The thing is, you shouldn’t have to empathize with Carlson, his wife, or even his kids to see why direct threats of violence against the family of a controversial media figure, at his home, should stay out of bounds. It violates pretty much every common standard of practical morality, from the golden rule to “two wrongs don’t make a right.” Kantian ethics would tell you that “if I find someone’s political views reprehensible, I will go to his house and threaten his family” is a maxim that should not be universalized. Utilitarian ethics would tell you that it’s likely to do far more harm than good.

This isn’t to say that liberals have to pretend to be as outraged by this as conservatives undoubtedly will. There are more important and more disturbing things happening in the country right now. Policies that Carlson has championed have inflicted far more harm on vulnerable Americans (and, yes, foreigners) than the brief scare that his family endured Wednesday night.

But Carlson and his ilk thrive on the perception that liberals are hypocrites, that they lack basic decency, that they represent a threat to mainstream American values. They revel in highlighting isolated acts of violence by liberal activists or immigrants to rile up conservative viewers. By threatening his family, a handful of overexcited activists just handed Carlson a bucket of gasoline for that fire.