So let me get this straight, corrupt politicians, in a corrupt government threatening one another! We are doomed!

Correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the Democrats that are using extremely suss and frowned upon methods to force a bloated, ineffective health policy they have staked their political future upon through the Senate under circumstances that require less than a democratic majority of constituents to accede too?

Whilst its a good point that the other "side" of politics was doing the same thing to Bush, it doesn't cancel out what the current troubled groups are supposedly doing right now.

A better approach is to start condeming and trying to stop such acts from this moment onwards.

Uh-oh! Political violence is not just for teabaggers anymore!

Well, I'm sure the Democratic leadership will show us how to properly hyperventilate with outrage in 3... 2... 1...

1...

1....

1........

1?

No?

Hm.

I jumped back into the thread to post that, badgenome.

I really don't like the idea that is being put forth (whether it's the intent of the posts or not) that because "everybody does it" this is somehow okay behavior. It's not. Manus is clearly a left-leaning guy, it's completely his right to be upset about his side being attacked, why does he have to be fair about it? How is this situation fair to anybody no matter who is attacking who? Don't tell Manus that he has to do the same thing for the other side, that is your job. Shouting someone down doesn't make you righter or smarter, it makes you louder.

Edited for clarity.

It's an extra slice of stupid to threaten the losing side. The Democrats have just demonstrated that they don't need Republican support to pass legislation, so why bother threatening Republicans?

The rise in violence is largely symptomatic of the downturn, I think. Lots of people who are idle, hungry, and angry, looking for somebody to lash out at no matter how stupid the cause. A desperate attempt to feel that one has some control over the world one lives in is a big motivator for a lot of crime.

Yes, but comparing attacks to Krystallnacht is a bit different, no?

If ManusJustus wants to deride people for making threats against left-leaning congressmen, that is certainly fine. He doesn't have to be balanced on that. But when he decides to entitle it, likening these attacks to the atrocities of Krystallnatch is quite a bit different.

'Attacks of Democratic congressmen is bad! They need to stop!' is fine.

'Conservative Kristallnacht' which started the holocaust of the Jews, resulting in the murdering of 6,000,000 innocent Jews and Gypsies is a bit different, is it not?

I agree with what you say here. Kristalnacht is unneccesarily inflammatory language, and it was dumb of him to put it there because that will then become the focus of the replies. I take issue with the "well everyone does it *shrug*" kind of attitude. This behavior is never, ever okay no matter who is doing it.

 Famousringo had a good point that this is fueled as much by people being out of work and pissed as by anything else, but as the Palin thread indicates, party leaders putting out maps of congressional districts with ACTUAL TARGETS drawn over them is not going to help the situation. That kind of behavior should be called out. I have only gotten into politics recently, so I can't tell you much about whether Democrats have done the same (I would guess they have though), but it doesn't make this "okay".

I really, really don't like selective outrage. Certainly, it's not Manus' job to take on his own side - though it might be helpful if he wants to be taken seriously - but neither is it my job to help sustain his strange delusion that his side is utterly righteous and blameless. If he doesn't want anyone taking issue with his posts, he can stick to the Daily Kos or any other place where dissent is a bannable offense.