In the Washington Post, commentator Charles Lane sums up the amazing outpouring of populist solidarity in Wisconsin, by comparing it unfavorably to the violent, hate-filled, second-amendment-remedying teabaggery of the far right. Really.

It has been just over five weeks since a deranged gunman in a Tucson suburb left six people dead and 13 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). In the wake of that horrific tragedy, Americans reflected on — and argued about — the possible connection between the violence and today's often nasty, polarized political discourse.

[...] Yet today in Wisconsin, anger and vilification are once again the order of the day — and the incivility emanates from the progressive end of the spectrum, including, no doubt, many of the same people who blamed right-wing vitriol for creating a climate of violence in Arizona.

You're fucking kidding me Charles, right? You're not really equating the peaceful if passionate protesters in Wisconsin with the angry, racist, gun-toting crazies who literally painted a target on Giffords' district while holding campaign fundraisers at a shooting range, are you? Because raising the specter of the Giffords shooting in the service of slapping down workers protesting in defense of their right to organize, well, that would be kinda crazy. Not to mention maddening.

Had the pro-union protesters called for Gov. Scott Walker to be hanged, like a speaker at a Tea Party gathering in Asotin, WA threatened Sen. Patty Murray, well, that might qualify as "creating a climate of violence." Had the pro-union protesters tackled one of their Tea Party opponents, thrown her to the curb, and stomped on her head, like Rand Paul supporters did to a MoveOn activist in Kentucky, I suppose that might qualify as "creating a climate of violence." Had the protesters in Wisconsin been screaming that Lane's ABSOFUCKINGRIDICULOUS-FALSE-EQUIVALENCY-BULLSHIT made them want to shoot somebody in the head, you know, like I just irresponsibly did in the headline, well, I guess even that might qualify as "creating a climate of violence."

But they didn't. No, the protests have been remarkably civil and peaceful given their extraordinary size, even uplifting. So much so that the out-numbered Madison Police have applauded the crowds for their exemplary behavior:

“There has been good camaraderie between the police officers and the demonstrators,” said Joel DeSpain, MPD spokesperson. “The crowds have been well-behaved, and we hope that this continues on any further protest days.”

Lane and Wall Street Journal Douchbag-in-Residence John Fund can harp all they want about progressive efforts to "assault" and "intimidate" Wisconsin lawmakers, but the only remotely violent rhetoric either can point to are repeated chants to "kill the bill," and only an idiot or an asshole could attempt to interpret that as a literal call to arms.

Indeed, it is people like you, Charles, who are fanning the flames, willfully feeding into the paranoid delusions of the Tea Party right that it is those of us on the left who present the real and present danger. 70,000-plus citizens converge in solidarity on their state Capitol, threatening electoral remedies, not Second Amendment ones, and you have the balls to just dismiss them as a bunch of unruly, uncivil hypocrites?

Well, fuck you! Fuck you, you fuckity-fuck of a fucking fucker!

There, now you have something truly uncivil to point to the next time you want to slander progressives. And don't forget to mention the headline.