I wonder why Chait and Democratic officials from past administrations feel the need to associate fiscal conservatives to bloodthirsty terror organizations. I also wonder how such inflammatory rhetoric does not qualify as the kind of politics that Chait himself criticized not so long ago.

As for Brooks’s over-the-top attacks against the Republican Party, I suppose it is the price conservatives pay for having a moderately conservative voice showcased in the Times. I regularly take comfort in knowing that Brooks will never set back the conservative cause by launching hyperbolic attacks against Democratic officials. Unfortunately, sometimes David lacks the same restraint when expounding on his disagreements with the GOP.

During the 2009 TARP debates, Brooks called conservatives who voted against the three-page, $700 billion bill “the authors of the revolt of the nihilists.” The Times columnist also accused conservatives who opposed TARP as “being on a single-minded mission to destroy the Republican Party.”

But the larger point here is not about Brooks or Cohen or Chait’s childish insults aimed at anti-tax Republicans. Instead, it is a reminder of the type of abuse Republicans take every time they dare to stand athwart history and growl “not this time.”