Open Thread: Another photo from Arizona
Arizona boots-on-the-ground reporters Jay and Kathy bring us another beautiful picture of the memorial to the shooting victims outside Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office. As you can see from this picture taken this afternoon, it’s grown considerably since Sunday. If Jay and Kathy are able to get in, we may have some photos from the memorial tomorrow.
I’m very happy that President Obama is going to be there and I look forward to his words.
I am tired to the bone this evening and I’m going to bed early (I love “robo-post.”) I also join you all in sending out much love to Jeanne and her family tonight.
After the tragic event in Tucson, Arizona, with so many lives lost forever,
why is any newspaper, t.v. station, radio station, magazine printed anything
that is ‘spewed’ by $arah. An ignorant, selfish, hateful woman! I refer to her
as the “HITLER” of the 21st century. Barbara Bush, the very wise former
First Lady said on Larry King’s show, “go back to Alaska, Sarah!” Please,
please, let us all refrain from speaking the EVIL name – SARAH PALIN!
You should have “manned up” , Sarah and shot that little girl yourself.
As far as America is concerned, you pulled that trigger.
John Scalzi has an insightful (as usual) analysis of $P’s blatherings:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/01/12/yeah-no/#comment-236514
If words don’t matter, why did she give us almost 8 minutes of them?
If worlds don’t matter:
Why did she give a convention speech and stump speeches and want to give a concession speech?
Why does she speak for money?
How could Rahm’s choice of words have any bearing on her child?
How could Bristol stay on DWTS?
Why did she put up a map with cross hairs to begin with?
Why does she care that someone’s stalking her?
Why did she give a speech instead of just walking out of the governor’s office and not returning?
And since republicans truly believe in what she’s posted and said, why are they saying it doesn’t matter? Whether the gunman knew what they had said or not, he merely availed himself of Second Amendment Remedies. He didn’t retreat, he tried to reload. He targeted someone he didn’t like. He’s trying to take his country back.
They should all be thrilled that he sees the constitution and politics the way they do, whether they agree with his political stances or not. They should be applauding him.
And the best quote I saw today about the quitter?
“Sarah Palin. Always the victim. Never the leader.”
Great comment on TP:
“Congrats (I think) to Jon Stewart for being named the 28th “Most Dangerous Liberal”.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/…
The President landed at #3. I guess #1 is Soros?
Apparently they’re targeting prominent NPR listeners, so they’re dangerous because they’ll fight you not with guns, but with water bottles, tote bags, and books. “
I’d like to redirect you all to another open thread to discuss the memorial and President Obama’s speech!
I refused, as I always do, to intentionally watch Palin say anything, anywhere, at any time. Unfortunately, the local news featured a clip of her speech (including the ‘blood libel’ part) and the remote was on the other side of the room. I was forced to listen for several second before I could hit the mute button.
The first thought that popped into my head was her remarkable resemblance to the animatronic figures at Disney World. They’re almost lifelike, but not quite. It seemed extraordinary that, considering the circumstances, she showed almost no emotion except a tiny bit of disdain and disgust. Posting that speech on the day of a memorial to the victims of an unspeakable tragedy is, itself, unspeakable. Are we SURE that she’s really human???
No.
Mike Huckabee must be buying rounds for the house.
Rounds as in bullets.
Palin’s metaphorical use of “blood libel” referring to herself is incomprehensibly stupid and ironic/moronic.
Did she or her advisors not even trip over the possibility of the following parallel metaphor being considered when she used that description:
The Right-Wing shrieks that the evil Democratic administration is killing our country. Gun sights are set on Democratic politicians. Democratic politicians are killed to “take back OUR country.”
Palin’s jaw-dropping insensitivity and ignorant malice in using the term “blood libel” when a Jewish Congresswoman lies in a hospital with a bullet hole in her skull is mind-boggling.
What is really infuriating me about this video as well. She tries to compare herself to the President, and suggests that he would agree with her!!!
