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The Evolving Sullivan Standard

By Philip Klein on 10.24.08 @ 7:02AM

On Tuesday, it was being reported that an African American veteran said that he had his Obama yard sign replaced by a confederate flag, and Andrew Sullivan reacted:

As I said: it's now a battle between hope and fear. There is no neutral ground any more. Do what you can.

Yesterday -- just two days later if you're keeping score -- it was reported that a female McCain volunteer said she was robbed by an Obama supporter who went on to assault her and carve a 'B' in her cheek. While displaying some skepticism about the truthfulness of the story --fair enough -- Sullivan berated Drudge for over-hyping it, even if it were true:

Occasional acts of violence with political ramifications will occur on both sides, I'm afraid. It seems to me that we should try and calm this stuff down a little in coverage, rather than ratchet it up.

UPDATE: It does appear to be a hoax.