Destined for Failure

As I note in my Townhall column, this time, left-wing attempts to blame conservatism or the Tea Party for the heinous crimes of Jared Lee Lougher are going to fail. Too much has changed since President Clinton used this gambit against talk radio in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, in large part as a way to blunt the momentum of the 1994 Republican Revolution and reassert his own relevance.

President Obama is entitled to some credit -- at least thus far -- for declining to play the same game. It does bear mention, however, that he was obviously aware that partisan surrogates would do it for him. He could certainly do himself some good by calling for a halt to efforts to blame the tragedy on one's political opponents -- an approach that only serves to divide our country in the wake of a tragedy.