A Mouth is a Terrible Thing to Shoot Off

What in God's name got into Pat Robertson? It's one thing to have a political agenda (one I personally find loathesome, of course, but Robertson's as entitled to wrongheaded insanity no less than the people who consider Deuce Bigelow to be high art, or liver to be edible...). Robertson is free to say any number of vile things about women, about gays, about the invalidity of the Supreme Court and any law or lawmaker he disagrees with. He can insist that the Constitution applies only to Christians (and the odd Jew, since Jews believe in "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"), believe that George Bush is God's annointed, and that all women with opinions are lesbians, and all lesbians are satanic witches...

But what did Venezuela's president do to Robertson that he wants him dead? Seems a trifle harsh. And if, as he suggests, the U.S. has Hugo Chávez assassinated, will Robertson then have other candidates for political engineering? Shoot 'em all and let Pat Robertson sort 'em out.

Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld has said, rather mildly, that Public Citizens can say what they like, but that the U.S. doesn't assassinate people. The State Department notes that Robertson's remarks were "inappropriate."

Me, I stand foresquare against assassination of anyone, anyone at all. But if I were making a list of people who pose a danger to the body politic, Robertson would be on it.