6/1: In Cold Blood

The political blogosphere is buzzing about the murder of KS doctor George Tiller, who was "one of only a few doctors in the nation who performed abortions late in pregnancy." Liberal bloggers are hailing Tiller's courage and condemning what they perceive to be "the re-emergence of violent rightwing extremism". In fact, several lefty bloggers are arguing that this crime vindicates the controversial DHS memo about "right-wing extremism" that angered so many conservatives back in April. Mark Kleiman writes: "Remember how Repubicans in Congress were all in a dither about the DHS report on right-wing extremist organizations as potential terrorist threats? The Tiller gunman was affiliated with at least two of those organizations. In addition to his connection with Operation Rescue, he was a tax protester, a 'sovereign citizen,' and a member of the Freemen."

Meanwhile, conservative bloggers are strongly condemning the murder, although some are annoyed by the left's reaction to the crime. Michelle Malkin complains: "Those who have jumped to score political points before Tiller is even buried are no better than the Phelps family thugs of the 'Westboro Baptist Church' who respect no bounds of civility. [...] Prepare for whitewashed hagiographies of Tiller's career as an abortionist. Prepare for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's defenders to gloat about vindication. Prepare for collective demonization of pro-lifers and Christians -- and more gratuitous attempts to tar talk radio, Fox News, and the Tea Party movement as responsible for the heinous crime."

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Conservative bloggers (Hanson, Streiff, Johnson, Mirengoff) continue to criticize SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor's 2001 speech in which she suggested "that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Several right bloggers (Allahpundit, Hinderaker) were pleased to note that the Barack Obama admin. appears to be walking back the "wise Latina woman" comment, while lefty bloggers (Morrill, Scarecrow, digby) accused the Obama admin. of "buy[ing] into a rightwing, false talking point." Meanwhile, lefty bloggers (Serwer, Swopa, Atrios) continue to hammer National Journal columnist Stuart Taylor for his criticism of Sotomayor.
• Conservative bloggers (Erickson, Emanuel, Hawkins) are criticizing NRSC Chair John Cornyn's defense of his endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist over ex-state House Speaker Marco Rubio in the FL GOP Senate primary. Righty bloggers continue to raise money for Rubio.
• Liberal bloggers (Morrill, Benen, DougJ, publius) are buzzing about the news that Gen. David Petraeus echoed Pres. Obama's rhetoric on Guantanamo Bay and torture during an interview with Fox News. In other national security news, liberal bloggers (McCarter, hilzoy) are criticizing the Obama admin. for opposing "the release of Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay into the United States," while conservative bloggers are praising the Obama admin.'s stance.
• Conservative bloggers (Bandes, Morrissey, Jacobson, Riehl) are criticizing the Obamas for flying to NYC on Saturday night in order to go to dinner and attend a Broadway show.

TILLER: Who's Afraid Of Right-Wing Extremism?

Many liberal bloggers see Tiller's assassination as evidence that right-wing extremism is becoming a real problem:

• Balloon Juice's DougJ: "At what point are we allowed to start worrying about right-wing domestic terrorism?"
• Open Left's Paul Rosenberg: "The murder of Dr. George Tiller is evidence of the re-emergence of violent rightwing extremism, which many observers expected in the wake of [George W.] Bush & [Dick] Cheney's exit from the White House."
• TPM's Josh Marshall: "Does [the] Tiller murder presage a surge in right-wing domestic terrorism?"
• digby: "It seems as if there's somebody shooting up churches and killing cops on the basis of some wingnut obsession every few months now. I wonder why? How many years has it been since there was a left wing terrorist killing in the US?"
• Al Giordano: "The original assassination attempt on Dr. Tiller came eight months into the [Bill] Clinton presidency. The parallel with today's offense ought to be obvious: a pro-choice president takes office and the violent extremists go all crazy, whipped up by some of the same right wing radio talkers today as sixteen years ago."
• Oliver Willis: "Dr. Tiller, as some of you may know, was a regular target of Bill O'Reilly. You've got to wonder: what's next? The wingnut faction is now the driving force on the right of America's political spectrum. They were insane before, but the election of President Obama has seemingly given them the sanction to run wild. Every day Glenn Beck explains to his viewers that Barack Obama is out to get them. Every day Rush Limbaugh feeds the paranoia of his followers, most recently equating Judge Sotomayor to a klansman, lying and saying that the lives of whites are under threat from her. Which disciple of conservative politics will be next to erupt in violence? And who will be the media personality that pulled his or her mental trigger?"
• Kleiman: "Remember how Repubicans in Congress were all in a dither about the DHS report on right-wing extremist organizations as potential terrorist threats? The Tiller gunman was affiliated with at least two of those organizations. In addition to his connection with Operation Rescue, he was a tax protester, a 'sovereign citizen,' and a member of the Freemen."

