Motivating their supporters towards violent rhetoric has been a mainstay of the GOP for several years now. During the presidential campaign, Sarah Palin's rallies were a hotbed of violent rhetoric from supporters who declared Barack Obama a terrorist (as did Palin, albeit subtly), to one Palin rally attendee who suggested that Obama be killed. And just last week Palin joked about the increased concerns about violence, and violent rhetoric, from her supporters, Teabaggers and other.
The Washington Post has much more about the recent climate of violence created by the Republicans:
Anger over the health-care overhaul has led to a nearly threefold increase in recent months in the number of serious threats against members of Congress, federal law enforcement officials said.
Nearly all of the recent threats appear to come from opponents of the health-care overhaul, said Gainer, who also served four years as chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. And, he said, there have been "significantly more" threats against House members than against senators.
This week, Rep. Stephen I. Cohen (D-Tenn.) received hostile e-mails to his Cohen for Congress campaign Web site, an incident that was reported to the Capitol Police and the FBI office in Memphis. One e-mail said, "If our tea parties had hoods, we would burn your [expletive] on a cross on the White House front lawn," according to Cohen's chief of staff.
