No, they don't.
In the wake of the tragedy in Arizona, a long overdue discussion of political rhetoric has emerged. Those on the Left have been trying to call attention to this issue for a very long time. It isn't surprising that this event would propel the discussion into the mainstream.
The response from those on the Right would be shocking if it wasn't so typical. They don't retreat, they reload. And so comes the inevitable flood of quote mining and false equivalences. They are desperate and floundering. They are throwing everything they've got at the incoming tide. No legislative issue makes them scream so loud. But accuse them of something they actually do and they storm the castle. Make no mistake, they recognize their weakness here and are fighting it so furiously it's embarrassing.
I've seen many links to various quotes of left-leaning politicians with language that uses the metaphors of war. They use the words "target" and "bullseye." They say that certain districts should be "fought for." They say lots of things. Gee, that's terrible.
But is this the stuff of equivalence? This is where the Right wants to have this argument. Digging about in the rhetorical weeds plucking out this word or that, this phrase, that metaphor, and look at that random blogger who said something truly nasty. They want to muddy the water with as many technical fouls as they can dredge up so they can make language the guilty party. That way they don't have to face the most important aspect of the issue. It is not language. It is intent.
It would be foolish for me to contend that the Left is void of hate and violence. We have our extremists and we keep them on the fringe where they belong. But none of our elected officials or bloggers (for the most part), even when using metaphors, comes close to the rhetorical intent of today's Republican Party and its supporters in the media and astroturf organizations. It isn't even close.
The Right can squirm and argue the meanings of words and symbols all they want, but they can't erase the deliberate and ongoing strategy that the entire party has embraced for thirty years: They have chosen to achieve electoral victory by dehumanizing their Democratic opponents.
We are no longer well-meaning public servants who just happen to differ on some policy issues. We are Socialist usurpers who have stolen elections, money, and the nation from the True Patriots. We are sub-human because we are Hispanic. We are murderers in league with the Devil because we support a woman's right to choose. We are murderers of Republican grandmothers because we want people to have health care. We are traitors and aliens because we won an election. We are Chamberlain appeasers because we have faith in diplomacy. We are literally destroying the family structure of America because some of us would like get married some day. We are hateful, horrible, lying bastards because we try to turn a shouting match into a discussion.
And we hear it every day. We hear it from candidates and elected officials, on the floor of the House, on the radio 24 hours a day, on the television 24 hours a day, op-eds, allegedly respectable Conservative magazines and websites, leaders of religious communities and on and on. We don't have to dredge the internet and pluck obscure bloggers from the ether. They do that for us then run them for office or give them TV shows.
The intent is clear. The language is a fall guy. The anger and fear they sought to instill is real. They got what they wanted. Now what?