Jon Soltz , co-founder of Vote Vets , has an interesting piece in the Huffington Post about the fake outrage being expressed over the DHS Memo that I wrote about yesterday and he has a message for all the naysayers;
hate to break it to Republicans, and to the Legion (which knows this, or should), but the military has been training servicemembers on the dangers of right wing extremist groups, and how they may target servicemembers and veterans, for years. That includes, yes, even under George W. Bush's Pentagon.
Yep. Even I didn't know that , so I have to say , I am very much pleased that our service men and women are up on this stuff so that they can spot it and know when they are being targeted for recruitment.
Jon Soltz , a veteran himself who served as a Captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom , provides links in his article to the power point presentations of these trainings. He even provides his readers without PP , the main gist of the presentation that was given to the 2d Battalion, 46th Infantry ;
"Soldiers are prohibited from active participation in organizations which promote supremacist causes, attempt to create illegal discrimination based on race, creed, color, gender, religion, sex or national origin, advocate the use of force or violence, or otherwise attempt to deprive individuals of their civil rights."
Jon mocks the critics of the DHS Memo , and rightfully so , as he explains that this is not something that they pulled out of thin air. But in fact, as we now see, the Pentagon has already been warning their service members about this for years and some of the training specifically mentions , the infamous Timothy McVeigh as an example.
You would think Joe Scarborough who served on the Armed Services Committee when he was in Congress during that time , might have at least known about that when he was popping off on his pathetic little morning gig faking outrage at the mere use of McVeigh's name in the same sentence as the veterans. Or, maybe not.
In any event, John Soltz reminds the guilt conscience conservatives that although the majority of active duty and veteran service members are upstanding citizens who honor this nation , right wing extremists do and have in fact , not only tried to target them for recruitment , but have literally infiltrated the Military itself. Joining up so they can get trained. Jon concludes;
We who served in the military know it, which is why the military is constantly vigilant, and always training men and women to recognize extremists and keep away from them. The report from DHS says nothing new or different than what's been said by the Armed Forces for years, with not so much as a peep from the Republicans or American Legion. The only thing new and different here is the president.
Well, that settles up that little argument right there now doesn't it ?