From Gene Robinson, Pulitzer-winning columnist and editor at the Wash Post:

It is disingenuous for mainstream purveyors of incendiary far-right
rhetoric to dismiss groups such as the Hutaree by saying that there are
"crazies on both sides." This simply is not true.

There was a time when the far left was a spawning ground for political
violence. The first big story I covered was the San Francisco trial of
heiress Patricia Hearst, who had been kidnapped and eventually co-opted
by the Symbionese Liberation Army -- a far-left group whose philosophy
was as apocalyptic and incoherent as that of the Hutaree. There are
aging radicals in Cuba today who got to Havana by hijacking airplanes in
the 1970s. Left-wing radicals caused mayhem and took innocent lives.


But for the most part, far-left violence in this country has gone the
way of the leisure suit and the AMC Gremlin. An anti-globalization
movement, including a few window-smashing anarchists, was gaining
traction at one point, but it quickly diminished after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks. An environmental group and an animal-rights group have
been linked with incidents of arson. Beyond those particulars, it is
hard to identify any kind of leftist threat.

By contrast, there has been explosive growth among far-right,
militia-type groups that identify themselves as white supremacists,
"constitutionalists," tax protesters and religious soldiers determined
to kill people to uphold "Christian" values. Most of the groups that
posed a real danger, as the Hutaree allegedly did, have been infiltrated
and dismantled by authorities before they could do any damage. But we
should never forget that the worst act of domestic terrorism ever
committed in this country was authored by a member of the
government-hating right wing: Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the federal
building in Oklahoma City.

It is dishonest for right-wing commentators to insist on an equivalence
that does not exist. The danger of political violence in this country
comes overwhelmingly from one direction -- the right, not the left. The
vitriolic, anti-government hate speech that is spewed on talk radio
every day -- and, quite regularly, at Tea Party rallies -- is calibrated
not to inform but to incite.

Demagogues scream at people that their government is illegitimate, that
their country has been "taken away," that their elected officials are
"traitors" and that their freedom is at risk. They have a right to free
speech, which I will always defend. But they shouldn't be surprised if
some listeners take them literally.





--
Conservatives - just pretend Obama's health care legislation is another
unnecessary war and you'll feel better about it.