Tea Partiers Are Terrorists?

Today's big left-right debate falls under the Tea-Partiers-are-terrorists meme, and two of the more buzzed-about columns hit the main points:

• Joe Nocera, New York Times: He blames the debt ceiling mess on the "jihad" waged by Tea Partiers willing to ruin the country. And they're still not happy with the deal despite all the cuts, he complains. "For now, the Tea Party Republicans can put aside their suicide vests. But rest assured: They’ll have them on again soon enough. After all, they’ve gotten so much encouragement."

• Jonah Goldberg, National Review: Nocera's column is just one example of this hypocrisy, he writes. Even the vice president didn't object to listening to it. You'd think Gabby Giffords' presence would have reminded liberals of all the venom they spewed against the right for supposedly inciting violence. "And yet you know the next time there’s the slightest, remotely exploitable tragedy or hint of violence, the same reporters, editors, producers, and politicians are going to insist that blood was spilled because of the right wing’s rhetoric. Well, go to Hell. All of you."

(More debt ceiling stories.)