It turns out there are still lines to be crossed in American punditry, and Newsmax columinist John Perry crossed it. And then some. In a column titled, "Obama Risks a Domestic Military 'Intervention,'" Perry claimed Obama is turning the United States into a Marxist country and must be stopped. Raising the idea of a military coup, Perry, granting that it might not be "an ideal option," stated that it was nevertheless on the table. "Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation," Perry fantisized. He wondered, is that "unthinkable?" Newsmax pulled the column (preserved at Media Matters) but that hasn't stopped pundits from weighing in. Commentators on the left and the right agree: the lunacy has gone too far.

From the left:

• 'The Right Wing Gets Even More Dangerous,' Steve Benen notes at The Washington Monthly. "There is an unmistakable trend in right-wing rhetoric in the direction of extremism and violence. It's not at all healthy, and it's a sign of conservative contingents gone stark raving mad."

• More Violent Incitement From the Right, Josh Marshall writes at Talking Points Memo. "And just so we're totally clear, no, I'm not expecting any military coups. This is just one more nugget to add to the backdrop list of incitement now coming from the right."

• "Can You Say Treason?" Logan Murphy asks at Crooks and Liars. 

From the right:

• 'The Alternative, Non-Violent Solution Is the One We've Been Using for 220 Years: Elections,' Ed Morrissey proclaims at Hot Air. "We have another coming in 2010. If the American people get fed up with the direction of this government, then we will change it in the midterms. We do not need our military to rescue us from ourselves, thank you very much." Morrissey writes that no party has a monopoly on crazy. He denounces Gore Vidal's warning about an American dictatorship as well, which he argues, "does the professionals in our military an extreme disservice. It's an insult to their honor, as well as ours."

• 'Obama Is a Pifflehead. But He's an Elected Pifflehead,' Rick Moran writes at Right Wing Nuthouse. Moran says he's as frustrated with Obama as any other conservative, but he argues it's important to remember the president is elected. "Obama is a pifflehead and he wants to nationalize health care but really now, shouldn’t there be like a, you know, good reason to just toss the election results from last year out the window." Moran says it might be time for Perry to retire. "He talks of the military performing what amounts to a 'family intervention' to remove the duly elected, constitutionally legitimate, president of the United States."

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