As the right drift farther from reason and turn to manufacturing hysteria to justify their warring lifestyle, they’ve set their sights on a new enemy. Nestled in the back of The New York Times, beyond the sports section, just nudging out the obits, the travel section stands accused of helping terrorists by publishing a story on the neighbouring vacation homes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

From blogger Michelle Malkin to the Republican arse-nuzzlers at NewsMax, right-wing pundits are wielding their demented pens against Peter Kilborn’s article, “Weekends With the President’s Men,” calling it a treasonous retaliation for recent administration criticisms of the paper, and suggesting it gives “radicals, al-Qaeda operatives and would-be assassins” all they need to carry out their dastardly deeds. One writer calls for immediate charges against all involved for disclosing “national secrets.” The angry mob fails to mention that the locations aren’t really secret, or that pics of Rumsfeld’s spy-cam birdhouse were taken with his permission, or that NewsMax themselves carried a story on Cheney’s purchase of the house last year, complete with a mention of his esteemed neighbour, Rummy.

» Scott Saxon