i said, “he’s further left than kucinich?”

“well…” my father-in-law said.

“so rush was wrong again, is what you’re saying.”

“well, he’ll probably be your nominee. and then he’ll get shot.”

what freaked me out about his saying this is that he said it as if he was saying “it’ll probably rain tomorrow.” so matter-of-fact. he said it as if the idea of someone running against george bush getting shot was just a natural outcome of running against george bush. he said it like, “well, what do you expect?”

then i go home and read uggabugga. sheesh.

i remember when they found shell casings on the whitehouse lawn in 94. rush said that there were those on the left that accused him of inciting such violence.

then, in 1995, newt’s fax machine got a few death threats. rush couldnt go on enough about how he placed the blame soley at the feet of the liberal media for painting newt as a boogeyman.

the point of this story, i guess is that all of this hatred and violence did start, as far as i can see, on the right.

the lesson i think we are not learning here is that we don’t want to become this, and we are. its all well and good for lefties to “fight back.” but using thier tactics will ONLY ESCALATE the hatred and potential for violence.

lets not forget we reap what we sow.

3 sentences that ties it all together succinctly. Well done!

George W. Bush is a treasonous liar who’s done everything in his power to destroy this country. He’s the worst president we’ve ever had. If the media and public paid attention to half the shit he pulls, then he’d be impeached.

Seriously, you won’t be getting much argument on the rhetoric front from me. Both the left and the right have been more and more bold about their criticism. You know which side I’m on, but to the left’s credit, it was started by right wingers in the 90′s.

As far as assassination goes, I don’t think it’s actually gonna happen, but (as I said in the post) I wouldn’t be 100% surprised. The attacks by the left and right have become so intense lately that I can easily imagine some lone nutcase justifying an assassination to himself.

When people think they’re saving lives, the idea of taking someone’s life is a lot easier (ie. abortion clinic bombings). With all the talk of terrorism lately, folks like Limbaugh are all too eager to make the argument that the only thing standing between us and another 9/11 is the steadfast leadership of King George II.

By the way Ross and Kyle, you forgot to mention the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Granted, he wasn’t killed by an American, but it’s not like the assassination of a Democratic presidential candidate over policy issues is unheard of.

And of course it’s an ironic loop. It’s ironic because one side will always want the other to shut up but will always villainize the other for making their wishes known. That’s actually lose-lose.

By the way, re: left’s painting right as treasonous

If someone on the Left calls them out on that, then the LEFT is cited for silencing dissent, not the Right. Other than the fact that it’s pure bullshit, and makes no sense whatsoever, it’s a pretty good win-win scenario for the Right.

But damn, I get a headache just trying to figure out that logic.

Except Lincoln, who was killed over the outcome of the civil war. And McKinley, who was killed by an Anarchist agitator. And Senator Charles Sumner, who was caned nearly to death, and crippled for life, by Representative Preston Brooks, owing to Sumner’s opposition to Slavery.

But I don’t mean to be glib. Unfortunately, all too often it isn’t sci fi or bad TV to suggest that right wing thugs are capable of incredible, issues-bases violence.

Not to play the terrorism card, but coming from Oklahoma, a place where a right wing terrorist really did kill hundreds of people after having been subjected to years of right wing propaganda, a place where anti abortion “activists” really do try to kill people who disagree with them over “issues”, I too wouldn’t be surprised. The truth is that there is venomous hate coming from the right, and it quite often has extremely violent results.

So while (honestly) I Agree with Kyle that the candidates aren’t going to be taken out, I do think that one could predict increased violence against liberals in some way and not be insane.

Slight digression: while I understand Greg’s need to be fair, I must protest that when it comes to the sort of rhetoric likely to lead to violent behavior, you will not be able to find a single example from the left* of the accusations of treason, nor the attempts to criminalize dissent, nor the success and obsession with vilifying the opposition, coming from the left. That sort of thing is frankly a solely republican predilection.

* that is, from ANY mainstream, televised, respected, well known and influential example of the left. In other words, from the left that actually shares in the limelight that shines on famous conservatives who regularly engage in this sort of rhetoric.