One thing that came off again and again during last night's Republican debate is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is an asshole, but perhaps never so much as when he called for imprisoning Democratic Rep. Barney Frank and former Sen. Chris Dodd:

“If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd,” Gingrich said in the debate. His remark came after the candidates were asked about the lack of criminal prosecutions of Wall Street officials in the wake of the financial crisis.

Honestly. What an asshole.

But here's the thing. Gingrich didn't appear to be joking. This is a guy who's campaigning for president by calling for the imprisonment of opposition political leaders... exactly the sort of thing we see in banana republics and fascist dictatorships. It's the kind of high-stakes political hardball—lose the election, lose your freedom or life—that destroys democracies.

Yeah, sure, I've heard Democratic rank and file call for the prosecution of Dick Cheney, George Bush and other suspected war criminals... but these calls for retribution aren't coming from people who are running for fucking president. They're not former House speakers. They're not on television every week or two being paraded as one of the leaders of their party.

No, Gingrich can't win. But I'm telling you, there's a dangerous, fascistic
streak in American politics—and in the Republican Party in particular—that could quickly turn this nation in on itself in response to a major crisis.