Napolitano’s Mea Culpa

We wrote here about the absurd Department of Homeland Security report that warned against the “resurgence” of right-wing extremism and, especially, against the likelihood that veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan (which they’ve been doing since 2003 and 2002, respectively) would joint violent right-wing groups. Today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to representatives of the American Legion for allowing the half-baked report to be sent out to law enforcement agencies across the country:

Napolitano blamed one of her agency’s analysts for prematurely sending out the intelligence assessment to law enforcement, according to Craig Roberts, an American Legion member who attended the meeting. …

After the meeting, Napolitano issued a statement saying the department “has fixed the internal process that allowed this document to be released before it was ready.”

To say that Napolitano is off to a rocky start would be an understatement. Along with this fiasco, she wrongly claimed that crossing the border illegally is not a crime–remarkable, in view of the fact that she has been U.S. Attorney, Attorney General and Governor of the State of Arizona–and falsely claimed that the September 11 terrorists entered the country through Canada. Contact with reality, like paying one’s income taxes, is not a requirement for service in Barack Obama’s cabinet.

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