The “mommy! mommy! He did it too” defense of the Republican Party is in full swing. They are deploying it every chance they get when it comes to the recent rise of threats of violence against Democratic lawmakers.
Think Progress caught up Texas Republican, Rep. Pete Olson and asked him about what’s going on. When it comes to Sarah Palin’s website and the “targeting” of Democrats, Olson did the right thing:
TP: Speaking of gun shots, would you consider Palin telling her supporters they need to “reload,” and posting a picture of crosshairs on Democratic members — is that inappropriate?
OLSON: There’s things, both parties are inappropriate.
TP: Is that inappropriate, yes or no?
OLSON: No I’m not going to answer the question.
TP: So it is appropriate.
OLSON: It is inappropriate.
But Olson couldn’t leave well enough alone. If he would have stopped right there, then he would have come out looking like a real leader in our nation. Instead he had to fall back to his GOP instincts and employ the mommy defense:
While Olson continually claimed that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have incited violence, he could not point to a single example of Democrats doing so.
Good for Think Progress for asking him to give examples. This is something most in the media refuse to do. As matter of fact, the only one I have seen do it so far is David Shuster, and when that happened the person he was interviewing went further into loony land.