While reading the news yesterday about the arrests of eight members of a right wing Christian apocalyptic group called the Hutaree, I was reminded of Glenn Greenwald's excellent blog last month: "Terrorism: the most meaningless and manipulated word."
The word "terrorist" being notably absent in this case.
Most news outlets referred to the Hutaree as a "militia" despite, according to the FBI, plans to assault large numbers of law enforcement personnel with the hope of inciting a larger antigovernment resistance. Whatever they planned to do, they were prepared with high powered firearms, explosives, uniforms and communications devices.
The Hutaree are also white and based in the rural Midwest. If we changed their religion to Muslim, it's difficult to imagine they would still be referred to as a "militia".