Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to “Waterboard Barack Obama” – material that offended even state GOP leaders.

And, of course, the appeal to false equivalency: “Hector Barajas, a California Republican Party spokesman,

Sacramento Republicans Website

said Democrats have been playing the race card, but that the local party went too far in this instance.”  I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.  The “race card”?  This wasn’t about drawing attention to racial distinctions.  This is about a Republican Party website calling for the torture of a presidential candidate.

I’m just curious.  At any point, do you think anyone involved in this wonder to themselves how we got to this point?  Because there was a time not so long ago when calling for an opposing politician to be tortured and/or killed was beyond the pale.  Now it’s just part of the political landscape.

H/T Jesse.