SO I GUESS IT'S NEVER "TOO SOON" TO "POLITICIZE" A GUN CRIME IF THE TARGET IS A REPUBLICAN

This happened today:

A man with a gun and a knife was detained by police early Wednesday morning near Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after making threats against the Supreme Court justice, according to local and federal officials.

Authorities identified the man as Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, Calif., charging him with the attempted murder of a federal judge....

In his suitcase and backpack were a Glock 17 with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, a tactical knife, a hammer, a screwdriver, a crow bar, zip ties and duct tape, along with other gear.

After his arrest, according to the affidavit, Roske told police he was upset over the leaked draft of an opinion that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion and also over the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Tex. He thought this justice would support looser gun laws. He decided to kill the justice and then himself, according to the affidavit, thinking it would give his life purpose.

Naturaly, Republicans said what they always say when there's a high-profile gun crime: that's it's "too soon" to "politicize" it. No, I'm kidding: The intended victim was a fellow Republican, so the race is on to be the first to politicize it.

The Biden White House encouraged a federal crime. It’s illegal to protest and picket outside the home of a judge with an intent to influence the judge’s decision.

Now a sick individual has been charged with attempted murder of Justice Kavanaugh. https://t.co/fE7YuKznXo

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 8, 2022

Pro-abortion group that posts directions to Kavanaugh’s home — man arrested today said he used online map to find it — also targeting his young daughters’ school. This escalation and threat against the children must be stopped. Horrific. https://t.co/j3dxz5i1P2

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) June 8, 2022

When is the Senate going to sanction @chuckschumer for inciting violence toward Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch?

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 8, 2022

The latter is a reference to a speech the usually mild-mannered Chuck Schumer made in 2020 as the Supreme Court was considering a restrictive Louisiana abortion law.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price," Schumer said. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

I don't know why Schumer said that. I don't think he meant it as a threat of violence. I think he imagined that some cosmic retribution would come if the Court restricted abortion rights, though I can't imagine what he had in mind. It was an empty threat, but it sounded violent. It's hard to imagine that it had an influence on Roske two years after the fact.

The Republican anger about the release of the justices' home addresses is more germane, although the promoters of home protests wanted them to be peaceful. Meanwhile, on the right, here's an ad from a leading candidate in the race for the Republican Senate nomination in Arizona make in which he shoots at actors playing President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Mark Kelly:

Arizona has had enough of the DC Gang’s open borders, high gas prices, and shifty politicians pushing us around. @CaptMarkKelly @JoeBiden @TeamPelosi, it’s time for a good old-fashioned showdown.

Check out our new Super Bowl ad, The Showdown, here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mJTbFuS0du

— Jim Lamon (@jim_lamon) February 10, 2022

And here's another candidate in that race physically assaulting a left-leaning critic who showed up at one of his campaign events:

A 73-year-old man named Peter Jackson went to a public event held for Blake Masters—the 35-year-old Trump-endorsed and Thiel-funded Senate candidate—wearing a BLM Shirt.

At 1:34 in this video you can see Masters assault Jackson, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him down. pic.twitter.com/5p47lCIa3d

— KnowNothing (@KnowNothingTV) June 8, 2022

This is all getting out of hand -- but notice that Republicans aren't waiting around or doing polling or conducting focus groups before blaming Democrats and liberals for the actions of this would-be assassin. They're not afraid to make this an issue. They're not hoping it will go away so they can go back to talking about kitchen-table issues. As soon as this happened, they pounced. They sure as hell won't let a crisis like this go to waste.