Reporting from the deepest trenches of elitist One-Percent-Land, local news sources have disclosed that the bomb squad was dispatched to rescue Rush Limbaugh from a lighted plaque of Abraham Lincoln.

Threats against public figures really ought not to be made light of. There are very real and troubling risks very dangerous and disturbed individuals. However, the interesting part of this story was not so much that a suspicious box was delivered to the Limbaugh lair as this revelation:

“After being delivered Thursday afternoon it was X-rayed by staff at Limbaugh’s home — as is procedure for all mail delivered to the residence.”

So Rush has an X-ray machine at his home and uses it to scan all the mail he receives. That’s funny because there has been some attention paid lately to the alleged paranoia of Democrats and progressive citizens. Apparently that is a mockable character flaw when the left is accused of it, but nobody on the right thinks twice when one of their own is found to be scanning everything the mailman delivers.

I don’t really have a problem with Rush taking every precaution to insure his safety. After all, his rhetorical bomb-throwing often incites harsh responses from the innocent people he vilifies. For instance, in the past few days Rush has been castigating a student, Sandra Fluke, for speaking out about the Republican attempts to deny women necessary health care coverage. He has referred to her as a “slut” and a “prostitute” just because she was exercising her First Amendment rights. When she took offense to his remarks, on behalf of all women, Rush went ballistic, as did his pals at Fox News who posted this article on the Fox Nation web site with a recording of Rush’s harangue: Limbaugh Takes Blowtorch To Fluke ‘Slut’ Controversy.

Rush’s retort was a spittle-flecked tirade that affirmed his original insults and repeatedly misrepresented Fluke’s position on the issue. He deliberately lied to his listeners saying that Fluke was advocating that the government pay for her contraceptives. In fact, she is only asking that private insurance companies offer coverage, pretty much the same way they do for Limbaugh’s Viagra.

The tone that the debate has taken on the right is decidedly hostile. Yet conservatives are the ones making a big deal out of phony threats and calling out the actual bomb squads. These rightist chicken-littles should adjust their attitudes. And they should also lay off of people like David Brock of Media Matters for hiring a security guard. No doubt he has received his share of threats from people who object to documenting the actual repulsive things they say – like this latest screed from El Rushbo.