The Daily Background

Watching all these violent acts committed against Democratic lawmakers in the wake of health care reform’s passage reminds me of when Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano and her agency produced a report warning of an increase in right-wing terrorism last year. As you may remember, right-wingers like Matt Drudge, the Washington Times and others decried this move as a politically-motivated act that had no basis in reality at all.

So, fast forward to the present day, almost exactly a year later. We have a group of people (incensed conservatives) committing acts of violence or the threat of violence (numerous death have been made, various offices vandalized, etc) against a population (in this case, Democratic lawmakers), for political reasons (not going along with Obama’s policies). Which is pretty much the textbook definition of terrorism.

So… I guess that shifting more law enforcement attention towards monitoring and combating right wing terrorism was such a waste of time, right? Something tells me we’ll be waiting a long time if we wait for any mea culpas on that front.

This is by no means to say that all or even most conservatives are supportive of the threats or vandalism that has occurred, but it is to say that there is a not insignificant faction of conservatives who have been radicalized in the wake of Obama’s election and his policy victories and are capable of resorting to violence. And it is not by any means a waste of time or money for the government to address this.

And certainly, yes, right-wing commentators who urge their listeners to begin gathering weapons, and politicians who draw maps with Democratic lawmakers quite literally in the crosshairs of simulated gunsights bear responsibility for this atmosphere.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog