Alas, the Hutaree case is likely to boost the bogus narrative that such antigovernment militias represent fundamentally the same threat as Islamist terrorists.
Thus, in essence, the argument for giving civilian trials to 9/11 conspirators at Gitmo: If the normal criminal-justice system is good enough to take down the Hutaree folks, why not Khalid Sheik Muhammad, too?
This is nonsense. To be sure, civilian justice works just fine against some Islamist terror -- specifically, those plots (see above, Fort Dix and the synagogues) hatched by US citizens on US soil.
But one need only contrast the wild fantasies indulged by the Hutaree kooks with the lethal calculation of killers like the 9/11 plotters or the Fort Hood gunman (not to mention their respective body counts) to understand the radical difference between the two threats.
One consists of the dedicated agents of a ruthless, religion-driven ideology.
The other: a few guys in the woods with guns.
The Obama administration -- Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in particular -- needs to keep its eyes on the ball.
