Fresno City Council member Jerry Duncan is so cocky (or stupid) that he wrote in an email a wish that "If I had one dirty bomb and I could eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once..." His colleague, City Council member Brian Calhoun, has an assistant, Ann Kloose, wrote an email to him that contained the message: "If these HRC (Human Relations Commission) bring down a crowd, I'm calling [police] to send over some officers to 'Cap' these guys ;-)"

Would Duncan and Kloose actually commit violence? Probably not (although Duncan has physically interfered with the Fresno HRC's meetings before), but--as one member of the HRC pointed out--if a commission member had made such a remark, there would be punishment. As it is, Duncan has apologized, but that isn't enough for a large group of Fresno residents, who are calling for his resignation.

Violent fantasies (and action) are nothing new for a certain class of conservatives, especially since September 11, the day that patriotism became defined as mindless allegiance to a dishonest and dangerous government.