At Least 1-in-5 GOPers Say Violence Against Government Can Be Justified

CBS News (.pdf) released polling today in the wake of this weekend's tragedy in Arizona showing that a surprising 16 percent of Americans say violent action against the government can at times be justified. Markos reached out to CBS to find out the partisan breakdown of this question and found the following:

Do you think it is ever justified for citizens to take violent action against the government, or is it never justified?

Republican 28% yes, 64% no
Democrat 11% yes, 81% no
Indepdent 11% yes, 81% no

Judging by the partisan breakdown of the poll respondents, the margin of error with regards to Republicans is plus or minus 7.4 percentage points. Thus at least judging by this survey, at least one-in-five Republican adults in this country -- and as many as 35 percent (within a 95 percent confidence window) -- believes that violence against the government can be justified.

Don't get me wrong, it is shocking and disappointing to see that a bit more than one-in-ten Democrats and Independents express the same sentiment. That number should be smaller. But these numbers on Republicans are just jaw-dropping.