Michael Enright, the 21-year old accused of stabbing a Muslim cabdriver in a hate crime, kept a journal filled with anti-Muslim writings: Muslim cab driver Ahmed Sharif, victim in bloody attack, saw ‘so much hate’ in face of assailant.

Enright, a senior at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, returned from Afghanistan in May after 35 days of filming a documentary about front-line troops.

When he was arrested Tuesday in midtown, Enright had a personal diary filled with pages of “pretty strong anti-Muslim comments,” a police source said.

The source said Enright’s journal equated Muslims with “killers, ungrateful for the help they were being offered, filthy murderers without a conscience.”

That comment sounds exactly like the kind of stuff you can find all over Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer’s blogs.

And right on cue, the right wing blogosphere is all screaming in unison that Enright was a “leftist,” because he volunteered as a filmmaker for a left-leaning organization, and that he was “pro-Park51,” because that organization supported Park51.

As if this illogical conclusion jumping will somehow absolve them of responsibility for creating a climate of hatred and bigotry in which violence flourishes.

UPDATE at 8/26/10 9:40:47 am:

The predictable narrative that Enright is a “leftist” is collapsing like a wet paper bag. L Magazine reports that Enright’s Facebook page featured a link (now removed, after his arrest) to Tea Party politician Greg Ball.

UPDATE at 8/26/10 10:10:09 am:

Also posted at Enright’s Facebook page:

UPDATE at 8/26/10 10:50:32 am:

To me, whether Enright is politically left or right is absolutely irrelevant. The only reason I’m bringing it up at all is to push back against the right wing’s utterly predictable knee-jerk attempt to muddy up the issue by seizing any excuse to paint Enright as a leftist.

We’ve already seen that this outbreak of bigotry isn’t confined to the right or the left. That’s not news.

But it’s obvious that the climate of hysteria, paranoia, and hatred that’s been stoked primarily by the right wing is going to push some borderline crazy individuals over the edge into violence.

UPDATE at 8/26/10 11:14:05 am:

A conflicting report about Enright’s diary from AP at the Washington Post:

NEW YORK (AP) - The man accused of slashing a Muslim taxi driver in the throat was carrying journals at the time describing his experiences in Afghanistan.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday that Michael Enright’s journals did not appear to contain anti-Muslim rants.