The top headline on Memeorandum right now is in regards to a septuagenarian asking a Congressman jokingly, “Who’s going to shoot Obama?”

There is much to do about this:

Broun’s press secretary, Jessica Morris, confirmed that the question was indeed, who is going to shoot Obama?

“Obviously, the question was inappropriate, so Congressman Broun moved on,” she said.
Here was Broun’s response:

The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president. We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

He then segued into Republicans’ budget proposal.

While the Secret Service has looked into the matter and declared it simply a bad joke, the left isn’t so quick to let something like this go away without a good, old fashioned manufactured outrage. FireDogLake says the reason Congressman Broun responded the way he did wasn’t because he was surprised by the question, but because he thinks Obama equals Hitler and therefore wants him dead.

Think Progress seems to think that Rep. Broun is actually responsible for the question because of his rhetoric:

“Yet until Broun stops telling his constituents that all of his political opponents are plotting to kill Americans with diabolical fascist plots, he should expect more and more of them to think violence is justified.”

This is the same Think Progress that declared “Death of a President,” a movie about the assassination of then President George W. Bush, ” in no way incitement to kill the president or advocacy of the same.”

So, it’s okay to dismiss a film about killing the president, but let’s not dismiss a bad joke asked by an elderly man. Clearly the Congressman wants Obama dead.

The Daily Kos was also righteously indignant, with one Kossack writing:

Is there video? I don’t know. But let me just guess that the Congressman delivered the first line of his reply – the sickening acknowledgment that the questioner supposedly has a point – with a smile. Maybe even with a bit of twinkle in his eye. Whether Broun smiled or not, what he said doesn’t rank anywhere near high enough to be labeled disgraceful. It was a cowardly display. As if to say: I know how you feel, sir, but hopefully, nobody will have to shoot him if we beat him at the polls.

How did the same site respond to “Death of a President?”

They said if Bush was shot, they wouldn’t be mourning, except for the fact that Cheney was now in charge. I assume they mean openly, since the regularly said he was the real power in the white House.

How did Huffington Post commenters respond to the attempted assassination of then Vice President Cheney?

Thusly:

Here are comments from Democrats and liberals. Keep in mind, as we always say, these are the people who claim to have the biggest hearts. These are the people who claim to have the tolerance. These are the people that when anybody on the right says anything that offends them, anything at all, they come back and make charges of racism and sexism and bigotry and homophobia — and these are the people calling for an end to all the “mean-spiritedness” and the “politics of personal destruction.” These are the people who are telling us that they are a cut above; that they care; that they have more love and compassion for humanity than do conservatives. So with that in mind, listen to some of these comments. —“Darth sure does manage to spread a little cheer everywhere he goes.”

“So Cheney is personally responsible for the deaths of 14 innocent people…and then he waddles off to lunch!! What a piece of [excrement].”
The next three are pretty good: “They missed. Too bad.”
We have people commenting at the Huffington Post wishing that Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, whoever, had succeeded in assassinating Dick Cheney!

Another one: “Too bad they missed.”

The next comment: “You can’t kill pure evil. Like an exorcism you have to drive a stake through it.” The next comment: “If at first you don’t succeed…” Next comment: “Better luck next time, Taliban. What a different world we would be living in today if they had succeeded. Dr. Evil escapes again. Damn.” “Sounds like a BS attempt. The VP’s inside some sort of compound and they blow up a bomb at the front door? C—-t. At least lob a few grenades into the compound,” presumably to kill Cheney. “They missed? Damn it. I hope they try again before he leaves.”

Finally, let’s not forget about these signs, captured by Zombie:

We can dismiss the left’s outrage over Rep. Broun’s reaction to an old man’s bad judgement because they are clearly using the opportunity as a vehicle to attack the congressman. No one thinks the man is a threat, nor does any rational person think the Congressman’s rhetoric motivated the question.

Considering the left’s various methods of supporting the assassination of Bush, this is really quite tame.