The American Spectator

Pete| 6.11.09 @ 11:55AM

"Why can't we acknowledge that there are some absolute lunatics in this world who will commit violence for all sorts of reasons"

While I agree with you, this is precisely where it gets political. In liberal utopia no one wants to hurt anyone else for any reason - hence our recent world apologies, soft stance on terror/nuclear weapons, and lowering of the defense budget. So it only makes sense for them to blame the other side when, time after time, their world view is proven wrong.

Matthew Vadum| 6.11.09 @ 12:21PM

Nicely put, Philip.

Oldefarte| 6.11.09 @ 2:06PM

Philip, you speak truth;BUT the left is historically guilty of which you speak! The left's initial [MSM] attack line was RIGHT WING GUNMAN KILLS TWO AT MUSEUM. The left [via our government] produced a report indicating conservatives and returning military war veterans should ve investigated for subversive activities. The left has a TV media outlet [MSNBC] devoted entirely to politically smearing conservatism. the list goes on. Why is it that liberals can throw bambs and hand grenades in politics, and then someone such as Philip, even though well intentioned, says LETS ALL PLAY NICE NOW??????

BJC| 6.11.09 @ 2:11PM

Mr. Klein, I know you meant this semi-rhetorically when you wrote, "Why can't we just be grownups about it and just honor the memory of the dead in these circumstances, rather than turn it into another bitter political battle? " But the short answer is "Because the Leftists won't let us." They attack those of us on the political Right, falsely accusing us of some complicity in lunatic acts of violence. We have to address these vicious slanders; otherwise, an unchallenged Leftist-bigot slur against conservatives gains credence. Look how well that worked out for George W. Bush in not answering his critics volubly -- and the bad place that's gotten us on the Right now.

To the political Left, everything -- everything! -- is political. In a way we are fighting an uphill battle here, because to us on the Right, lunacy isn't really considered political at all, and we conservatives don't believe craziness ought to be admitted into normal political discourse and debate. By contrast, the Left is populated with crazies upon loons upon madmen, and the Leftists generally humor them, celebrate them, reward them with political concessions for being the more "effective" members of their coalition. Nothing at all like that occurs on the political Right.

And in fact the most prominent news events suggesting anti-Semitism just prior to the Holocaust Museum shooting came from Barack Hussein Obama's quarter -- that news photo of him showing the sole of his shoe insultingly while on the phone to Israel and Obama's former minister Jeremiah Wright accusing "them Jews" of not allowing him to contact BHO. But will you hear anyone on the Left even entertain the possibility that BHO and his cronies fomented the Jew-hate that manifested itself in attacking the Holocaust Museum? Not likely. But anti-Semitism is rife on the political Left, next to nil on the political Right.

NavyBrat| 6.11.09 @ 3:08PM

"But anti-Semitism is rife on the political Left, next to nil on the political Right."

BJC. Game, set, match! Unfortunately, this is one of the most obvious, yet never reported facts in our society today. The left has succeeded in twisting history to the point that no one remembers that fascism & socialism are LEFT WING ideologies. They've done so with a monopoly on education & the media. It will be a long, hard slog to overturn this indoctrination in our culture.

Mike| 6.11.09 @ 3:13PM

Thank you Mr. Klein for saying something that needed to be said. You wrote, "Anybody who murders another innocent human being -- whether an abortion provider, a soldier, or a museum guard -- is operating on a whole different level than a television host or political blogger." True, but we all position ourselves somewhere on a continuum. Take for example Philip Klein, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and von Brunn. The movement is from reasonable to extreme ending in pathological. These three murders should be an occasion for each of us to look at where we sit on the continuum heading either to the extreme right or the extreme left.

Mike| 6.11.09 @ 3:17PM

Thank you Mr. Klein for saying something that needed to be said. You wrote, "Anybody who murders another innocent human being -- whether an abortion provider, a soldier, or a museum guard -- is operating on a whole different level than a television host or political blogger." True, but we all position ourselves somewhere on a continuum. Take for example Philip Klein, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and von Brunn. The movement is from reasonable to extreme ending in pathological. These three murders should be an occasion for each of us to look at where we sit on the continuum heading either to the extreme right or the extreme left.

MattSwartz| 6.11.09 @ 3:30PM

It's always an interesting debate when people argue whether fascism (and white supremacism is fascist) is on the right or the left.

There are good arguments for both, but yesterday a blogger blew my mind by suggesting that it was a radically centrist idea. It makes sense, really, since it melds conservative ideas about tradition with liberal confidence in the power of the total state.

JimH| 6.11.09 @ 7:09PM

I waited for a while to see if anyone would mention this. Even if one was against the killing of him, it does seem problematic at best to refer to a 3rd trimester abortionist as innocent.

Mike Lee| 6.11.09 @ 10:40PM

We shouldn't play patty cake we these left wing lunatics. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight. We have to start taking down their leaders just the way they try to take down ours. Not with trumped up lies like they do but with the truth and with fighting spirit. But we must play hardball. Give them the same tactics until the cooler headed decent liberals agree to distance themselves from the Soros funded, Daily Kos wusses an the other assorted crazies. Then, When they are ready to discuss our differences with decorum then we can talk. WFB distanced conservatives from the John Birchers and the Ayn Rand devotees. The saner liberals need to do the same. I'm ready when they are.

Angel| 6.11.09 @ 11:30PM

Mike, take for example: David Letterman, Keith Olbermann, Reverend Jeremiah Wright and von Brunn--where do you fit in that continuum?

Hmmmm?

After all, von Brunn is a registered Democrat, you know? I guess YOUR party is reasonable (?) to extreme ending in pathological. Mostly pathological.

Angel| 6.11.09 @ 11:44PM

Too bad your sage comments weren't posted on Huff/Post, Phil. It would never happen in a million years.

I'm so damned sick and tired of bringing a butter knife to a gun fight. No wonder we are screwed on the Right--street fighters always win over a nice guy. That's just the way it is in the jungle.

May be we won't survive as a movement--we just don't have the will. We won't end with a bang, we'll end with a whimper. Pathetic.

Kitty| 6.12.09 @ 7:11AM

BJC is right when s/he wrote, 'the short answer is "Because the Leftists won't let us."'

Chicago thugs are in charge now.

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