They can’t help themselves. It’s in their political (and personal) DNA

by David Safier

Invoking images of violence and death is so ingrained in the violent/militaristic thinking of some Republican leaders, they can't help themselves. They've just got to let it out.

Karl Rove said — joking! joking! — he'd like to be the guy who kills Todd Akin.

“We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts,” Rove said Thursday at a private fundraiser, according to a Businessweek reporter who was not supposed to be there.

Now it's Haley Barbour, talking about Chris Christie's speech at the Republican Convention, conjuring up the image of a white man branding an African American.

“While I would love for [Chris] Christie to put a hot poker to Obama’s butt,” said Barbour of the RNC keynote speaker, “I thought he did what he was supposed to do.”

Barbour issued one of those weak "if I offended anyone" non-apology apolgies.

“I apologize to anyone who feels my comment had connotations that I did not intend,” Barbour said in a statement obtained by Politico. “As a Republican, I would have liked to see Chris Christie put the heat on Obama — but for the audience of independents he did the right thing. In any case, it’s critical that we all keep our comments free of extremes or anything that could be misinterpreted.”

The only thing he left out was saying something like, We don't do that kind of thing in Mississippi anymore. Not that [chuckle] we wouldn't like to some time. Joking! Joking!