Politics of rage

Michele Malkin:

...

Are a few activists on the right getting out of hand? Probably. Between massive ACORN voter fraud, Bill Ayers' and Jeremiah Wright's unrepentant hatred of America and John McCain's inability to nail Barack Obama on his longtime alliances with all of the above, conservatives have plenty to shout about these days.

But a couple of random catcallers do not a mob make. And there's an overflowing abundance of electoral rage on the left that won't make it onto your newspaper's front page.

Last month on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a small, brave contingent of McCain supporters marched through the streets with campaign signs. They were met by a menacing horde of New Yorkers who displayed their disapproval with a barrage of jeers and vulgar gestures. ("The number of middle fingers in the 'progressive crowd' is directly proportional to the number of PhD degrees in the 10-block radius," one witness wryly observed.)

A YouTube video of the confrontation now has nearly half a million views (search for "Pro-McCain March in Manhattan" at youtube.com). But don't expect to find it on the nightly news. It doesn't fit the Angry Right narrative.

Neither does the near-riotous reaction of Obama supporters to a McCain-Palin sign in Democrat-dominated Prince George's County, Md. Buried in The Washington Post's local section this week was a report on how "pandemonium" broke loose when an unsuspecting businessman erected a "Country First. McCain/Palin." message on the marquee at his Colony South Hotel & Conference Center.

"Operators of neighborhood e-mail group lists cried foul to their memberships. The NAACP logged calls. Community leaders demanded boycotts of the hotel, a common venue for Democratic events," the Post article reported. A black professor called the sign "a stink bomb in the middle of the living room" of Obama land. The poor hotel manager, Alan Vahabzadeh, surrendered. "I didn't even realize it was going to be like this."

Can't blame him for missing the fiery hint from Portland, Ore. - where two deranged vandals were arrested after throwing a Molotov cocktail at a McCain yard sign in the middle of the night. Nope, that didn't make it into the columns of Rich, Dionne or Krugman. Doesn't fit the Angry Right narrative.

...

There is more and it is bad. I am not so sure it is a blind eye although it could be. I think their real motive is to dispirit and suppress the obvious enthusiasm that Palin brings to the Republican ticket. If a few Republicans act like Howard Dean that just gives them an excuse for their double standard. They do not have an answer to Malkin's arguments so expect them to either ignore it or heap more insults on her too.

Michael Barone has more on the leftist rage.