Should White, Straight Men Be Put Through "Extreme Vetting?" History Says Yes.

Donald Trump was probably just blowing smoke when he threatened to clamp down on Muslims. But now the damage is done. Yet the real threat has always been white, straight men. Do we need a registry?

Not a very Muslim bunch.

(Of course, I'm being facetious about needing a registry, and yet...)

This is not merely the face of American hate. It's the face of American danger from hate. There should be a registry for them. They're called American white males.

Fact: There are vastly more terrorism episodes perpetrated by Americans on Americans than by anyone else. And, yes, they're called white-wing extremists, and, yes, they're quite nearly all males.

Those of foreign, often Muslim, ancestry who have perpetrated attacks were very much in the minority and almost without exception American citizens.

All in all:

"Empirically, domestic terrorism is carried out by citizens -- not immigrants -- with right-wing terrorism, racial hate crimes, and the sovereign-citizen movement making up a majority of domestic terrorist incidents," said Joel Day, assistant professor of security and global studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. "Other domestic incidents have indeed been carried out by those who came here through legal channels.’’

Now, in the aftermath of the Trump election, hate crimes are on the rise. Who'd like to bet that in the next four years more violence will rain down on Muslims -- and by Christians -- than the other way around? I'd be happy to be wrong, especially if violence of all forms instead dropped. I'm not holding my breath. (Actually, maybe I am...)

Update. Digby gives us a reminder of what I'm talking about. (just yesterday, in Brooklyn...)