Joseph Welch, Thou Shouldst Be Living At This Hour

[UPDATE: More here, and here.]

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

–Paul Krugman, January 8, 2011.

A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. . . .

–Paul Krugman, December 17, 2009.

. . . today’s shooting was a reminder of what real political violence in this country could look like, and the awful recognition that it could’ve easily fit with comments made by trusted political figures should stop us cold. We’re lucky to live in a country where political violence is rare. We’re lucky that that doesn’t appear to have changed. But that may be dumb luck that we’re benefiting from. It is hard to look through those statements and believe that we’re doing enough to keep our political system peaceful.

–Ezra Klein, January 8, 2011.

To put this in context, Lieberman was invited to participate in the process that led to the Medicare buy-in. His opposition would have killed it before liberals invested in the idea. Instead, he skipped the meetingsand is forcing liberals to give up yet another compromise. Each time he does that, he increases the chances of the bill’s failure that much more. And if there’s a policy rationale here, it’s not apparent to me, or toothers who’ve interviewed him. At this point, Lieberman seems primarily motivated by torturing liberals. That is to say, he seems willing to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in order to settle an old electoral score.

–Ezra Klein, December 14, 2009. (This post was properly called “venomous” by Klein’s colleague at the Post, Charles Lane.)

Back from spending the day playing in the snow with the kids in Tahoe. So right-wing rhetoric is still okay and appropriate?

–Markos Moulitsas, January 8, 2011.

. . . I feel nothing over the death of merceneries [sic]. They aren’t in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

–Markos Moulitsas, April 1, 2004 (commenting on the death of American contractors in Iraq).

(All emphasis mine.)

Who are these people to be lecturing the rest of us about political civility?

Tagged as: Andrew Sullivan, Assassination Attempt, Brad DeLong, Demagoguery, Domestic Terrorism, Ezra Klein, Gabrielle Giffords, Markos Moulitsas, McCarthyism, Paul Krugman, Political Violence, Politics, Stupidest DeLong Alive, Stupidity