Have you ever heard of someone named William Yeomans? Neither had I, until an op/ed he penned for Politico hit the web earlier today. Yeomans' thesis is subtle, nuanced, and perfectly aligned with the "new tone" of civility the Left demands of conservatives:
It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.” But they have now become full-blown terrorists. They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm on innocent victims to achieve their political goals. A strong America has always stood firm in the face of terrorism. That tradition is in jeopardy, as Congress and President Barack Obama careen toward an uncertain outcome in the tea party- manufactured debt crisis.
As markets fall in anticipation that there may not be a timely resolution; as credit agencies issue dire warnings that the U.S. political system has become so dysfunctional that a credit downgrade may be inevitable, and as America looks weakened in the eyes of the world, the tea party’s hostage-taking has evolved into the intentional infliction of harm on innocent Americans to achieve a political objective – terrorism. Terrorism is a tough term, but, unfortunately, it describes tea party tactics precisely...Even in the absence of default, credit agencies would almost surely downgrade our credit worthiness, producing increases in interest rates that would slow the economy, increase unemployment and force families into foreclosure and bankruptcy. Rather than reject the unthinkable, the tea party harnessed this potential harm as its weapon of mass destruction...The challenge for America is to stand firm in the face of terrorism, no matter the source.
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If you're shocked by this Left-winger's invocation of terrorist imagery to libel fellow Americans with whom he takes issue, you shouldn't be. This line of anti-conservative attack is all the rage -- and I do mean rage -- these days. President Obama likened AIG and big banks to "suicide bombers" in 2009. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) compared talks with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists during December's tax debate. Alan Grayson (D-FL) suggested his 2010 opponent was cut from the same cloth as the Taliban, and compared the GOP to "members of Al Qaeda." Various lefty media figures have carried on this delightful tradition -- and former Obama appointee, confirmed Communist, and 9/11 truther Van Jones parroted a similar line just today. So this brand of hyperbolic swill isn't a new phenomenon. I just hope Politico is proud of itself for amplifying it. Incidentally, who is William Yeomans, anyway?
William Yeomans, an American University law professor, served as Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a Justice Department official.
UPDATE - While we're on the subject of left-wing hysteria (it's been a hot topic this week), Democratic Texas Congresswoman and awful human being Sheila Jackson Lee took to the House floor and weighed in on the Boehner plan moments ago:
"This is the worst bill that any American could imagine in the history of this nation!"
UPDATE II - My colleague Katie Pavlich reminds me that there are certain terrorists the Left doesn't seem to mind in the least.
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