You can tell how serious she was–little or no lipstick–yes, serious indeed–and really pissed! Compare that to the face of Michelle Obama during the moment of silence at the White House. You can see the heartbreak in her face, and on the face of the President. The picture of the First Lady, head down, eyes closed, reflected the sorrow of the entire country.
Sorry about my double post at 64 then 65.
You are going straight to double post jail – do not pass Go, and do not collect $200!
As for me, I’m going to end up in either apostrophe abuse jail, or bad grammar jail. Maybe we’ll see each other – we can repent in unison.
Jewish groups weigh in on Palin’s remarks:
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/12/palin-blood-libel/
Jewish groups weigh in on Palin’s remarks:
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/12/palin-blood-libel/
” Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a “blood libel” against her and others. This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews, given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries — and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today. […]
All we had asked following this weekend’s tragedy was for prayers for the dead and wounded, and for all of us to take a step back and look inward to see how we can improve the tenor of our coarsening public debate. Sarah Palin’s invocation of a “blood libel” charge against her perceived enemies is hardly a step in the right direction.
We had a blizzard in Boston today and the lights just came back on. Consequently, I was only just able to view Sarah Palin’s “I Am The Real Victim Of the Arizona Shootings Speech”. All of a sudden, a song just popped into my head. As the character Dickie Dunn said in the 1977 movie “Slapshot”, “I was just trying to capture the spirit of the thing.” Please enjoy.
Poor, Poor Pitiful Me song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srpwqf2MWAw
POOR, POOR SARAH P.
(sung to the Linda Ronstadt version of the song “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me”)
Although I’ve left some blood in my tracks
You know I’m still “mavericky”
Twenty lay shot on the floor
Poor, poor Sarah P.
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor Sarah P
The left-wing won’t let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe, woe is me
Well, I targeted Gabrielle real good
I was naming names
Then someone worked her over good
Now they say that I’m to blame
My intentions were misunderstood
I hope the doctors now can mend her
I put her in some danger, Lord
Now they’ve run me through the blender
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor Sarah P.
The left-wing won’t let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe, woe is me
(Reloading break)
Well, all this “blood libel” has consumed me
This poor “Grizzly Mama”
My White House hopes are tumblin’ down
Unless I target Obama!
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor Sarah P.
The left-wing won’t let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe, woe is me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
MMA’s David Brock responds to Sarah Palin, talks about her response to Congresswoman Gifford’s concern about being “targeted” by bulls eyes on Sarah’s map, points out acts of violence directly linked to Glenn Beck, and challenges Sarah to talk with him. More too, also. About 7 minutes long:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVDla_Ax40k&feature=player_embedded#!
Posted on twitter and my face book page so others from the other side can see even if they don’t believe.
Excellent! I wish I could post it on her Facebook page–even though it would get scrubbed quickly–but I think you have to “Like” her first. Can’t do that!
I just saw this on her FB page and don’t know what to make of it.
“Sarah – thank you! I know you feel guilty about getting those people killed – but stay strong.” That will confuse the moderators.
I have been monitoring her FB page over the last day or two and it is amazing how fast any negative comment is removed. I even left a comment myself, and it was deleted within a minute or so. I have been taking screenshots though….
Regarding her video today, I think it must be one of the final nails in her coffin. The woman she targetted is lying in hospital today with her skull removed, and a bullet hole through her brain. And all Sarah could think about was herself.
I posted this above, but you will enjoy it. It’s about those comments on her FB page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG5Rd8k3bio
Thanks, I did enjoy that. What is she so afraid of? The truth maybe?
Could be, but it seems inconsistent with her statement, “No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent…” But maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it’s just Palin.
Oh, it must be you and I. 🙂
Add me to the mix, please.
PALIN LOGIC 101:
1) Palin: “Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them”
(Translation: Words do NOT incite. I am not responsible.)
2) Palin: “journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”
(Translation: Words DO incite. YOU are responsible.)
“My words don’t incite. Your words do incite. I am not responsible. You are responsible. I am the victim. You are the victimizer.”
Conclusion: Palin is Predictable, but not Logical.
YOU are reprehensible, Mrs. Palin….Now, that is logical.