The Reality-Based Community's Quincy Adams: "It appears that today a U.S.-based Christian terrorist has done what no Al Qaeda related groups have done since 9/11 -- killed an American on US soil. I hope AG [Eric] Holder and the Judiciary committees will address with the FBI whether enough effort is being devoted to infiltrating and taking down fundamentalist networks and groups who have threatened and killed Americans."

TILLER II: The View From The Right

Most conservative bloggers are condemning Tiller's murder:

• Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "The murder of George Tiller is the eighth time an anti-abortion extremist has killed since 1973, and each time the pro-life movement grieves for the victim and the family of the victim, and for the cause of the unborn which is deeply damaged by violence of any sort, but especially of the worst sort. Christians especially must forcefully condemn that which Christ would certainly denounce."
• Hot Air's Ed Morrissey: "The murder of George Tiller at his church is a heinous crime, without any sense or justice. Regardless of how one feels about George Tiller's profession, his murderer is nothing more than a domestic terrorist -- someone attempting to impose by force a policy that one cannot get in place through democratic means. Tiller's killer is no better than William Ayers, Kathleen Soliah, and Eric Rudolph, people who attempted to use violence for their extremist ends. Those who value life know that murder is the antithesis of the pro-life movement."
• Princeton Univ. prof. Robert P. George: "Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence."
• Robert Stacy McCain: "Never...does the wise and faithful Christian resort to the kind of lawlessness practiced with such cruelty today in Kansas."

Several righty bloggers are analyzing the political dimensions of the crime:

• Right Wing News' John Hawkins: "[T]he only people who seem genuinely thrilled that Tiller is dead are the liberal bloggers who've been happily using his death to attack Christians, conservatives, and the pro-life movement. That being said, there are some people on the Right who've condemned Tiller's murder, sometimes bloodlessly, and then have gone on to attack abortionists and note the death toll created by abortion. That is a mistake for a simple reason: there's a time and a place for everything. After an event like this, what you don't want to do is unintentionally give people a mixed message. You don't want anyone wondering if the pro-life movement is tacitly approving of these sort of tactics: because we don't."
• Malkin: "Tiller's family is grieving. Those who have jumped to score political points before Tiller is even buried are no better than the Phelps family thugs of the 'Westboro Baptist Church' who respect no bounds of civility. Unfortunately, it's too much to ask the cable news networks and hyper-partisan snipers on the Internet to have the decency to restrain themselves. Prepare for a wall-to-wall onslaught of gleeful finger-pointing on the Left and heated responses on the Right. Prepare for whitewashed hagiographies of Tiller's career as an abortionist. Prepare for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's defenders to gloat about vindication. Prepare for collective demonization of pro-lifers and Christians -- and more gratuitous attempts to tar talk radio, Fox News, and the Tea Party movement as responsible for the heinous crime."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Will Bush-Bashing Work In 2010?

AmSpec Blog's Philip Klein:

"Chris Cillizza notes that in the 2010 Senate races, Democrats are once again trying to use the strategy of tying Republican candidates to former President Bush. Much of the article focuses on whether the practice will get too old and whether Bush's popularity will improve like other former presidents, but at the end of the day, the effectiveness of such an approach will depend on how Americans view President Obama. If Obama is still broadly popular, the economy has improved, and things are relatively stable on the foreign policy/national security front, then I think Democrats will be able to run campaigns saying, 'If you like the way the country is heading now, then don't vote for Republican X, because he wants to return to the old, failed Bush policies.' However, if Obama's popularity is starting to wane, the economy is in turmoil, and/or there's a major international crisis or national security incident, any Democrat who starts in with the Bush bashing will just look desperate, like they're trying to distract attention from the current administration's problems."

LEST WE FORGET: Changing Channel On Local Bar's TV More Of A Process Than Area Man Anticipated

From The Onion:

"CHEYENNE, WY -- Although no one at the Bleachers Bar and Grill seemed to be paying attention to the television set, the act of getting bartender Brian Smith to press a button on a remote control and change its channel was somehow far more difficult than patron Arthur Klein had anticipated. 'Boy, I don't know, that's going to be tough,' Smith said following the simple, straightforward request. 'That one's on the satellite and I don't really know how to use it. Plus some of the regulars might drop by a little later and they'll probably want to watch the ball game.' When pressed again to change the channel, Smith reportedly told Klein that the bar didn't carry CBS."