Sometimes the Squirrel Finds the Acorn...

... And sometimes it's just a nut. Writing in today's WaPo, Kathleen Parker looks aghast at the "fire-breathers on the right" that are obscuring the Rethug Party "message" (what message would that be: the urban hippity-hop one, the socialist/fascist/democommie Obama one, the party of "no" one, the "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" one? etc.). She does, however, stumble blindly on a few truisms about the Limpballs, Mad Randall Terrys, and Alan Keyes of the conservative movement: i.e., that the Rethugs lack a moderating voice and are stuck with the blowhard of the day to represent them.

Our reaction? You reap what you sow, lady, and the Rethugs (the elected ones) have at minimum tolerated, and more often have actively and relentlessly encouraged, the nuttier, more fringe elements of the crackpot right. Now you act surprised when they can't be "moderated." Of course they can't be moderated: you wouldn't have anyone left in the party willing to go out and teabag, or shout "socialist," or in the most horrific case, assassinate the "demons" you've concocted.

The Terrorist at Fuxed News

One of Fuxed News Channel's resident hatemongers, Bill O'Liely, has been under intense criticism for his years of incendiary language leading up to the murder of Dr. George Tiller. He has yet to acknowledge any remorse or responsibility for the ugly climate that the wingnut media has promoted over the years on the abortion issue. But watch this clip, via Think Progress, as former National Organization for Women president Patricia Ireland defends Dr. Tiller, and ends up making O'Liely look like the dangerous buffoon that he is. She won't be interrupted by him, and she gives him a nice slap at the end when he refers to the murdered doctor as "Dr. Killer."

Well done.

Shooter Had Broad Wingnut Beliefs

As we learn more about Dr. Tiller's alleged killer, Scott Roeder, it's clear that his radical beliefs covered more than just the issue of reproductive rights. According to USA Today, via TPM, Roeder was a classic wingnut of the Tim McVeigh variety, who called himself a "citizen of the Republic of Kansas," who refused to pay Federal taxes, and who is reported to be a member of Freemen, a right-wing militia group. Roeder's beliefs are not far from those of right wing Rethuglicans hinting about secession and pandering to the types of groups that the Department of Homeland Security warned about in their report in early April.

Also getting greater attention is the flagrant demonizing of Tiller over several years in the wingnut media -- prominently the Fuxed News Channel's Bill O'Liely, who continually referred to "Tiller the Baby Killer" and likened his work to that of Nazi death camps. As the investigation continues, we'll see whether Roeder was ultimately provoked to violence by any of these slimy voices.