Grapevine: 'Extreme' history lesson for military trainees

New manual claims Founding Fathers were 'extremists'

And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...

Time Off with Pay

We begin with a big update about a story we told you about last week.

The Homeland Security Department employee who runs a racist website predicting and advocating a race war, has been put on administrative leave...with pay.

Ayo Kimathi operates the website named War on the Horizon which criticizes whites, gays, those of mixed race, and blacks who integrate with whites.

His government job? He buys weapons and ammunition for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE says it – quote -- "does not condone any type of hateful rhetoric or advocacy of violence."

Sense of History

Most people -- liberal or conservative -- know Alger Hiss a top State Department official in the 1940's -- as a communist spy.

But 75 years later, it seems MSNBC host Karen Finney is unwilling to acknowledge that as a fact.

Finney, the former head of communications for the DNC and press secretary for Hillary Clinton hung up on conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt after he repeatedly tried to get her to say Hiss was a communist.

Finney later claimed she had answered Hewitt and said the host was interested only in a shoutfest.

Worth noting, fellow MSNBC host Chris Matthews has said in the past said, he is astonished anyone could view Hiss as anything less than guilty.

Extreme History

Finally, the Founding Fathers were extremists.

That is what 32,000 soldiers from all branches of the military reportedly have been taught this week [sic] in a 12 week course for service members trained to spot discrimination on military bases.

The Daily Mail reports, the training manual says -- quote -- "In U.S. history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states, are just two examples."

Another section appears to equate values of conservatives and libertarians with those of hate groups.

Quote -- "Nowadays, instead of dressing in sheets or publicly espousing hate messages, many extremists will talk of individual liberties, states' rights, and how to make the world a better place."

Late this afternoon, the Pentagon told Fox News -- quote -- "Training material on 'extremism' is intentionally written to generate provocative discussion and is not necessarily consistent with DOD policy and should not be interpreted in any way other than its intended purpose, which is to prepare human relations practitioners for their occupational duties."