The Department of Homeland Security has issued an interesting report titled, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” An excerpt:

“The consequences of a prolonged economic downturn-including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit-could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities.”

Despite the fact that the DHS has previously published a report on left-wing extremists, rightists are outraged, and convinced that they are being targeted for harassment by government spooks. Michele Malkin got so fired up that she let loose this tirade:

“…the piece of crap report issued on April 7 is a sweeping indictment of conservatives. And the intent is clear.”

She then seemed to suggest that the intent was to sabotage her precious tea bagging parties. Really? Does she honestly believe that the DHS is so fearful of Fox News viewers congregating to wave tea bags and whine about Socialism that they produced this report to protect themselves? It is also notable that nowhere in the report were “conservatives” even mentioned. The report went into some detail describing the potential risks associated with groups that traffic in hate, racism, and antisemitism (maybe it did mention conservatives after all – implicitly). It warned of violent militias that oppose immigrants, abortion, and any manner of regulation of guns. To anyone with a fourth-grade comprehension it is clear that the report refers exclusively to extremists and militants that pose a threat to other law-abiding citizens.

So why is Malkin, and the rest of the conservative cabal, defending these dangerous malcontents? Is it because they support criminality in pursuit of a radical conservative agenda? Or is it because they see themselves in the descriptions in the report? Either way it is clear that that they are acting as advocates for these repugnant cranks. They are apparently offended that the government would seek to protect citizens from domestic terrorists like Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph.

If anything, the complaints about this report demonstrate that the likes of Malkin, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, etc., are indeed aligned with the radical extremists the report warns of. They just really don’t like having that spotlight shone on them.