NY Times Op-Ed Pushing the Wacko Vet Meme

The DHS Fusion Chart on Right-Wing Extremism in Red States (from The Castle)

Yeah, yeah...the DHS report on Right-Wing extremism was so last week. As far as political blogs go, I might as well be talking about the merits of McKinleynomics while dancing the charleston because this news is so old...but sorry, I was on the road for the last couple of days. Anyhoo, there was a NYT Op-Ed over the weekend which justified the report's targeting of veterans and also the FBI crackdown. Here's the reason cited for why crazed vets are going to be running around the woods like Rambo [NYT]:

So, which soldiers are most vulnerable? According to the Homeland Security report, it would probably be those “facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities.” This could be a large group because far too many soldiers come back from war broken men. According to a RAND study released on Friday, 300,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reported some sign of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. It said that only about half of those will seek help and only half of those seeking it will receive “minimally adequate” treatment. These soldiers could prove fertile ground for men hoping to prey on their fear, loneliness and dispossession.

It's true that Iraq/A-stan veterans have higher unemployment rate than their civilian peers. But, it's absurd to suggest that being a tad disillusioned by the economy and the fact that everyone was watching American Idol while they were doing patrols in Baqubah will lead to future truck bombers. That's a pretty big leap of logic. If that were the case, why doesn't the DHS target emo kids or goths? They don't like anything.

You could be inclined to take the author of the NYT op-ed a little bit more seriously if it wasn't the same guy (from his shining hill of "moral authority" on everybody else) who called for going Robespierre on the Big 3 CEOs. From his NYT blog last month:

I’m not saying that the Despots of Detroit deserve a break (Wagoner should be flogged in the streets for the Hummer alone), but the use of the guillotine could be a tad more egalitarian.

Charles Blow's twitter indicates that he's "answering mail" about his column. I'm sure anyone who doesn't agree with him is a violent extremist and has had their name forwarded on to the authorities. Some folks just don't understand hypocrisy.