The origins of “blood libel” in this current debate were not introduced by $arah. Nope, seems she got the idea from GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS, in a WSJ opinion piece, “The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel.” Maybe he is her new writer.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576071913818696964.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This is the best explanation yet of the depravity of the “blood libel” reference
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/01/12/yeah-no/
I’m gonna go out on a short limb and proclaim Quittybritches as the real victim of these shootings,before she can do it herself. I’d tell you how hurt the poor thing is that anyone or everyone doesn’t love her and she can’t be truly happy with only a few dozen measly millions of dollars. She will probably have someone write another book for her and declare Sarah above reproach and saintly to the nth degree. Then she will be back saying all manner of indefensible things and then not taking credit for them. As the world turns,so does my stomach,and I got a real big stomach. Ah,nevermind. Tomorrow is another day and it will bring a whole new batch of joys and miseries. I can hardly wait.
Yes, words do lead to actions.
Here is Arizona legislative district chairman resigning partly because of the aggressive nature of the Tea Party ‘Republicans’. He said, “I love the Republican Party but I don’t want to take a bullet for anyone.”
The story is from ThinkProgress: http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/12/az-republicans-resig/
So wait… she’s saying that her words don’t matter, right? Her rhetoric is a non-issue? Is she saying she’s irrelevant to discourse? That means she’s going away, right?
I’m offended by her use of the term ‘blood libel’, I mean really, how self-important is she that she’d actually compare herself to something like that. That amount of ignorance and arrogance is astounding.
Also, the Quote of the Day list should be plural, here’s one I saw on the dish:
“If crimes “begin and end with the criminals who commit them,” I think Sarah Palin just endorsed a mosque near Ground Zero.” – Greg Knauss
Words don’t matter, so we can call her a Retard now. YAY!
🙂 Thanks for the bellylaugh. I needed that!
Good point!
Good catch!
With that great post, and since it’s cocktail hour here, I raise my wine glass and toast to you lilybarat! Thanks
Not much to laugh at today, but this still made me smile. It shows the number of comments on $P’s Facebook page increasing, and decreasing, and increasing, and decreasing, and so on and so forth….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG5Rd8k3bio
looks like a marathon runner’s breathing after a race.
In her “speech” she talks of :
“peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner”. Yet she does so by editing her facebook page and leaving only those posts that agree with her. Rolling on Floor Laughing my Head Off.
Oh S you’re always good for a great laugh.
This is scary:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/tea-party-financier-thinks-rank-file/
Un-freaking-believable: a member of Congress is shot in the head, a 9 year old girl and 5 others murdered, numerous others seriously wounded – all by a madman, war in Afghanistan, the entire world’s economy wobbling on the edge of the abyss and what are we all talking about? Sarah “I am the victim here!” Palin. Pathetic, money-grubbing attention whore…please go away
Palin, “Pretender to the Throne” attempts to steal the spotlight on this day of mourning. Sick indeed. Another very “non-presidential” moment, for the pretender.
to Jeanne Devon and family we pups are talking about what is happening in the wider world. at the same time we are thinking of you and your family on this sad day. i hope our love for you will help sustain you. take care of yourself. no need to worry about the flats. we are doing good and trying to console each other as events unfold. XOXOX
I would say that the video was her “I am not a witch” speech. :->
Whatever one thinks of Palin, you do have to hand her props for so consistently elevating malapropism (“blood libel” [presuming she did NOT know its meaning]) to the level of legitimacy. We haven’t seen someone with skill at this level since Yogi Berra.
Sarah Palin is the poster child for the old adage, “You can’t buy class”.
What we need to do is literally or figuratively paste that over her image, each and every single time it’s displayed.
The video seems to have been scrubbed from everywhere except C4P. No longer on blogs, or Huff Post or other places I checked.
Here is what the Vimeo thing said:
“Sorry
The creator of this video has not given you permission to embed it on this domain. This is a Vimeo Plus feature.”
I don’t get it. Now it is back on some, with links on others, and some are just gone.
