Unhinged indeed

Now if there is actually anyone out there who read Michelle Malkin's Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild -- I know there are about six of you out there somewhere -- you'll recall that one of Malkin's chief tricks is to wade through her e-mail and anonymous comments from blog threads and fill page upon page of her book with the obscene bits.

One whole chapter (Chapter 6, "You Are One Sick Gook") is essentially dedicated to this enterprise, intended to demonstrate that in reality, the left is filled with racist hatemongers.

Recall, also, that Malkin insists in Unhinged that "the truth is that it's conservatives themselves who blow the whistle on their bad boys and go after the real extremism on their side of the aisle."

So what happens, one must wonder, when the right's footsoldiers display their own mouth-frothing tendencies in response to Michelle Malkin's urgings?

Let's find out.

You see, Malkin played a critical role in publicizing Bill Donohue's campaign to get Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan fired from John Edwards' presidential campaign, including an appearance on Fox with Bill O'Reilly to gloat after Marcotte resigned.

The result: A flood of death threats, which played a significant role in McEwan's decision to step down as well.

Amanda has provided us with some excerpts -- a la Malkin -- of some of her hate mail, which is still pouring in:

*It's just too bad your mother didn't abort you. You are nothing more than a filthy mouth slut. I bet a couple of years in Iraq being raped and beaten daily would help you appreciate America a little. Need a plane ticket ?

*YOU RACIST WHORE. FAT UGLY BITCH. SUCK MY LONG COCK ASSHOLE I HOPE YOU KIDS NEVER LIVE AND YOUR PARENTS DIE A TRAGIC DEATH YOU ASSHOLE BITCH!

I HOPE YOUR WOMB IS BARREN AND YOUR CAREER PLUMMETS TO HELL YOU BITCH

*Problem with women like you, you just need a good fucking from a real man! Living in Texas myself, I know you haven't found that real Texan yet. But once your liberal pro feminist ass gets a real good fucking, you might see the light. Until then, enjoy your battery operated toys b/c most real men wouldn't want to give you the fucking you deserve b/c the shit that would come out of you ears.

i like the way you trash talk i don't particularly want to have sex with you but i would like a blow job.

So, given the standard set by Malkin herself, these e-mails clearly constitute evidence that the entire conservative movement is populated with raging mouth-breathers incapable of speaking without issuing threats and obscenities, right?

Ergo, one must assume that she will be quick to vigorously denounce such threats and urge readers not to indulge them, especially considering her own role in helping to inspire them, right?

Well, no. You would be wrong.

Over at her site, it's not exactly crickets chirping, though it's close. Malkin has made one brief allusion to the threats in a post gloating over McEwan's departure, wherein she links to her pal Bryan Preston, who opines:

And to the extent that the two actually received threats, it's deplorable and unacceptable. Around here at Hot Air, we know that feeling all too well.

No discussion of the likelihood that these were Malkin and Hot Air readers sending these love notes. No apology for any role they might have played in this.

And most of all no recognition that, if the e-mails Malkin cites in Unhinged are evidence of something, then these e-mails are evidence of something very similar. That whatever extremism or "unhingedness" might be found on the left also flourishes on the right. There is, indeed, no attempt to explain that such threats do not represent the right.

Of course not. But then, as we know, there's a reason for that: When it comes to right-wing extremism, Malkin herself is a leading exponent. It's hard to "weed out" the extremists when you're one of them.