Democrats play the victim

David Hirsayni:

The mob is furious. And while it hollers on about "killing" bills, Republicans stoke the fury by calling on citizens to "target" races in "battleground" states.

Get it? "Target." The violent intentions are palpable.

Most Americans abhor violence and no serious person has offered excuses or rationalized the actions of the smattering of loons who have threatened politicians who voted for health care reform.

But this campaign of distraction mounted by Democrats meaning to smear millions of Americans involved in legitimate political expression is as transparent as it is distasteful.

The narrative: Fearful underdog Democrats (true if you ignore their notable majorities in both houses of Congress and control of the presidency) are fending off hordes of ferocious, irrational detractors to do what's right.

Democrats insist Republicans must condemn - over and over - this imaginary rise of widespread radicalism. In doing so, they are implicitly accusing Republicans of controlling the aforementioned radicals.

Other Democrats, like Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, went as far as to claim that Republicans were "aiding and abetting terrorism" against Democrats.

For those grappling with history, here's what a "mob" looks like: furious citizens raiding the Bastille, stabbing and decapitating its governor, Marquis Bernard de Launay, and placing his head on a pike to parade around Paris streets to cheering crowds.

Or, to put it in more contemporary terms, think anti-capitalist, stone-throwing, Starbucks-hating, economic-justice thugs. Or perhaps radical environmentalists who burn down housing projects and research facilities for Mother Earth. For a domestic terrorist, you won't need to go farther than your local Chicago university to spot a Weatherman - sorry, Weatherperson.

And one would think that with all the threats politicians get every year, they would be more serious about whom they accuse.

Rep. Russ Carnahan, for instance, claims that a coffin was displayed near his home, which I will grant would be awfully intimidating - unless, of course, it turned out that the coffin was used in a peaceful political candlelight prayer vigil, as it was. (Go to Google for pictures.)

Maybe Carnahan confused prayer candles for torches.

...

This is just an attempt by Democrats to put the Republicans on the defensive at a time when Democrats should be on the defensive for thwarting the will of the people and imposing rationed health care on a country that does not want it. Hirsayni is right to call their claims a distraction.