The Cindy Hyde-Smith “public hanging” controversy has been particularly dumb, but par for the course in the current environment. When she said she would show up at the front row of a public hanging if her friend and supporter Colin Hutchinson invited her, she was using an expression to say how much regard she had for Hutchinson, not that she liked public hangings. Otherwise, the line doesn’t work — it’s only a compliment of Hutchinson if she’s willing to do, on his invitation, something she doesn’t want to do. This has been obvious all along, but it’s even more obvious with the full version of the video clip, where she also offers to fight a circle saw for Hutchinson — and, again, not because she relishes the prospect of fighting circle saws.

The full exchange via the Jackson Free Press: