Don’t Racists Ever Get Tired?

John von Brunn’s murderous attack at the Holocaust Museum is another indication of a rise in violence predicted by Homeland Security. But it is the reckless right wingers who are stoking the flames of extremism.

By: Sherrilyn A. Ifill

When a Department of Homeland Security report in April predicted a rise in white supremacist violence by white men who feel increasingly marginalized and powerless, Republican leaders were up in arms. The report, they said, was a slur on the U.S. military because it explored the possibility that white supremacist violence might arise from the ranks of Iraq or Afghanistan war veterans, as it did from Gulf War veterans, such as Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tried to stand her ground and then did a modified backtrack.

She didn’t need to do so. The report was an attempt by Homeland Security analysts to do what they are paid to do—try to predict the source and location of terrorism in the homeland, so that law enforcement can prevent violent attacks. For Republicans, the report was just another political opportunity to try to rally their base around a non-existent insult to our military. It was transparent, but sickening. Because when the violence goes down, as it did this week in the lobby of the Holocaust Museum, it’s innocent men, women and children who get hurt.

Don’t Racists Ever Get Tired?....