Carl Cannon, blog, PoliticsDaily.com:

"(Nancy) Pelosi, along with Steny Hoyer ... penned an op-ed article (in USA TODAY) decrying those who disrupt debate at town hall meetings, saying that such behavior is 'un-American.' Three years ago, however, when her party was in the minority, Pelosi told a group of anti-war protesters: 'I'm a fan of disruptors. There's nothing more articulate, more eloquent for a member of Congress than the voice of constituents.' The juxtaposition of these two statements begins to reveal the problem. The trouble is a partisanship so entrenched that it's reflexive, and unreasoning.

The hate-tinged sniping at 'blue America' by 'red America' and vice versa more resembles the turf wars of the L.A.-based street gangs the Crips (blue bandanas) and the Bloods (red bandanas) than any kind of deeply principled philosophical difference of opinion. Anything bad said about my homeys is a blood libel. Anything bad said about the other guy is obvious truth, or free speech or, you know, just satire. Lighten up, dude."

Posted at 12:20 AM/ET, August 19, 2009 in USA TODAY editorial

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/index.html