President Obama’s speech following the tragedy in Pima, Arizona was a call to action for everyone to stand down from invective, derisive speech. As I listened to President Obama admonish those who would be derisive rather than seek a more civilized common ground, my mind wandered…

I quickly realized that President Obama had pulled an Eddie Haskel; after creating much fuss and havoc he suddenly stands back, alter-boy style, completely aghast at the discourse now frothing about him.

The truth is President Obama, despite his pledge to rise above political division (“There are no red states or blue states; just the United States”), has done the opposite. Despite campaign pledges to be a post-partisan leader, President Obama has led with all the tricks and techniques of a Chicago community activist.

Was it not Obama who instructed his flock, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”? And in referring to the midterm elections, did he not implore his minority constituents, on the radio, to vote so as to “punish our enemies.”? Keep in mind that this is the same man who laughed uproariously at a White House Press event when comedian Wanda Sykes spoke of how she did not like Rush Limbaugh, or his hope that Obama failed, and said, “I hope his kidneys fail. How bout that?”

To round out my point on abrasive comments coming from President Obama, here are just a few more:

“I want you to argue with them and get in their faces!” Barack Obama, September 2008

“Here’s the problem: It’s almost like they’ve got – they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.” Barrack Obama on American Banks, March, 2009

“I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!” Barrack Obama on ACORN Mobs. March, 2010

“We talk to these folks…so I know whose ass to kick.” Barack Obama on the private sector, June 2010

“A Republican majority in Congress would mean ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on Capitol Hill for the next two years; threatening policies Democrats have enacted to stabilize the economy.” Barack Obama, October 6, 2010

“We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.” Barack Obama to Latinos, October 2010

And who can forget President Obama’s characterization of Midwest “folk” who cling to “guns and religion”.

I mention these quotes because they were spoken from the same man who spoke to the entire country following the Pima,  Arizona massacre, imploring citizens to refrain from polarizing rhetoric.  I ask, does this ring true to you?

I offer an alternative sequence of events. Even as Paul Krugman was accusing the radio right of being responsible for a madman’s killing spree, without a single fact to support his thesis, though written within hours of the tragedy, one wonders who really needs the lecture on civility.

As a former liberal, there were many “minor details” left out of my training. For example, the man that killed John F. Kennedy was a Marxist, someone who was so enchanted by both the Soviet Union and Cuba that he tried defecting to both. And for the record, President William McKinley was murdered by the left-wing anarchist Leon Czolgosz.

The campus unrest of the 1960’s and 1970’s was understandable, given an unpopular war. But what should resonate to anyone who studies recent history is that all of the madness  was caused by left-wing zealots; not a conservative among them.

You see, the big difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals can commit monstrous acts, such as Bill Ayer’s bombing of the Pentagon, so long as they believe they are just in their inhumane actions. Conservatives, on the other hand, work within the system, rather than throw Molotov cocktails and hang Presidents in effigy.

Therein lay the difference between the recent and modern Left and Right of this country. The left feels no shame in acts of violence so long as it leads to the ends they favor. Conservatives work within the system, and by doing so, often appear weak as they dodge both literal and figurative bombs.

Yes, we are a divided country. Lines have clearly been drawn. On one side is the left who admonish us to be compassionate, to provide for the weakest among us. Saintly, no? And on the right you have folks who proudly quote a true Democrat, assassinated by a Marxist, who once proclaimed, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

How times have changed.