Now Can We Take Right Wing Hate Seriously?

Today's news brings a sad story about an old, white-supremacist man that had so much hate in his frail heart that he decided to go to a holocaust museum in order to shoot and kill people. For James Von Brunn, this wasn't just a freak occurrence, he's been a noted anti-semite and white supremacist for quite some time.

The Sunday before last another long time right-winger by the name of Scott Roeder committed his final act of hate by shooting and killing a doctor who happened to be a rare provider of late-term abortions (for the health of the mother). Apparently Roeder had been going after the late Dr. Tiller for months if not years and maintained contacts with rightwing, reactionary groups that oppose abortion rights, by all means necessary we now know.

Now cowardly acts like that of Von Brunn and Roeder do not generally happen as frequently as once every other week, but it certainly goes to show that right-wing terrorists do exist and are a serious problem in our country. Unfortunately when Obama's Homeland Security Security Janet Napolitano released a report (pdf!) saying as much, Republicans came out of the woodwork to denounce her. For some odd reason, the onslaught was just too much for the Obama Administration and the report was tamped down and Napolitano even apologized, but the truthfulness of it was still there. If anyone needs to apologize, it would be the GOP talking heads that beat up on Napolitano and her report...but since we are talking about sniveling and cowardly pundits, the chances of that apology coming are about as good as Liz Cheney telling the truth about torture, so I won't be waiting around.

Michael Savage Sues DHS To Protect His Extremist Listeners

Janet Napolitano has only been in charge of the Department of Homeland Security for a few months, but she is already the target of a lawsuit brought by the wingnut radio commentator Michael Savage. Napolitano had a report released that showed extremist groups go after war vets and to Savage, that warrants litigation (frivolous lawsuit anyone?) to rile up his core listeners.

From ThinkProgress:

Last week, hate radio host Michael Savage, in conjunction with the Thomas More Law Center, filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. They claim DHS has violated the plaintiffs’ First and Fifth Amendment rights by “attempting to chill their free speech, expressive association, and equal protection rights.” GWU Law Professor Orin Kerr responds:

Isn’t the lawsuit frivolous? As I read it, the lawsuit is claiming that the issuance of a government report criticizing certain groups violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. But the Constitution doesn’t provide a constitutional right to have the government not say things that might be considered criticism. Perhaps the plaintiffs want the Constitution to be radically reinterpreted by activist judges to invent some brand-new constitutional rights?

Today’s Progress Report has more here on what the DHS report actually says and how conservatives are reacting.

Now I'm sure Savage's narrow mind and short-term memory helps him forget people such as Timothy McVeigh but this lawsuit is out of control and a waste of time for any court's docket. And since Savage hasn't been one to shy away from the "frivolous lawsuit" debate we can tack on the label of hypocrisy to this stunt as well. Conservatives are all about tracking down terrorists in foreign countries and leaving them in unconstitutional prisons, but heaven forbid we examine where domestic terrorist groups recruit their members who blow up federal buildings.

I guess we wouldn't want to lose the support of the fanatics within the Republican party now would we?

Janet Napolitano Has The Line Of The Night

We still have a few speakers to go tonight but Governor Janet Napolitano's address was a memorable one, especially when she referenced a pattern of Arizona's...one she hopes continues on this year. I am so proud to have had her as my Governor when I lived in the Grand Canyon State.

McCain Could Be Kicked Out Of Office In 2010

McCain's Presidential goose is cooked for next year already, but that may just be the beginning of his troubles. The Senator had extreme difficulty finding support in his own state of Arizona and placed fourth in the AZ straw poll, Duncan (nobody) Hunter won that little contest. Now it seems that lack of enthusiasm is showing itself with the office he already holds.

From Political Wire:

In a hypothetical 2010 head-to-head race for Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) seat, 47% of those polled would vote for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), 36% for the sitting Republican senator, and 17% were undecided, according to a new Behavioral Research Center poll.

Janet is well liked and already more than a year into her second term as Governor. The local GOP couldn't even field a decent candidate to run against her last year. She'll be a formidable challenger to McCain's incumbency. He has been considerably weakened since he began this second run at the White House. Janet can definitely be the woman to deal the knockout blow.