I am also beyond tired about the nebulous interplay between word and deed when it comes to right-wing violence.

Bannon is "just joking" about beheading his opponents, Pompeo is "just joking" about Trump not stepping down, constant talk about jailing political opponents -- sorry, constant jokes -- and constant talk about lynching journalists (e.g. "rope, tree, journalist" t-shirts that you see at MAGA rallies, not at any others).

And the FBI eventually breaks up a ring of people who are planning to kidnap and ??? the sitting governor of Michigan, but all of the violent-yet-it's-a-joke speech continues unabated. Was the kidnapping plot a joke, too? Where does all this end?

Serious question, what's the end-game for increasingly violent, increasingly authoritarian jokes?