Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Terrorists, Then And Now


By Baxter

Back in 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a report that labeled right-wing extremism as a major threat to the security of the United States.

And Republicans lost their minds.

Crazy Congress members like Michele Bachmann and Virginia Foxx demanded that Napolitano resign or be fired. Apparently it was too many years after the Oklahoma City bombing for the report to resonate with folks, or maybe they were just being willfully blind and stupid. (Obviously the latter.) The uproar was intense enough to force Napolitano to walk it back.

A mistake, we thought then. And in the after the assault on the Capitol this past January 6, it would be an even bigger mistake now.

We're bracing ourselves because DHS has just issued a National Terrorism Advisory bulletin, alerting Americans to a heightened threat of violence following last week's Presidential Inauguration. Security officials are concerned that nutcases like the mob that stormed the Capitol may feel "emboldened" by the event and try to further target elected officials, federal property, and "critical infrastructure, including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors." 

Sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of. Feeding it are the MAGA crowd's petulant reactions to COVID-19 restrictions and their misguided beliefs on the 2020 Presidential election — all of which, by the way, can be laid right at the despicable feet of Donald Trump.

Dear DHS: Don't walk this back, please. Janet Napolitano was correct 12 years ago, and sadly, this latest bulletin seems right on the money today. We cats HISS.

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