An editorial in the Washington Times is a perfect example of what I’ve been calling the “distortions” about the DHS report on right wing extremism: Smearing veterans.

The whole piece is full of overheated accusations like this:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has defended her department’s outrageous claim that veterans are joining hate groups and threatening public safety.

But at one point they tip over into outright dishonesty:

The Department of Homeland Security’s April 7 report said the willingness of “military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.”

Notice: the Washington Times deliberately omitted a very important qualification from their quote. This is the actual quote from the DHS report:

The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups in the 1990’s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.

This isn’t just sloppiness. It’s lying by omission.

Shame on the Washington Times.

They’re stoking the outrage by distorting facts about the report, because they know most people who read their stuff won’t bother to check for themselves.