April 27, 2009 05:51 PM UTC

Dems Agree: That Was Stupid

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Grand Junction Sentinel asked for a response from Colorado Democrats to last week’s “Homeland Security tracking wingnuts and vets” Janet Napolitano gaffe. Helpfully, too, since it’s out on the beet-red Western Slope–where only AM radio and Fox News seem to penetrate many canyon walls–that Glenn Beck reality-based antidotes are needed most:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano should have treated left- and right-wing extremists equally in a recent report, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colorado, said…

“I believe the intent of the recent Department of Homeland Security reports on left-wing and right-wing extremist threats was to make our country safer and I appreciate the effort and the transparency,” Salazar, a Vietnam-era veteran, said in a statement.

“In the future, I think it will be more productive if the reports include less generalities and include more specific threats like those outlined in the report on left-wing extremists.”

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said Homeland Security missed the mark.

“The (Department of Homeland Security) report should not have characterized our veterans in this way, and I understand their frustration,” Bennet said in a statement. “DHS needs to do a better job communicating the challenges we face keeping our nation secure.”

Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., also was critical, said his Washington, D.C., spokeswoman, Tara Trujillo.

“National security should never be a partisan issue,” Trujillo said. “Veterans who have fought and died for this country did so wearing an American flag, not the emblem of a political party. Sen. Udall can understand why veterans are frustrated – and rightfully so.”

Thanks for clearing that up, but unfortunately, the panic sale of guns and ammunition in Grand Junction does not appear to have slowed. Then again, it’s tough to reason with crazies once you’ve validated their paranoia, however speciously–you might ask Mark Udall’s staff about phone calls he still gets regarding this “weather modification” bill he introduced in 2005, an enduringly popular subject on the late-night conspiracy theory radio show Coast to Coast.

That’s enough nutter-bait, let’s see who the real Americans are on this blog.

Okay, that last sentence was also bait.