Ordinarily I wouldn't give this kind of a story attention, but the radio host who said that disgusting thing has somehow gotten enough traction in radio-land to attract the likes of Larry Pratt and Ted Nugent. Plus, I've had my own personal encounter with him.
Back in 2008 I did a daily online radio show called NewsGang Live with some techies, some political types, and others. At the time, there was no BlogTalkRadio but Steve and Tina Gillmor managed to figure out how to do it with uStream and a call-in conference number . Peter Santilli would call into the show often, presenting himself as an independent voter who wasn't sure how he would vote in 2008. He was disruptive and annoying but he wasn't crazy and he wasn't especially much of an independent either, but more of a straight-up conservative and conspiracy nut.
Now he's a crazy conservative. Via Right Wing Watch:
I want to shoot [Clinton] right in the vagina and I don't want her to die right away; I want her to feel the pain and I want to look her in the eyes and I want to say 'on behalf of all Americans that you've killed, on behalf of the Navy SEALS,' ... the families of Navy SEAL Team Six who were involved in the fake hunt down of this Obama bin Laden thing, that whole fake scenario - because these Navy SEALS know the truth, they killed them all - on behalf of all of those people, I'm supporting our troops by saying we need to try, convict, and shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina.
Santilli is a classic case of how the right wing leverages borderline paranoiacs and sends them over the edge. Santilli presented himself as a guy who sold reverse mortgages, but in fact he has been profiting from the housing crisis for the past few years via "fix and flip" foreclosure schemes. You too, can join the ranks of Santillians simply by purchasing his e-book, but he won't give up his banking contacts who pass the tips to him on his foreclosure purchases.
In my opinion, his hate-filled rant against Hillary Clinton should land him in jail. This goes far beyond free speech right into direct threats and should be actionable. However, even though Santilli is certainly to blame for his own rants, he didn't get there by himself. His insanity was fully aided and abetted by the continual bombardment of Benghazi bullshit via right wing radio, Fox News, and Congressman Darrell Issa, who is likely Santilli's representative.
Like Issa, no one really knows how Santilli came into possession of enough money to actually run the business he claims he runs, but evidently it's lucrative enough to keep his hate speech on the air and the likes of Ted Nugent cheering him on.
Santilli is a spawn of the right-wing hate parade, which marches nonstop thanks to the so-called 'leaders' who manufacture scandal for political gain. So they take a few paranoiacs into the hell of mental illness? What do they care when they serve a greater cause?
