Violent Rhetoric on the Right

Andrew Sullivan makes an important point on The Daily Dish in response to right-wing criticism of commentary on the role of violent rhetoric in the Arizona shootings.

I am not horrified by the rhetoric and love of violence on the far right because I have some attachment to the Democrats. I am horrified because it is horrifying, because for years now, this kind of thing has become commonplace at the very top of the conservative political apparatus, and because the invocation of violence in a political context is inherently corrosive of democratic values. When you add to this a party committed to the use of military force as almost a first option, and to torture as a legal method of interrogation, it is irresponsible not to worry about where this is headed.

As examples, Sullivan cited public statements by conservative blogger Glenn Reynolds, CNN commentator Erick Erickson, South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, and Fox News head Roger Ailes from 2010 using references to bombs and guns as well as referring to political opponents as animals and Nazis. Rachel Slajda catalogues the gun rhetoric from Republican political figures this past year on Talking Points Memo.

--Ballard Burgher