Extremism comes in more than 2 flavors

via Sullivan, James Joyner begs:

Can we please stop with the political name-calling whenever one of these nuts goes off?
Look, we’re a big country.  There are over 300 million of us.  Almost everyone holds a position or two that’s way off the charts and a whole lot of people believe in 9/11 Trutherism, black helicopters, and all the rest.  Less than a handful of those people are out trying to kill people.    However stupid or loathesome a political view may be, the fact that some nut also holds it adds nothing to the counter-argument.

Since Andrew didn't comment, I'll take it up.  Talk about a misguided vendetta on this guy's part.  And talk about some misguided commentary coming from the MSM and blogosphere.  Few things in my mind are worse than staunch ideologues from either side who demand that "government stay out of their Medicare" or preach that George Bush lied for oil, but Truthers and/or JFK conspiracy theorists give them a run for the money. 

John Avlon does well to break it down:

Any reflexive media attempts to tie the shooter to the Tea Party movement should be regarded as totally unfounded. He appears to have been more focused on his hatred of former Vice President Dick Cheney than President Barack Obama. Bedell seems to be less connected to right-wing politics than what I call “fright wing” politics—the murky ground beyond left and right where conspiracy theories reside. 

 ...and then goes on to point our a scary trend:

Earlier this week, the invaluable Southern Poverty Law Center released a new report that detailed the dramatic increase in militia and so-called Patriot groups over the first year of the Obama administration. Among its findings was the establishment of 363 new Patriot groups last year alone. “Militias—the paramilitary arm of the Patriot movement—were a major part of the increase, growing from 42 militias in 2008 to 127 in 2009,” the center found.

As more information comes in, it appears that Bedell is the latest self-styled suicidal warrior for the extreme anti-government movement that has exploded since President Obama’s inauguration. It is a reminder of the real costs that come with the paranoid conspiracy theories that are peddled on the edges of the Internet and sometimes encouraged by hyper-partisan media outlets.

Hate is a cheap and easy recruiting tool—but hate ultimately leads to violence.

This can't possibly end well.