I don’t mean to gang up on Illinois Reason, but I just can’t swallow this argument:

…What happens when one side of the political spectrum, through fetid ranting over the course of a great many years, foments rage and anger and promotes and even glorifies violence in order to ‘pump up their base of voters’?

Idiots try to assassinate a presidential candidate, that’s what happens.

This is unconscionable hyperbole. And besides, the rhetoric from the right, while negative has hardly been hate filled. I haven’t heard a single person truly impugn Obama’s character. Not like they did Clinton’s in past years.

Finally, even if they had, IR’s argument misunderstands politics. Politicians don’t get out in front of character assassination, they get behind it. If there is a whisper campaign going around that Obama is a Muslim, politicians will exploit it for sure, but the fact the whisper campaign exists in the first place is a symptom of a deeper psychosis in the American public and the American media.

We simply care more about winning arguments (and elections) than we do communicating and understanding. And on this score, Illinois Reason is no different.

Hat Tip: Windy City Pundit