Who’s Afraid of Glenn Beck?

I was busy this weekend writing the third draft of a piece for the next issue of the magazine, so thankfully I had a pretty good excuse for not joining the blogging/twittering/cable frenzy over the meaning of the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords. For the record, though, I think the attacks on Sarah Palin have been completely ridiculous — and I can’t tell you how much it pisses me off that I feel forced to say that. But come on, folks. “Targeting” political candidates for defeat is so common a metaphor that we could barely even hold elections anymore if we didn’t use it. Give it a rest.

That aside, though, I’d say Andrew Sullivan had the sharpest observation of the day. Have we really gotten to the point where a “senior Republican senator” has to ask for anonymity in order to say this?

“There is a need for some reflection here — what is too far now?” said the senator. “What was too far when Oklahoma City happened is accepted now. There’s been a desensitizing. These town halls and cable TV and talk radio, everybody’s trying to outdo each other.”

Good God. Is he really that afraid of the wrath of Glenn Beck?¹

¹And having listened to Beck now and again, I’d say that if you’re really looking for someone to censure on the rhetoric front, he’s a way better target than Sarah Palin. A campaign poster like Palin’s that uses a bunch of bullseyes to represent “targeted” candidates is pretty unlikely to send some mentally unbalanced nutcase over the edge, but frankly, I’m surprised Beck hasn’t already inspired a couple of Jonestown-like mass homicide waves.