http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&ref=columnists"When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?
Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.
Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.
It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate..."
Etc., Etc., Etc.
Will the Repubs own their own words now?
At the time, conservatives used the report to launch attacks on President Obama and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Michael Steele, for example, said the DHS was trying to "segment out Americans who dissent from this administration." A few of the other criticisms included:
Rep. Bachmann: "To me, it looks like the extremists are those running the DHS."
Rep. Burgess: "I don't know that the secretary understands the depth of the disruption that she's caused...I think the appropriate thing to do is for her to step down and let's move on."
Rep. Boehner: "The report that came out of DHS was offensive, and unfortunately, Secretary Napolitano still has a lot of explaining to do."
Rep. Peter King: "
has never put out a report talking about look out for mosques. Look out for Islamic terrorists in our country. Look out for the fact that very few Muslims come forward to cooperate with the police. If they sent out a report saying that, there would be hell to pay."
Sen. Ensign: "...this report raised some serious red flags about the mission of the Department of Homeland Security."
Sen. Inhofe: "I believe this report to be very offensive to many Americans."
Newt Gingrich: "The person who drafted the outrageous homeland security memo smearing veterans and conservatives should be fired."
Source: NBC 4
Google can be your friend. It can be their friend also.
Hands off my Social Security!
Hands off Latin America!
Just my dos centavos
robdogbucky