During the 2008 presidential campaign, who said -

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun, because from what I understand folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”?

He, like Sarah Palin, was speaking metaphorically. Anyway, the best article that I have read on this appears in the City Journal. Andrew Klavan writes -

http://www.city-journal.org/2011/eon0109ak.html