The Ayers controversy has been instructive in a lot of ways, not least of which is the right’s umbrage at the fact that the left, way back when, descended into violence, and that violence is the rationale by which Ayers should be prohibited from “making a living off a system he tried to destroy,” as one commenter put it.

Fair enough. As noted in the print edition last week, I have this theory that he who resorts to violence in American politics loses. No matter how “justified” the violence may seem to the partisans, to the vast bulk of non-partisan Americans, it was and will be reprehensible; proof of how unhinged the bomb-throwers and their political views really are.

Which brings us, then, to this:

“Obama is a radical communist and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it is coming true. He is going to destroy this country and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist.”

That’s Alan Keyes, who is of course prone to such statements. But consider the content here:

Obama is going to destroy the country. Thus he must be stopped.

Well - how you gonna “stop” him?

At least Limbaugh, here, talks of working within the confines of the Constitution - that, before likening liberals to murderers and rapists.

Let’s be very clear what’s happening here. The right-wingers were repudiated in the last election. Their 3o years of political ascendency in this country is over.

They are very, very resentful of this.

So, where do you go with that resentment? How does it play itself out against a backdrop of economic depression?

When you believe in the unquestioned rectitude of your own cause and you believe your opponents are acting on the basis of motivations that are not only misguided but evil - wasn’t that Bill Ayers’ mindset 40 years ago? Wasn’t that the very rationale that triggered the leftist descent into violence in the late ’60s and early ’70s, a frustration with the government’s unwillingness to end the War in Vietnam, a sense that that war had to be “stopped?”

You know, people can vent politically without going down the path to violence. Though bear in mind the likes of Ann Coulter has invoked violence against her political opponents on several occasions, over the years. And don’t kid yourself. The right absolutely hates liberals enough to engage in actual violence. Kind of hard to do it when you profess a fealty to public order and the law. But what if you believe the law prevents you from saving your country? Don’t you then believe that there is a cause greater than the law?

Ayers did. I fully believe that the resentful rump of the right wing nurtures the exact same sentiment. Writes Sullivan:

The right is going to become much more extreme as it becomes less relevant. There is a pattern to these things. You saw what was coming at those Palin rallies. As the economy worsens, as resentment against bail-outs for bankers and car-makers and reckless mortgage-owners swells, we are in for a very bumpy ride. I hope the Secret Service is beefing up.

If Ayers’ violence discredited the left and led to two generations of conservative political ascendency - and I’m absolutely convinced that was a big part of it - then the reverse happens here. Should the right descend into a violence borne of its resentment and frustration, it will turn the country against them even more. For, in the age of camera phones and YouTube, any political violence will be magnified instantly, far beyond what could have ever happened in the ’60s. And this would be used, politically, to crush the right as a political entity. And the country would be behind it 100 percent, because as noted - he who resorts to violence loses.

This, now, is the task of opinion leaders on the far right - to manage the resentment, to channel it. But I don’t know that it can be channeled.

It is going to be a very interesting couple of years.

Update: And indeed, we’d be remiss if we didn’t pass along this:

“Know this if nothing else: This was a hate crime. I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country & these liberals are working together to attack every decent & honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them….

“This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg’s book. I’d like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me. I couldn’t get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickensh*t liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It’s the only way we can rid America of this cancerous pestilence.”

“I thought I’d do something good for this Country Kill Democrats til the cops kill me….Liberals are a pest like termites. Millions of them Each little bite contributes to the downfall of this great nation. The only way we can rid ourselves of this evil is to kill them in the streets. Kill them where they gather. I’d like to encourage other like minded people to do what I’ve done. If life aint worth living anymore don’t just kill yourself. do something for your Country before you go. Go Kill Liberals.

Now - do Limbaugh, Coulter, et al, bear any responsibility for this?

Yeppers.