The only thing surprising is that it's not surprising. The unhinged haters cannot restrain themselves. Even now.

Notes Politico:

Andrew Breitbart, a Washington Times columnist who oversees Breitbart.com and BigHollywood.com, tapped into the anti-Kennedy vein in the hours after the senator's death was announced, posting a series of Twitter messages in which he called Kennedy a “villain,” a “duplicitous bastard” and a “prick.”

“I'm more than willing to go off decorum to ensure THIS MAN is not beatified,” Breitbart wrote. “Sorry, he destroyed lives. And he knew it.”

Since becoming editor of the WashTimes, John Solomon has been trying to convince people that the Moonie-owned daily is more than a right-wing spin outlet. He's been trying to convince people that it's a serious newspaper run by serious people. Well, it seems to me Breitbart's outlandish hateful screed, coming just hours after Kennedy died, provides Solomon with a perfect opportunity to prove his point.

It provides Solomon with a chance to do something. (Demand Breitbart apologize; cut ties with the columnist, etc.) Solomon can stand up for the kind of newspaper that Times leaders say they wants to be, instead of allowing people like Breitbart to prop it up as a laughing stock.

I realize the GOP Noise Machine has done its best this year to obliterate any semblance of common sense and decency in terms of its unprecedented outpouring of hate rhetoric. (i.e. The POTUS is a Nazi racist) But it would seem to me that there must be some adults still seated at positions of conservative media power who can plainly see that spitting on the memory of an American icon like Ted Kennedy deserves to be met with a swift, and equally forceful, response.

We'll see if John Solomon really means it when he claims he wants the WashTimes to be a serious newspaper.