MSNBC is reporting that she has taken it down. i don’t understand why when others must have saved her grand opus ( thank you Marnie).
i knew the mad thing would not disappoint. i am glad that she was so magnificently and malevolently Palin. her psychopathy is full blown now and it will be interesting to see how her money men and handlers use her next because my friends this woman is not going away. not as long as there is one more dime to be scrounged from her admirers. i also hope Angle and Bachmann are made to understand that crazy and ignorance is no longer cool in DC.
The time for Sarah Palin to react responsibly to this tragedy has come and gone.
She could have made a statement on Saturday as an American and as a mother.
She could have acknowledged the need to dial back the violent rhetoric, even without acknowledging that she was its first major proponent in recent history.
Instead, she presents a prettily-packaged piece of disingenuous prattle, which allots the bare minimum of time expressing concern for the victims of the tragedy, and devotes the lion’s share to defending the real victim of Saturday’s massacre–herself.
It’s no coincidence that she released this pathetic response today, hoping to draw attention away from tonight’s address by the President, which she knows will be a strong compassionate and thoughtful message. Obama is at his best in these terrible situations, a genuine leader, not a petulant perennial coat holder who stands on the sidelines and eggs on the most gullible members of our society to “reload.”
“When we take up arms, we’re talking about our vote!” Sure you are, Sarah. Sure, you are.
Her timing in releasing this video brings to mind the Westboro Baptist Church. Refuse to allow a dignified ceremony to allow the bereaved to find comfort. Instead, deflect responsibility and attempt to become the center of attention, claiming continued victimhood.
She should be ashamed of herself, but that is asking too much.
$he’s an attention wh*re with the same gravitas as Paris Hilton.
Also too just using the words “blood” and “duel” at this time is a massive fail. It just goes against all common decency.
Live it to Scarah to give a new definition of p*rn.
That is video is Sarah Palin’s “I have a Dream.” speech?
This is her “Gettysburg Address” moment?
This is her “Sermon on the Mount” legacy?.
This is her magnum opus Requiem, her eulogy for the slaughtered?
This is how Sarah weeps for the suffering of others?
This is what she thinks is appropriate compassion for the murdered, suffering and their families?
This is her public statement disavowing violence, hatred, and intolerance?
These are her words of comfort for the suffering and healing for the nation?
This is her moment of rebirth by realizing that words of violence can feed violence of forswearing the use of such words, as a moral, spiritual lesson learned?
Of course not we are talking about Sarah Palin.
The lesson she has learned is the importance of protecting her hate speech, and Tuff S to all of us that we don’t recognize that She can say anything she damned well pleases and the repercussions are not her responsibility.
In her reality, It is right and just that others should suffer and die so that she can continue to call down the violence that causes their suffering and death.
Oh, by the way Sarah, about that Right to Life thing you say you believe in? The Constitution specifically applies it to the living, the already born.
So when your freedom to call down hate and violence conflicts with other people’s right to remain alive, which right do you think should prevail?
Especially, if you happened to be the parents of a 9 year old child.
This is not Sarah’s Road to Damascus moment.
This speech is her Abraham and Isaac moment.
Only Sarah is not willing spare the life of the sacrificial child, as long as it is not her own. She is more than willing to allow have the child to be laid on the alter for her sake, and slain.
this is, evidently, also too, according to Sarah how she “celebrates the greatness of this country” and no one can stop her!
Strange how something can be heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.
The National 9/11 flag that was severely damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center and restitched using flags saved from the town of Greensburg, Kansas, which was almost completely destroyed by a tornado in 2008, will travel to Christina Green’s funeral. The New York Says Thank You Foundation displays the flag at events around the country and is sending it to Tucson with FDNY Firefighter Jimmy Sands.
