Competition for June's Idiot of the Month Award

I didn't think that anyone could possibly come close to Scott Thomas for June's Idiot of the Month Award, but it took only a few hours to find an article that is at least on the same level of sheer stupidity. This one is in the Washington Dispatch (the same webrag that printed Brian Cherry's abysmal article on evolution a few weeks ago) and is written by someone named Nancy Salvato. Salvato thinks that the media is guilty of treason, and you're gonna love the reasons she gives. First, because they have reported on situations that might be vulnerable to terrorist attack:

Pluchinsky writes: Imagine that you are a supporter or sympathizer of a terrorist group and you have been tasked to identify and collect tactical information on potential U.S. targets. Consider some of the following headlines that have appeared since 9/11: "Private Plane Charters: One Way Around Air Security," "Suicidal Nuclear Threat Is Seen At Weapons Plants," "Priority Required for Protecting Utilities," "NRC Warns of Missing Radioactive Materials," "Freight Transport: Safe from Terror?" "Chemical Plants Are Feared As Targets," "America's Roads May Be Just As Vulnerable As Its Skies," "Study Assesses Risk of Attack on Chemical Plants," "Terror Risk Cited for Cargo Carried on Passenger Jets: 2 Reports List Security Gaps," and "Truck Terrorism Possible, U.S. Says: Investigation Finds Lack of Licensing Safeguards."

It doesnt take a Rocket Scientist to see that its the media that gives terrorist groups access to the insights and wisdom of the experts who are cited in the above articles. I completely concur with Pluchinsky when he suggests these types of articles should be filtered through a government agency.

Has it ever occured to Salvato that by reporting on those vulnerabilities, it prompts action to plug up the holes to prevent terrorism? Apparently not. The job of a free press is to hold the government's feet to the fire and insure that they do their jobs. If they find out that there's a situation where the government is not doing an adequate job of safeguarding important facilities, it's their duty to report it. It spurs the public to demand that the government be proactive. But this is just the beginning of Salvato's screed and we haven't gotten to the real reason why she thinks they're traitors - they dare to criticize a president she supports:

The media continues to spin to the public that we are losing the war. This is helping to convince the mainstream that by going to Iraq we have become enveloped in a quagmire, which in turn, undermines public confidence and support for our efforts and in our current president. The media promotes their agenda and that of the terrorists to encourage the election of the Not Bush candidate while putting our country at greater risk for the success of terrorism.

Yeah, can you believe that there are people who actually disagree with the president on how the war is going and actually say so? It's an outrage, I tell ya. An absolute outrage. But she's just getting warmed up. She accuses John Kerry of treason too:

Treason has become so acceptable in our country that the Democratic candidate for president committed the act back in 1970 when he conducted a meeting with N. Vietnamese communists in Paris. Laws forbid private citizens from negotiating with foreign powers.

LMAO. Gosh Nancy, what do you think he was "negotiating"? A surrender? A new treaty he had no authority to pass or ratify? The price of egg rolls? There was nothing for him to negotiate with them, he had no power to negotiate anything. Maybe, just maybe, he was making a symbolic gesture of reconciliation with the people we'd been bombing for no good reason for the last few years. And isn't it about time we dropped this "if you were against Vietnam and dared to say so, you're a communist" bullshit? It's too stupid to even bother responding to. I'm a libertarian, for crying out loud, which is as far from communism as you can get, and I think the Vietnam war was a huge mistake that the world still hasn't recovered from. Ah, but Salvato isn't done yet:

According to Joe Mariani, Ted Kennedy has undermined the credibility of the commander-in-chief by accusing him of manufacturing the case for war in Iraq. If Bush caved in to his demand to fire Donald Rumsfeld, in the middle of a war, it would ensure the disruption of our military efforts. Kennedy has damaged the morale of our troops by his comparison of them to torture squads under Saddam Hussein. For the successful prosecution of the fight against terrorism, our enemies must see that while we may argue amongst ourselves, we are united against them. For the good of the country, Senator Kennedy must step down from the Senate.

Which really only proves that Joe Mariani is as mind-numbingly stupid as Salvato appears to be. Were they calling for treason charges against those who claimed that Clinton was just trying to distract attention away from the Monica situation when he authorized a cruise missile attack on Osama Bin Laden? I'll bet a few billion that they weren't. So why weren't those Republicans guilty of "undermining the credibility of the commander-in-chief by accusing him of manufacturing the case for bombing the world's most infamous terrorist? Oh yeah, because he's a liberal, right? And if firing the Secretary of Defense would "ensure the disruption of our military efforts" currently, why wasn't Salvato accusing the Republicans of doing the same thing when they tried to impeach the commander-in-chief in 1998 while our troops were at war in Bosnia? Oh yeah, because she doesn't like Clinton. Silly question, sorry I asked. Here's her big finish:

We are at war against those who would take away our sovereignty. A case can and should be made that the mainstream media, John Kerry, and Ted Kennedy have aided and abetted our enemies all in the name of political free speech. Congress, you have the power to declare the punishment. What say you?

Well I'm not in Congress, but I know what I say. I say, "Congratulations! You are officially nominated for June's Idiot of the Month Award."