"Hate talk" strikes again?

During the Clinton years, that administration, "liberal" media pundits, and Democrats in general accused right-wing talk radio's so-called "hate speech" of being responsible for everything from physical attacks on gays and blacks to the 1995 bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. They even threatened that talk radio might have to be monitored for its sometimes fiery rhetoric.

But now the Left has its own Air America talk radio network. And the tables have turned.

Matt Drudge reports today that the Secret Service is investigating Air America after the network's "Randi Rhodes Show" aired a skit Monday night that featured a "gunshot warning" to President Bush.

Here's the skit:

Announcer: "A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp." (Audio sound of four gunshots.) "Just try it, you little bastard." (Audio sound of a gun being cocked.)

Says a government source: "Even joking about shooting the president is a crime, let alone doing it on national radio... We are taking this very seriously."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan called the skit "very inappropriate and over the line."

"Hate speech," it seems, is no longer exclusive to the Right.

And when did the Left start approving of the use of firearms?