I'm with him on this being surreal, and even that a lot of this is unanticipated fallout of the encouragement of an insane fantasy. But I think it's a little bizarre to ignore the actual calls to violence, both by Trump and his cronies, as well as multiple supporters in apps like Parler and other such corners of the internet.

Those change the discussion that needs to happen, and the free speech questions involved. I don't think any law can ban saying stupid shit like "the election was stolen". But it can and should be adjusted to prosecute platforms that host messages like "bring molotov cocktails and guns and zip ties to the rally tomorrow" (not an actual message, just a facsimile of them). Those shouldn't be equated, which is kind of what Douthat does here in his discussion of overreach.