The focus on right wing violence is nothing new, and I suspect the recent announcements (past 5 or so years) calling for a focus on right wing violence is at least partly a recognization we dedicated too much focus on Al-Qaeda within our borders, which gave other groups and individuals in the criminal arena more room to maneuver.
I'm not comfortable with the term "right wing" violence, because too many occassociate it with the far right fringe of our political parties. They have their criminals that attack abortion clinics (though it can and is debated about who the actual criminals are), but for the most I would argue that Aryan Nation, Neo-Nazis, and others along those lines are to the far left much like the Marxists. Hitler was a socialist, and like in many in our far left who embrace burning books, telling others what they can say and think, and even telling families how they "will" raise their kids, the far left terrorists want to impose their way of life upon others. Neither the Aryan Nation or Neo-Nazis represent the conservative branch (even at its extreme) on the far right side of our political parties.
The media focuses on the far right because it has headline appeal, but the reports also mention the traditional whackos from the the far left and the environmentalists. It should also be noted the Aryan Nation despite claims to the contrary is largely a criminal organization, and lot of their violence resembles the violence from Biker gangs. Problematic, but hardly on the scale of risk that a large scale terrorist attack intended to kill as many people as possible.
One of the few things I agree with the President on regarding domestic policy is we need to focus more on mental health. The potential to move that field forward with the advances in science is significant and could potentially reduce a wide range of criminal behavior to include dumb kids that will grabbing a gun and killing as many kids as possible at a local school or movie theater.
More surveillance and arrests may reduce some the violence, but it will continue to come at us unless we address more fundamental issues. Our Law Enforcement focus on the war on drugs keeps the police busy, but it doesn't seem to reduce the demand for drugs. We should all take a step back and reconsider where we need to focus to make our society safer.
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