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7861762-911-flag-will-honor-christina-greens-funeral
Palin and the Tea Party defenders are using an old lawyer’s trick – defining the question so the answer is what you want. An example is Palin’s use of the alleged Reagan quote to the effect that it is wrong to that that society is wrong, not the lawbreaker. I have not heard anyone say that the Arizona shooter isn’t at fault. No one excuses him. That, however, does not address the appropriateness of calling for “Second Amendment remedies”, armed insurrection, or the use of gunsights in political ads. I think a better way of looking at it would be to remember when you were a kid. Imagine sitting with your friends, complaining about a really mean old lady across the street who chased you out of her yard. You say, “wow, I wish she’d get hit by a truck.” Then you hear that the poor woman was killed that day in a traffic accident. Wouldn’t you feel bad? Shouldn’t you feel bad? When Palin, Bachman, Angle and their ilk “joke” about gunning down public officials, shouldn’t they feel bad when it happens? Well, its clear at least that Palin doesn’t. She just feels like the victim.
Framing an argument. She, nor her idiotic ghostwriter, can even do that. They’re like toddlers having tantrums and instead of flinging spaghetti on the walls/floor, they’re word-flinging hateful imagery and violent metaphors just to get attention and money. Awful self-serving people. Truly awful people.
The conservatively owned MSM, newspapers and the megacorporations that run the LameStreamMedia… of which $arah is a proud member… are just as culpable if not more than $arah. They give her a mega-platform for her every “lame” tweet, every “lame” backwash utterance she makes. We need to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
Hey, Lame Stream Media… you are lame
So is Barbra Walters I might add. She’s like a “John” who can’t wait for “his” next “date”.
Sarah Palin, what she lacks in education she more than makes up for in class!
😉
oh that’s a goody Dagian.
Bwahhaha.
I knew we could count on the Twit to dig her own trench – she is so predictable. I could have written her snotty speech for her. It’s really not hard at all. If I didn’t despise her so much, I’d make a Sarah the Twit board game but I really have so many better things to do. Can you say “Doomed”. I sure can.
Hey Twit – thanks for being locked into that dysfunctional personality order of yours to the point that no one, and no ambition of yours, can break out. You can still afford all your body upgrades though if you keep doing some screeches – your flying monkeys will continue to throw money at you so at least you have that. Climb into bed at night clutching your cold hard cash, and have all the sweet nightmares you want. Bye bye!
Shameful a public figure would add gas to a fire then deny accountability.
My thoughts are with Jeanne today as well. I am fortunate that my mother is still alive. I have been told that everything changes when you no longer have a mom you can call on the phone.
Yes, I have been thinking about Jeanne also. I just makes this all the more difficult.
This on Talking Points Memo:
“Sarah”
Josh Marshall | January 12, 2011, 9:27AM
“Today has been set aside to honor the victims of the Tucson massacre. And Sarah Palin has apparently decided she’s one of them.
And that is the quote of the day!
Scarah, always the victim and never the bride.
brilliant quote.
Many who would have defended Palin are disgusted by her latest including this one:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/
“At the same time, the shooting offers a useful moment for reflection about the potentially dangerous consequences of incendiary political rhetoric. Both political extremes are guilty, but, at least recently, the anger seems more pervasive and more white-hot on the right. “Don’t retreat, instead — reload.” “Second Amendment remedies.” “Take our country back.”
“But self-reflection is not a Palin instinct; lashing out at critics and presenting herself as aggrieved victim is. She took time to consider and craft her remarks. She could have used the opportunity to try to elevate the discourse. Instead, she further coarsened it. At a time the country is looking for words that heal, Palin chose to do what she does best: attack and provoke.”
Silly thought, I am guilty. But I think I need comic relief:
Remember “Dallas” when Pam see’s husband Bobby in the shower (whom she thought was dead) only to realize that the last year was a dream?
If I go take a shower, and come out, can the last 2 years and 5 month be erased and she was not picked by McCain and all of womanhood need not be embarrassed by her presence.
oh goodness me. how silly.
Not a silly thought at all…besides we would all be two years and 5 months younger!
Good one
But wait just a minute…would that mean that Bush was still President??? Sorry, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of returning to that horror!
Very true! But I think we traded one horror for another.
She may indeed be horrific and has divided this country like no other person in recent memory, but she has no power to actually do anything legislatively.
