The U.S. government is probing the death of Bill Sparkman, a census worker in rural Kentucky. He was found hanged in the woods with the word “FED” scrawled on his chest. I doubt Glenn Beck means to goad his viewers into violence when he tells them the federal government is trying to destroy American democracy, but he probably shouldn’t be surprised when people believe him. Nancy Pelosi’s fears of right-wing political violence look kind of, um, right. Or that DHS report on rising right-wing extremism that was roundly decried by conservatives. Amping up the anti-government rhetoric is probably a potent rallying force for conservatives*, but ratcheting the stakes over health care reform to life-or-death-freedom-v.-tyranny levels might well have these kinds of consequences.
* I don’t recall Fox News taking a principled anti-federal stance during the Bush Administration’s expansion of federal power, which is weird. I probably just missed it.
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