‘These people’ being the media, and their contemptible willingness to accept a double standard when it comes to violent rhetoric. After screaming for so long about every possible hint of a suggestion of a possibility of violent speech from the Right, it’s amazing what will be forgiven when it comes from the Left:

Tom Friedman — who knows a bit about Hezbollah — calls the tea partiers the “Hezbollah faction” of the GOP bent on taking the country on a “suicide mission.” All over the place, conservative Republicans are “hostage takers” and “terrorists,” “terrorists” and “traitors.” They want to “end life as we know it on this planet,” says Nancy Pelosi. They are betraying the founders, too. Chris Matthews all but signs up for the “Make an Ass of Yourself” contest at the State Fair. Joe Nocera writes today that “the Tea Party Republicans can put aside their suicide vests.” Lord knows what Krugman and Olbermann have said.

Then last night. on the very day Gabby Giffords heroically returns to cast her first vote since that tragic attack six months ago, the Vice President of the United States calls the Republican Party a bunch of terrorists.

Regardless, No one cares.

After making a probably-accurate prediction that the media will leap on the next opportunity, however tenuous and/or mendacious, to attack the right’s rhetoric as being violent, Jonah concludes ‘Well, go to Hell. All of you.” To which I append: right on. But I’ll add a suggestion for those quote-unquote ‘moderate’ or ‘reasonable’ Republicans out there who are legitimately interested in repairing their reputations with their more conservative brethren*; calling out egregious Lefty violators of the civility principle on either the talk shows – or the cocktail party circuit – will do wonders for their relationship with the rest of the party.

If not their social life – but then, the rest of us have suffered socially for our beliefs and our affiliations; why the heck should they be immune to that?

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*No, there really are. I am a moderate Republican on social issues, after all. I’ve just simply avoided the subtly insidious trap of getting into the unethical habit of sneering at more socially conservative friends in order to try to curry favor with socially moderate enemies. I am not the only squishy Republican in the United States of America who is capable of making that choice.