It always happens. When violent acts are committed in the name of some political belief or another, the target side blames rhetorical incitement from the other side; while the presumed originating side claims the violent are singular people, in no way a result of hate speech, and, as a matter of fact, the target side is the one to blame. They were asking for it, we'll be told.
The thing is there's not much in the way of equivalency. There simply is nothing on the left like the high tension crazy on the right; neither in numbers nor in calor. No network with the reach and singleness of purpose of Fox "news," no left-wing radio like that of the RWS™; and among those on the left that do rant and rave (to comparatively small and generally distracted and mildly amused public audiences), there's simply no one who calls for revolution, for becoming "armed and dangerous," for "destroying" the opposition; not to anywhere near the same extent as the righties. Nor, in the rare cases when it happens, is there the sort of deafening silence from the lefty leaders that we hear on the right. Or, among the recipients, the serious taking to heart.
So it seems obvious that, to the extent that fanning flames actually fans flames, and that the inflamed are fans of the fanners, there ought to be some blame and some sense of responsibility. And calls for it all to stop.
Now, admittedly, these guys don't look like a brain trust, and it might well be that their influences are more the voices already in their heads than the ones seeking hourly entry:
I'd say the same about the guy that actually threatened Eric Cantor (as opposed to the imaginary attack over which he was so breathless a few days back):
He evidently does hear voices. Much as the RWS™ will try to push him off as a liberal, he's way too crazy for that. Screamer, all the way. Got the paranoia and the theories. Religious nutjob? Not many on the left.
Of course, there's nothing at all funny about any of this. If it's true -- and it is -- that there have always been fringe groups and haters in our politics, it's also true that there's never been this universal level of priming of the pump, constantly, with unanimity, 24/7, land, air, and sea. Obama hates America. He has a deep-seated hatred of white people. He wants to destroy us. He's a Nazi. He's a terrorist. Concentration camps. His policies are destroying everything precious. We must take our country back, by any means necessary.
How can that not justify the actions of those who, crazy or not, wish to do actual harm? How can anyone who uses that language -- and it includes nearly ALL Republican leaders at this point -- ever demonstrate ANY cooperation with a person they claim is that evil?
To me, this is unprecedented, and I'm pretty old. Something really bad is going to happen. What has, so far, been cynical political strategy to "energize" potential Republican voters is turning dangerous. It's only a matter of time. And, per usual, those most responsible will deny it to their dying day.
Except they won't be the ones doing the dying.
[Note to my ones of readers: I'm having important distractions now and for the next week; therefore what posts I may or may not post will or will not have more or less than the usual amount of attention paid before posting.]
