I'm not trying to blame this on anyone who shares Breiviks beliefs except him and anyone over here (not that I'm aware of any) who publicly preaches the same "stop them by any means necessary" hatred of secularism, liberalism and tolerance. I AM saying that people preaching that anywhere have no right to be indignant when some nut is factually reported suiting murderous deeds to their extremist words, and should be prosecuted (though less severely) right along with him. It's just like shouting, "FIRE!" in a theater, and not free speech here or in America; in America it's incitement to riot and reckless public endangerment. We prosecute the Klan for that; I fail to see a significant difference between "target Jews" and "target liberals". As to your example, when Islamic extremists insist they're nothing like Al Qaeda despite preaching the same hatred it puts into action you don't give them a pass and neither do I. If the American far right dislikes being associated with Anders Breivik, no one made that association until they hopped up to say how unfair it was, so I'll reiterate what I've said to you numerous times: Anyone who has a guilty conscience should take it up with God.

I'm breaking our agreement about responding to you simply because this has somehow (but unsurprisingly) ceased to be about what happened here or the American right chiming in on it and become about me, and I feel entitled to respond to comments on my character and beliefs: "Liberal" doesn't automatically mean "anti-gun", and it should be glaringly obvious by now that any automatic treatment of someone because of their beliefs is incredibly dangerous. Again, I've always supported the Second Amendment as a means of personal protection, hunting and preventing tyranny; I simply think peoples neighbors have the right to know they have instantly lethal force ready to hand, so I don't support handguns or (other) concealed weapons. I fully support the right to guns, and support the right to an automatic with some reservations; I simply don't support HIDING guns so they can be whipped out to settle an argument. I guarantee if you were walking around with a sawed off shotgun on your hip no mugger or rapist would come near you, which is why I fully support that, too, just not concealed weapons (and the only thing handguns have over other guns is easy concealment). Before and since our wedding my wife and I have frequently discussed whether I'm getting a shotgun since it would be a pain in the butt to ship the shotgun and two rifles I left in the States over here. The only thing that's changed now is that it's no longer open for discussion.

Finally, you've never had to pull your punches with me; the reason I disengaged from a few political conversations with you is because I like you and didn't want to say something one of us would regret (which is why I won't revisit the subject of THOSE conversations now, but I'm sure you recall them). You can say whatever you like to me and I've frequently conceded the validity of your comments on me personally (though I dispute them strongly here); my reticence developed from concern YOU might not like what I said (a concern that seems no less valid now than then). However, I'll not sit silently waiting for the right wing extremist gunning down liberals up the street to finish them off and come for me or my family. I still have some pretty liberal (and pretty conservatie) family in the States, so when far right politicos there react to far right murderers here by simply angrily denying they share any of the same ideology I'll call that for the alarming BS it is. I'll give you that: You acknowledge that Breivik shares some (unquestionably more extreme versions) of your POLITICAL views, but repudiate and condemn the violent ACTS he committed in a twisted attempt to promote them. That's rational, honorable and fair; it's what Norways far right party has done, and no one anywhere is blaming them for what Breivik did even though he was once, long ago, a member. Unfortunately, that rational, honorable and fair position is also apparently beyond much of the American far right (you might let rt know that disavowing ALL Breiviks politics makes him a Marxist ), particularly the media outlets and commentators who paint the portrait of reality viewed by much of that demographic. That's worrying, and if you can't see why, consider what you (and I) would think if Ahmadinejad angrily denied that Al Qaeda are Islamic extremists (instead of admitting it then sheltering their leaders "under house arrest" ).