If you haven't heard about the latest Daryl Metcalfe outrage, you probably need to check your e-mail inbox.

But just when you thought there was no one left for the Butler county state rep to insult, the Pride of Cranberry may have found a new group to demonize: veterans. 

Courtesy of the folks at Keystone Progress -- and a few other lefty groups whose e-mail list I'm on -- comes this news:

A group of veterans are traveling across the country on a 21-state bus tour to talk to citizens and local community leaders about the dangers of climate change and its threat to national security ... The tour is sponsored by Operation Free, a coalition of veterans and national security groups working together to raise public awareness about national security threats posed by climate change and the importance of building a clean energy economy that is not tied to fossil fuels.

Sounds harmless enough, right?

But allegedly, Daryl Metcalfe took offense. When he received word of the tour, says Keystone Progress, he fired off this e-mail reponse:

As a veteran, I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took defend the Constitution of our great nation!

Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda.

Drill Baby Drill!!!

I have to confess that this almost too crazy even for Metcalfe. (Who does do shit like this all the time.) I mean, I can believe the guy demonizing immigrants, or ignoring the plight of battered women, or drop-kicking fuzzy animals ... but veterans? Really? 

As yet, I haven't been able to confirm the authenticity of this message, though it's been featured on the Huffington Post as well as Daily Kos and other sites.  And at least one Harrisburg Democrat has apparently called a press conference -- at a VFW hall no less -- to respond. 

[UPDATE: It's true. Good God.]

If it's true ... wow. First of all, that is some mighty fine sentence construction up there. If Harrisburg had levied a tax on dependent clauses, our budget crisis could have been resolved before the summer solstice. And what's really great about this message, of course is the idea that servicepeople -- the same folks willing to die in far-off lands -- should keep their mouths shut when they get back home. If a solider actually practices the freedoms he fights for, he's a goddamn traitor.

What to do if it is true? Clearly protests directed at Metcalfe are a waste of time, and probably only enhance his status amongst conservatives. Maybe it's time to start boycotting Cranberry itself? The rest of us had to suffer for this guy's hijinks for years ... maybe it's time Cranberry's voters smelled what they've been shoveling. 

The problem is, this: It's tough to boycott a place you'd never go to anyway. I don't really know of a single thing in Cranberry worth imposing a ban on. Would a boycott of all Shmuffins from Butler County Sheetz locations be practical? Ideas, anyone?