Attacking Republicans as Economic Terrorists is 'Civil Discourse'

Seems to me that progressives get up in arms when conservatives go over the top with attacks on opponents. But when progressives spout genuinely over the top nonsense it's "free speech" and "civility." That's the takeaway from the Froma Harrop fiasco, whether or not she was in on the comedy or not. James Taranto explains:

Remember Froma Harrop, the civility scold and Baroness Catherine Ashton look-alike who called Tea Party congressmen "terrorists" and couldn't understand why anyone found this hypocritical? She provided us with lots of material last summer and now Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" has recycled it into comedy gold, somehow persuading her to sit for an interview in which she looks utterly ridiculous. You have to watch it to believe it.

A colleague who did watch it posed an interesting question: Was she playing the straight man, or is she really that oblivious? There's no way to know for sure, but based on our back-and-forth with her last year, the hypocrisy and cluelessness ring entirely true.

More at the link.

And check AoSHQ, "Froma Harrop on the Tea Party."

Plus, a roundup of reactions at Da Tech Guy's, "Too frightful to use, except against conservatives."

No one is that stupid, so the only conclusion is that she was in on the act. Perhaps. The problem is that while Harrop has fun lampooning her own hypocrisy, she has no intention of abandoning it. She posts the link to her essay from August, and writes, with a completely straight face, "For those interested in my argument, here it is..."

Either way, the episode is emblematic of the postmodern reality the drives progressive discourse and demonization. It's something I've written about quite a bit, but it's amazing to witness over and over again.