Ignore the fact that there is still a horrible utility in political violence, the way there was during Reconstruction, or during the labor wars of the early twentieth century. If there were not, it wouldn’t be so hard to get an abortion in Kansas, and assault weapons would not have been accessories of choice at recent rallies purportedly held to discuss changes in the way the country organizes its health-care system.

Charles P. Pierce has an excellent article in Esquire examining recent political violence in the United States. “The Bomb that Didn’t Go Off” centers on a failed bombing on a Martin Luther King Jr. march in Spokane. He uses that incident to showcase right-wing political violence since Obama’s election, highlighting our insistence on not seeing a pattern.

Follow-up: In the New York Times, Scott Shane has an article outlining the influence of American anti-Muslim bloggers on the terrorist behind the attacks in Norway.