The lefty blogosphere is in a tizzy this morning over John Bolton’s remarks at CPAC yesterday, where they allege he advocated the nuking of Chicago. That didn’t sound like something he’d say and, sure enough, it wasn’t what he was saying at all. Jonathan Stein at Mother Jones writes:

“The fact is on foreign policy I don’t think President Obama thinks [stopping Iran's nuclear program is] a priority,” said Bolton. “He said during the campaign he thought Iran was a tiny threat. Tiny, tiny depending on how many nuclear weapons they are ultimately able to deliver on target. Its, uh, its tiny compared to the Soviet Union, but is the loss of one American city” – here Bolton shrugged his shoulders impishly – “pick one at random – Chicago – is that a tiny threat?”

Bolton wasn’t the only one who thought this was funny. The room erupted in laughter and applause. Was this conservative catharsis, with rightwingers delightfully imagining the destruction of a city that represents Obama? Or perhaps they were venting vengeance with their laughter.

Wow. Bolton wasn’t advocating the nuking of Chicago at all. He was illustrating a point that the threat of Iran isn’t small, because just one nuke would be absolutely catastrophic to an American city. He picked Chicago because it’s near and dear to Obama’s heart. He’s actually saying that we need to treat Iran seriously so that a city like Chicago doesn’t get attacked.

You know, I’m always amazed at the left’s selective outrage over anti-American or classlesss remarks. I recall the pages of Daily Kos, Huffington Post, and other liberal websites lighting up with vile remarks upon news of Tony Snowe’s cancer and subsequent death. I also recall the proprietor of the former saying “screw them” when his fellow Americans were brutally killed in Iraq. And I’ll never forget the commenters on Kos who expressed disappointment when the Taliban failed to assassinate Dick Cheney. But John Bolton says something the left perceives as wrong and some commenters at Mother Jones are already calling for his arrest.