QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  From Byron York of the Washington Examiner, on the attempt to brand all tea partiers as violent racists:

Hate groups do exist across the political spectrum, and have for a long time. But they have nothing to do with the expressions of frustration over deficits, taxes and Obamacare that we have heard at so many Tea Party gatherings. That frustration, felt by Republicans, independents and even some Democrats, is an entirely mainstream reaction to the sharply activist course the president and congressional leadership have taken. While the level of frustration is indeed a threat, it is a political threat. Ask Democrats running in this November's elections.

It's important to distinguish between a political threat and a physical one.

COMMENT:   York points out that former President Bill Clinton is the "leading voice" of this ugly narrative, Clinton suggesting that the political tone of the tea partiers reminds him of the days leading up to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. 

York also points out that the Southern Poverty Law Center, which "monitors" extremist activity, is consistently warning that the threat of violence is growing.  SPLC has done some good work, but it raises its funds by scaring people, and the "growing threat" picture is at the heart of the scare.

In fact, it took no mass political movement for Tim McVeigh to bomb the Murrah building in Oklahoma City.  And the threat that's been growing in America is the threat of Islamic extremism.  There are certainly hate groups on the right fringe, but what strikes us in the years since Oklahoma City is their (thank goodness) relative ineffectiveness.  Clearly, the ones who are violence-prone must be watched, but to compare the tea partiers to these elements is disgraceful.

April 20, 2010