Can’t start wars (real ones at least), can’t destroy the economy, can’t piss off the rest of the world (well, maybe I need to rethink that one!), can’t sign bills that take away our privacy and allow torture, can’t abandon people in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane and flood…
Easy to solve, just make it a 10 year shower and Gore won 🙂
Now THAT I could live with!
Boy I loved that show even had to watch it while playing cards My sister-in- law and I both did.
President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” [from transcript provided by our dear Irishgirl @ 8]
“““““““““““““““`
I wanted to find the context in which this quote was made — was it re: the Iran-Contra hearings? The Gander Crash? The Challenger explosion? A speech to the NRA? A 60-minutes interview on the role of government regulations? IOW, when did he say this and why?
Apparently, I am not the only one who searched/is searching for the context. Apparently I am not the only one who is coming up totally empty on the search, either.
Funny — one would *think* such a profound statement by such a saint-of-the-right would be sourced. Somewhere. Anywhere! Alas, it isn’t, that I (or other seekers, today) can find; it just showed up one day (in 2006 is the earliest I can find it) and has ‘stuck’.
Not that it would change one iota of the utter disgust I feel for her in her “pity poor me, I’m the victim, here” vomitus, but I wonder if $Ps ghostwriter is privy to information on the Saint Ronnie quote source, that no one wlse is privy to? beth.
very interesting
Here it is Beth:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/palins_use_of_blood_libel_and.html
“This is a favorite quote of conservatives, as it speaks to individual responsibility. But few people remember when Reagan said it–or why.
The answer is July 31, 1968, at the platform hearings of the Republican convention in Miami that nominated Richard M. Nixon as the GOP candidate against then Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Reagan would not get elected until 12 years later, but his appearance before the platform hearings was a sensation and helped launch the fervor on the right that ultimately took him to the presidency.
But he made his remarks in the middle of a debate over the urban riots that had swept the nation in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Some in the party, such as New York Mayor John Lindsay, argued to the platform committee that policies that would help end poverty and racism were needed to stem urban violence. Reagan disagreed, saying society was not the root of crime and suggesting that Democrats had coddled criminals, ignoring the victims.”
Thanks, MUYS – you rock! Quite sad, though, she’d pick a quote from ’68 while totally ignoring all the quotes made while he was president and did things like create MLK Day as a federal holiday (even though he was adamantly against it and was, bascially, forced to do so by Congress, he DID acknowledge we ARE our brother’s keeper and ARE responsible for each other and our collective actions.) beth.
Another good article here on Palin.
“While lashing out at the idea that her “lock and load” rhetoric could contribute to any act of violence, Palin decried “irresponsible statements” and insisted that “each individual is accountable for his [or her] actions.” She characterized critics of her as guilty of “a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn.” Again, I’m a bit slow here. But let me see if I understand this. Palin’s words are obviously just words and could never ever influence anyone’s actions. But the words of her critics are irresponsibly provocative and have the power “to incite hatred and violence”?
My head is hurting. And I really must be out of it because I actually thought she was kidding when she patiently explained that “when we ‘take up our arms,’ we’re talking about our vote.” Ah, yes. It’s hard to see how anyone could have thought otherwise. Palin may often talk about “the right to bear arms,” but when she exhorts people to “take up arms,” she obviously means they should lift up their arms to pull the lever in their voting booths.”
Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/01/12/the-chutzpah-of-palin/#ixzz1AqOFrz2P
That was superb!
You’re not slow at all, Irishgirl- excellent points.
Let me see if I can clear this up for you, Irishgirl…
Palin = good
everything Palin says = good
anyone who disagrees with Palin = bad
everything those people say (even if it’s exactly the same words she uses) = bad
You’re trying to use logical thinking to understand $P when there IS no logic to what she says or does. Don’t try to make sense of the nonsensical…it will only make your brain sore!
