WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US. Did somebody send out a memo or something? There’s been quite a rhetorical escalation on the right this week:

* The name of Dinesh D’Sousa‘s upcoming presentation at the Heritage Foundation blaming liberal Americans for 9/11: “The Enemy at Home”

* Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson this morning on Sen. Ted Kennedy and other war opponents: �hostile enemies right here on the home front.”

* Sean Hannity‘s newest Sunday show feature targeting liberals: “Enemy of the State.”

Coordinated rhetorical surge or just right-wing group-think? A disturbing trend, either way. If you’ve noticed other examples, please add them in the comments.

–Garance Franke-Ruta

Garance Franke-Ruta is a former senior editor at the Prospect. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She was a 2006 recipient of a fellowship at the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University.