operations. It isn't right wing militia groups who hoard weapons in rural compounds and train their members to ward off a government attack. It isn't even the swarms of illegal aliens coming across our boarder, aided and abetted by their own governments, to make money to send home to their families in their nation of origin.
No, the biggest threat to the USA is the increasing number of politicians and activists who seek to undermine our Constitutional Rights under the guise of public safety and/or security.
And it bears mentioning that the attack isn't coming from the left or the right, but rather from BOTH sides of the political spectrum. Some third parties have even tried to jump into the fray.
While the left have made a lot of noise about the US Patriot Act, and the potential violations that it presents, they have worked to undermine and even eliminate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution by interpreting it only to apply to the military, in clear defiance of the concept as expressed in nearly ALL foundation documents. They have even begun to narrowly redefine the First Amendment, insisting that freedom of religion should only be freedom to practice behind closed doors where one's practice does not constitute an offense to another, and insisting that free speech be allowed only as long as the speech does not offend the sensibilities of their special interest groups. They have undermined the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments by allowing Child Protective Services to increase in power by not challenging their policies and procedures manuals even when those policies and procedures directly defy the Constitutional rights of the families affected by CPS intervention.
While the right has protected the second amendment rights of its citizens, they have attempted to violate the First Amendment by creating "Free Speech" zones, by their support of the US Patriot Act and even more drastic measures under the guise of domestic security. They have attempted to do an "end around" on the US Constitution by invoking the War Powers Act, even though we are not in a formally declared war, and the rhetorical "War on Terror" is so open ended that it will absolutely never come to an end. While not completely declaring Martial Law, they have made steps as far in that direction as public opinion will allow them to go without inciting a violent revolution. And there's every reason to believe that, once we've accepted these violations of our liberties, we will allow them to further intrude.
The United States Constitution was NOT written to give rights to individuals within the United States. It was written to DEFINE some of those rights, and to LIMIT the power of the federal government. While the federal government is not supposed to have powers not given in the Constitution, it has assumed those powers and repeatedly denied the states the autonomy intended by the framers of that document.
Because the government of the United States is elected by us as citizens, however, we cannot put the blame on the government, but on ourselves. the government only has as much power as we allow it to have. We have failed to elect legislators who will make a difference, we have failed to petition those legislators for redress of grievances, as is our clearly defined right, and we have failed to hold politicans accountable when they do not listen to us. The solution is as simple as supporting and promoting responsible candidates and, when we can't find them, running for office ourselves. In other words, as was once famously said "we have met the enemy and he is us".
We have a right to DEMAND better government. We have the power and ability to enact sweeping reform without violent revolution. The fact that we fail to do so suggests a complacency that is appalling, given the ubiquity of complaints about the US government, especially as we are in tax season.
The biggest threat to the United States, then, is not an Islamic terrorist. It is not an Earth Firster, or a PETA activist, or even a fat cat politician influenced by bribes. It is Joe Redneck, who values this week's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" more than he does his own freedom.