(Maybe what she meant by the ‘taking up arms’ was that you’re supposed to write all your favorite candidates’ names on your arms before you go in the voting booth!)
excellent Irishgirl. Palin is a sickening, sad little nothing human and she represents the stupid and hateful. the problem is that she by herself is simply nothing. it is the people who back her and give her faux gravitas who are the true problems for us going forward. as i watch the corporate media redefine what has happened so as to remove themselves from any blame or responsibility i am disgusted, as i am by this bipartisan Boehner-Pelosi scam. i don’t want the senate holding any prayer meeting. i want them to go do their damned jobs by restoring monies for mentally ill people. the people who know the gunman all say that he was in need of help. there was no help. why? because the states have been cutting costs associated with social programs for years. so yes. psychopaths walk among us and psychopaths can buy assault weapons and ammunition and just go do what ever they please. that’s all right because then the victims can receive flowers that they can longer appreciate and cute little dolls for babies who never see them or play with them. i am fed up with hypocrites defending the indefensible.
Very true and we all know Ronald Reagan pushed them all out on the streets so society had to deal with them in an environment they couldn’t control,Seems to me the Virginia teck shooters family tried to get him help and could not.
yep. we keep seeing this sort of thing played out over and over again.
If gestures, images, and words of kindness, support, love, and faith make a difference, then how can anyone say that gestures and images and words of hate and violence make no difference?
This is a powerful picture of the former. Sarah Palin’s crosshairs fundraising picture will forever stand in many minds as an expression of the latter.
Palin is an adult with incredible financial assets and infouence. Consider what consequences can flow from, for example, a mere sketch by a schoolboy.
In 2001, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld a twelve-year-old’s certification of delinquency for having made a criminal threat to his teacher. The offense? Two crude pictures he drew in a school. You can see the pictures if you look at the appendix in Commonwealth v. Milo M., 433 Mass. 149 (2001). There were fairly dramatic criminal justice consequences for the child who drew those pictures.
Of course, Sarah Palin has been quoted as saying she does not believe in “coincidences.” One of the twenty people she (or one of her ghostwriters) widely proclaimed to have “targeted”–and one of only two public servants whom she broadcast had unsuccessfully thus been “targeted” for elimination from an elected seat–now has been shot in the head. The direct and collateral damage is too profound to be calculated.
In upholding the Massachusetts juvenile’s criminal convictions for two sketches depicting someone pointing a gun at a teacher, Justice Ireland wrote on behalf of the Court:
“[W]e face the important and troubling question whether, given recent, highly publicized incidents of school violence, a drawing that depicts a student pointing a gun at his teacher constitutes a threat. We conclude that it does. . . While the juvenile was awaiting the principal’s arrival to address with him ‘some issues from the previous day,’ a teacher at the school confiscated the [boy’s]drawing and showed it to the juvenile’s teacher. . . .[T]he juvenile left the desk, entered the classroom, took a piece of paper, returned to the desk in the hall and ‘proceeded to draw another picture.’ Moments later, the juvenile reentered the classroom and stood near the doorway. He held up the second picture, which depicted the juvenile pointing a gun at [a teacher] . . . [The teacher] could not see the drawing. However, after seeing the first drawing, and ‘[f]rom his posture, [and] the look on his face,’ [she] realized that the juvenile was very upset and very angry. Because she did not want the juvenile to approach her, she instructed him to give the drawing to another student, who then gave it to [her]. The juvenile returned to his desk in the hall without further comment. [The teacher] testified that, after seeing the second drawing, she became ‘apprehensive’ and ‘[a]fraid for [her] safety.’….
“The word ‘threatened’ is not defined in the Massachusetts threat statute. . . .However, ‘[t]he elements of threatening a crime include an expression of intention to inflict a crime on another and an ability to do so in circumstances that would justify apprehension on the part of the recipient of the threat.’. . . .As the juvenile concedes, the judge based his ruling on a finding that ‘it was reasonable to fear that the [juvenile] had the intention and ability to carry out the threat.’ This objective finding reflects the judge’s correct application of the law. . . .
