Meanwhile, over the Cuckoo's Nest...

I've called conservatives writ large "crazy" before, as a hyperbolic jest, usually with other liberal-minded friends. I know, of course, that conservatives aren't crazy - that's just silly.

Still, that doesn't stop the right-wing blogosphere from trying to prove me wrong (or right, depending on how you look at it.) See here, for instance, here, here, or here.

See, apparently, the luminaries of said blogosphere have uncovered a murderous plot by the New York Times to aid in the assassination of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld by al Qaeda terrorists. Now, I would say that I wish I was making that up, but honestly, I'm glad I'm being 100% serious here. It just goes to show you how unhinged these people have become:

The New York Times has taken the gloves off. In the June 30th edition of its paper, it has printed huge color photos of the vacation residences of Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, identifying the small Maryland town where they live, showing the front driveway, and in Rumsfeld's case actually pointing out the hidden security camera in the event that their friends and subscribers at al-Qaida get lost. - Denny K

And because al Qaeda already must have an inkling that Rumsfeld and Cheney live somewhere in the greater Washington, D.C. area, right? So what's the harm in handing them all the details, right? - Michelle Malkin

Make no mistake about it, there is a war going on in this country. The aggressors in this war are Democrats, liberals and leftists who began a scorched earth campaign against President Bush before the initiation of hostilities in Iraq. - FrontPage Magazine

Maybe the Times would say that the jihadis already knew about the lens in the birdhouse, since it's well known that high-ranking government officials take security precautions. - Power Line Blog

The offending article is, of course, this innocuous puff piece in the New York Times' travel section. Now, personally, I find it a bit absurd to think that the New York Times is somehow helping al Qaeda by publishing this information - I mean, logically, if the New York Times can find it so easily, I doubt it would be much of a problem for al Qaeda or other assorted crazies. (And let's not even touch the downright insane accusation that the left is actually working with al Qaeda.) But that doesn't stop the right-wingnuts from reacting in a way that's so deranged, even I'm surprised at how far they've gone.

And how far have they gone? Well, they've actually started an organized effort to publish the names and addresses of the editors of the New York Times, presumably so that al Qaeda et. al. can blow them up, too.

Unclaimed Territory summarizes beautifully:

So, to recap - America is currently at war and its enemies are domestic liberals and The New York Times. This war was started by Al Gore and Jimmy Carter when they opposed the invasion of Iraq. The New York Times is allied with Al Qaeda and their latest plot against America is to provide their terrorist friends with a roadmap to the vacation homes of Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld so that they can be assassinated. That is what is being reported today by three of the largest "conservative" blogs on the Internet, along with Horowitz, the leader of the conservative effort to wipe out anti-conservative bias on college campuses.

These people don't even live in reality anymore, they live in some construct of their own creation, sort of like an echo chamber, but profoundly more insular and out of touch.