Begala's Not So Civil Discourse

By TOM BEVAN at Real Clear Politics
Anybody remember the penultimate paragraph from a column Paul Begala wrote on November 13, 2000? It has stuck with me as one of the truly despicable pieces of discourse of the last few years - and believe me, there have been quite a few. Here's a refresher:

Yes, Barnicle is right when he notes that tens of millions of good people in Middle America voted Republican. But if you look closely at that map you see a more complex picture. You see the state where James Byrd was lynch-dragged behind a pickup truck until his body came apart -- it's red. You see the state where Matthew Shepard was crucified on a split-rail fence for the crime of being gay -- it's red. You see the state where right-wing extremists blew up a federal office building and murdered scores of federal employees -- it's red. The state where an Army private who was thought to be gay was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, and the state where neo-Nazi skinheads murdered two African-Americans because of their skin color, and the state where Bob Jones University spews its anti-Catholic bigotry: they're all red too.
You really can't paint with a much broader brush than labeling half the country racist, anti-gay bigots and neo-nazis. What struck me about Begala's comments at the time was that he wasn't some no-name nutroot blogger crying out for attention (they didn't exist yet), he was a top strategist in the Democratic party. He remains that today - even though his penchant for most uncivil type of discourse seems as great as ever. Here is Begala concluding his first post at the new Washington Monthly Election '06 blog:

The Capitol needs a change. Hell, it needs to be fumigated. And as the stench and filth of GOP sleaze slowly oozes away, let us never forget that these slimeballs, these dirtbags, these moral midgets think they're better than you and me.
Such highmindedness. As I said, this stuff isn't coming from a member of the kooky lunatic fringe but from a top Dem political strategist and one of the people who has their hand on the rudder of the Democratic party.