“Cockroaches”

That is the term used by Michelle Malkin to describe her political opponents. I described it as a mark of incivility. A reader comments that I am missing the deeper resonance:

What is disturbing is when incivility moves to dehumanization. One need look no further than Rwanda to see the cockroach invective in play. The Hutus commonly referred to the Tutsis as "inyenzi," literally meaning cockroach. Though I’m certain that people like Malkin aren’t about to go on a machete waltz, the fact that political debate has devolved from disagreement to dehumanization is not a good sign. No good can come out of dehumanizing someone on the basis of politics. In my opinion it’s a sign of some kind of atavistic psychosis. Or, to put it better, as Cormac McCarthy said in Blood Meridian, "All progressions from a higher to a lower order are marked by ruins and mystery and a residue of nameless rage."

I wonder if Malkin would agree to withdraw the description, or issue some form of regret for it. We all occasionally say things we do not mean. Perhaps she will reconsider.