The GOP’s bad defense of Paul Gosar

That indeed has to be a concern, just from a raw political perspective. But it is possible to set a line when it comes to promoting even metaphorical violence against your colleagues, especially since we’ve seen people act upon that on multiple occasions in recent years (see: Scalise, Gabby Giffords, Jan. 6, increasing threats against lawmakers, etc.). Deeming everything to be a slippery slope is a recipe for letting pretty much everything slide.