After days of egging from the usual right-winger fearmongers–Limbaugh, Beck, and even the so-called intellectuals over at RealClearPolitics, who published Dennis Prager’s call for Civil War–Drudge celebrated that “Dems Fear Violent Backlash.” Meanwhile Sarah Palin, the erstwhile leader of the Republican Party puts “bulls eyes” on Democratic lawmakers. Is it any surprise that Steny Hoyer reported that a number of Democratic lawmakers had received death threats for their votes.MSNBC just played tapes of some of the offensive threats, including the death threats from “pro-life” radicals directed at Congressman Bart Stupak.

In some ways, to this is all reminiscent of the run-up to the Civil War when, in 1856, Southern Senator Preston Brooks, a supporter of slavery and “liberty” (to borrow Dennis Prager’s terminology) attacked abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor, beating him with a cane.  Of course, the right-wing lynch mobs and their supporters remain mum, continuing with their endless blathering that the Democratic Party suffered from its support of Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s. (Oddly, I admire this sort of political courage, doing what is right not politically expedient, but then I’m an idealist.)  Equally sadly, Republicans and their fear-mongering right-wing friends prefer to associate with dark underbelly of American democracy–its beatings and stains (i.e. wanting to make Civil War as a remedy to expanded rights) and its stark inequality–to its more elevating moments. You know, those moments when hope in human potential overcomes fear and politicians did what was best for the nation, not what was easiest. Thankfully Barack Obama stood firm in asking us to hearken to the “better angels of our nature,” joining Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson in doing what was right, not what was easy or politically expedient.

By the way,  Republican Majority Leader, John Boehner denounced and expressed concerns about the anger, but only asked those making such threats to harness their energy in other directions. It would be nice if he condemned such terrorist threats for what they were; if he called upon those inciting fear and hate to stop.  But, that’s asking too much. After all Boehner spoke about a Democratic Congressman who has been receiving threats, including being shown in antagonistic advertisements with his children, in this way, ““Take [Rep.] Steve Driehaus, for example,” he says. “He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati.”

So, if the leaders of the Republican Party, Palin & Boehner, engage in such despicable rhetoric, who among them will reign in the right wing nuts like Dennis Prager who are asking Americans to make Civil War on each other? Physically threatening lawmakers and even your neighbors is not appropriate in argument, and it undermines Civil Society.  Funny way Republicans have of loving America isn’t it?