Why won't Democrats condemn the Congressman who praised a "right-wing terrorist"?

[Apollo11]

Republican Congressman Wally Herger (California's 2nd district) held a Town Hall meeting on August 18th.

Herger was Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person In The World" on August 24th.

The original video was posted on YouTube on August 25th.

You can see the Congressman smiling and nodding at someone announcing he is "a proud right-wing terrorist".

Right after the idiot sits down, Herger calls him "a great American" while the audience gives a standing ovation.

Today is September 1st. Why has there been no condemnation of Rep. Herger's behavior?

Democratic Party of Califoria

http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/">US Senator Barbara Boxer

http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases">US Senator Dianne Feinstein

[edhopper]

1. They are

a cowardly and easily intimidated lot.

[Apollo11]

2. Just imagine if a Democrat had praised a "left-wing terrorist" ...

The Republicans would make sure that the person concerned had no future in politics.

[Apollo11]

3. Any other theories?

I wish that Democratic leaders would publicly denounce threats of political violence -- implicit or explicit.

[Overseas]

4. They've decided not to engage with the crazed pawns of the professional right wing PR firms?

I also wondered why more journalists and politicians didn't vigorously object to the sneers at election rallies about palling around with terrorists-- why more of them didn't point out that the big Republican supporting Annenberg family had funded programs of the former radical. They didn't ask if Republicans would now refuse all support from the Annenbergs because they palled around with the same guy.

The right wing PR firms have demonstrated their power to inflame the public. They've gotten Medicare recipients to storm town halls against government interference in healthcare. They activate the "genuine grass roots" groups that lay dormant during the rampant war profiteering of the Bush Cheney gang, when the families of our soldiers had to raise money privately to send their sons armor. Those right wing PR firms have stirred up dangerous fear and hatred just to preserve the profits of privatized health insurers.

Those firms have shown themselves to be amoral in their use of propaganda power, so more sober politicians may be trying to figure out just what to do in response.

And there's also the sad fact that most of our media is conglomerated into right wing hands these days. They allow a few token liberal shows on TV to pretend we still have a free press, but they have successfully pushed our national dialogue way over to the right over the past 20 years. So much so that it no longer matters how many of our fellow citizens want to choose a public plan for healthcare, prosecute the torturers and curb our carbon emissions, the news broadcasts continue to pretend that right wing positions should get a dominant airing. "Dominant" here would be giving ideas without substantiation equal footing with facts.

They may also be waiting and watching the Republicans' popularity continue to erode and implode. I understand the sentiment of standing back and letting them hang themselves.

But the right wing PR firms' professional bullying should be roundly condemned. Stirring up violent hatred and fear for profit is even worse than driving a fellow citizen into bankruptcy after they have met with a serious accident. The anger storms can generate consequences that the professional bullies who are "just supporting genuine grass roots groups," would insist they weren't responsible for.

The professional right wing bullies see that they can stimulate generalized anti-government sentiments they can then manipulate to serve whatever corporate clients step forward with funding. Like those "I'm an energy citizen" campaigns they are starting up, with Old Energy funding, to combat making cuts in our carbon emissions.

[Apollo11]

5. My point is that Rep. Wally Herger is a Member of the US Congress

Herger should be defending the Constitution, not praising people who think terrorism is cool, or somehow funny.

My problem is less with the "terrorist" himself, more with the Congressman's inappropriate response to potentially dangerous rhetoric.