It's one thing to compare the nutjobs in both parties. It's quite another to do so in defense of right-wing values and "getting things done". Case in point a horrifying post on WizBang:
It starts off outlining the "goals" of the right and left radicals.
To the left, political extremism is a way to express outrage. They are furious, and they want the whole world to know just how outraged they are. They are loud, they are proud, and they are shouting it to the rooftops.
To the right, it's about getting things done. Right-wing nutjobs aren't overly interested in individual glory and fame; they just see what they percieve as a great injustice, and will do whatever it takes to right it.
Now, this is where Jay Tea, the ultra-conservative poster, goes over the line:
The examples I cited in that earlier comment demonstrate this: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn vs. Timothy McVeigh. Ayers and Dohrn formed the Weather Underground with a bunch of friends and lovers and whatnot, published their manifestos and screeds, and set up their bombs around the country to express their outrage.
McVeigh, on the other hand, recruited one buddy and set off one big bomb.
In the end, McVeigh and Terry Nichols achieved far more than all the Weather Underground ever did with their bombs; McVeigh took out a whole federal building and almost 200 people, while the biggest score the Weather Underground ever pulled off was an "own goal" where they blew themselves up.
It's also illustrative in how the "mainstream" left and right treat their nutjobs. McVeigh is universally seen as a monster, and nearly everyone is glad he was caught and executed. On the other hand, Ayers and Dohrn were allowed to put their past behind them (without even a public repenting), and were allowed to assume positions of authority and responsibility and trust.
First off, there is no comparison. McVeigh was an anti-social prick who could have cared less that his "success story" killed 168 people, including all the children in a daycare.
Say what you will about The Weather Underground, I don't think there's anyone of any consequence applauding their bombings these days.
Anyway, that's beside the point. These people are so proud of their aggressive accomplishments these days, they're willing to look up to McVeigh as an example of doing it right. Any argument is fair game as long as the right looks right.
It's not even an issue of condemning these people after the fact. Using McVeigh as a good example of a successful executor in any kind of slam piece of the left is about a nuts as it gets. And disgraceful.
So, whose nuts are more of a problem? Tough call.
No, Jay. It's not a tough call. An asshole is an asshole. There is no defense of Timothy McVeigh's actions and you should not be proud of them.