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A disclaimer: I am aware that Mr. Rudolph is only a suspect. The evidence against him is circumstantial. As it happens, I am personally 99.9999% convinced of his guilt in all of the crimes for which he has been sought, and for which he will be formally accused. Nonetheless, any reference I make to his crimes should be assumed to incorporate the word "alleged." Oh, and one more thing: I hope they fry the bastard.

Like most folks, I am glad to see this sorry spectacle finally move on to the next page, that of prosecution and punishment. The good people of the far western corner of my state have suffered in many ways. In addition to the obvious trauma of living with the possibility that there's a mentally unbalanced armed terrorist with nothing to lose in their vicinity, their lives have been disrupted by law enforcement officers at all levels (Federal, State, and local), and far worse, their reputations have been impugned by allegations that Rudolph was "one of them," and was being supplied and protected by the locals.

And there's this, from (surprise) The Washington Post: "Pockets of western North Carolina have had a reputation as a haven for right-wing extremists."

It is crap like this that should enrage fair-minded people everywhere. The paper's implication is quite clear, and certainly not accidental.

There is nothing "right-wing" about terrorism.

There is nothing "right-wing" about murder.

There is nothing "right-wing" about religious fanaticism.

And there is nothing "right-wing" about militant anti-government zealotry.

While we rejoice (most of us, anyway) that this skuzzball is off the streets (or, more literally, out of the forest), we as conservatives need to continue to defend our reputations from attacks such as this.

Your geocentricism is fully understandable; the WP looks "down" at anything south of the Potomac, and has writers with loose tongues and weak minds -- this is a national case that likely will be played off-stage given the early reviews and they didn't want to waste their ink in today's poor economy. Check Monday's front page to see how big of a deal this will be nationwide.

If NARAL holds a press conference, then it will be a big story.