In the days immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California was correct.

Back then, McCarthy said that several extremely conservative congressmen had used incendiary rhetoric that could heighten the risk of violence and that they needed to cool it. He was clearly thinking of the horror experienced when the rage of a political extremist nearly led to the death of the second-ranking Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, in a 2017 shooting. His concern was valid, and the self-control he advocated then would be welcome on both sides of the political aisle. Both sides have transgressed those standards.