“The juvenile also seems to argue that there was insufficient evidence to support the judge’s finding that the juvenile threatened [a teacher]. Specifically, the juvenile contends that the judge ‘had no evidence of [the juvenile’s] ability to commit the threatened crime before [him], and therefore, the trial court based its decision on insufficient evidence.’ . . .There was sufficient evidence to support the judge’s finding that the juvenile expressed an intent to commit the threatened crime and an ability to do so in circumstances that would justify apprehension on [the teacher’s] part. . . .In making this determination, we consider ‘the context in which the allegedly threatening [drawing was given to the teacher] and all of the surrounding circumstances.’ . . .
“The content of both drawings makes the juvenile’s intent to harm [the depicted teacher] clear. . . . The judge could have inferred the juvenile’s intent from the number of drawings. Third, the juvenile’s intent may be inferred from his very angry demeanor and defiant manner toward [the teacher] when he held out the drawing to her. . . . Thus, there was sufficient evidence to support the judge’s finding that the drawing was ‘an expression of an intention to harm [the person depicted and named].”. . . .As to the juvenile’s present ability to carry out the threat, the juvenile contends that ‘there was no direct evidence that the [juvenile] had the ability to commit this crime.’ There was, however, sufficient circumstantial evidence to support this finding. . . .Indeed, . . .held the second of two very violent drawings out to [the teacher] in an angry and defiant manner. . . . ”
“As Justice Ireland’s opinion further notes, quoting another Massachusetts case, “[w]hether the [juvenile] ultimately might not carry out the threat is not relevant to the question of the sufficiency of the Commonwealth’s proof that a threat was in fact made”. He also noted that judicial notice couls be taken of the “actual and potential violence” of the arena in which a threat is made. Surely the atmosphere of threats against these graphically-targeted legislators is at least as profound and “indisputably true” as such an atmosphere within a school or courthouse. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Harris, 383 Mass. 655, 656-657 (1981) (judicial notice “that threats of violent acts directed at court houses have given rise to an urgent need for protective measures”).
As the Court’s opinion concluded, citing another case, “judges cannot ignore what everybody else knows: violence and the threat of violence are present in the public schools. . . . [Others have] made similar threats . . . and [have] carried them out with tragic consequences. . .” In such circumstances, and in such a “climate of apprehension,” a victim’s fear that such a threat would be carried out is “quite reasonable and justifiable.” The “evidence, when viewed as a whole ‘may constitute the requisite expression [of intention to do bodily harm], and may indicate additionally, in these circumstances, ability and apprehension.'”
One hopes it is needless to add that the First Amendment “does not protect conduct [or words] that threatens another.” Commonwealth v. Robicheau, 421 Mass. 176, 183 (1995). See, e.g., Madsen v. Women’s Health Ctr, Inc., 512 U.S. 753, 773 (1994) (“threats . . . are prescribable under the First Amendment”).
Look at Sarah Palin’s money-seeking chart, replete with “targets” in cross-hairs–with or without considering the surrounding circumstances, including her mantra of “reloading.”
Look at the pictures which resulted in a twelve-year-old’s adjudication for criminal threats.
Who and what is more dangerous, and by what magnitude, in the circumstances surrounding the widespread “targeting” and incendiary, threatening speech directed at specific elected representatives? What are the expectations of an adult who has access to a broad public that necessarily includes a disturbed element? What should the consequences be for the person who generated, and sought to profit from, the former threats?
For this woman then to cast the response to her own money-grubbing actions in putting such threats out as a “blood libel” against her is so obscene as to defy the comprehension of any thinking human citizen.
It’s an astounding comparison.
amazing. thanks Quince.
Right on point, Quince.
Thank you for that Quince.
Outstanding comment, Quince!
In medical malpractice cases, punitive damages are often astoundingly higher than the medical compensation damages. It’s about time that politicians were held to a “standard of practice” in the Practice of Politics.
Although any medical malpractice event is horribly tragic, the effect is usually limited as far as absolute numbers of people. Politicians, especially ones on the national scene, can have a negative effect with their poor “standards of practice” which can affect literally millions of people. Mrs. Palin’s LIE about “Death Panels” which nearly derailed health care reform, and probably did result in its watering down, is a good example. How many patients/people has her LIE impacted in a negative way, even to the point of losing their lives because of lack of health care coverage or timely access to resources? Obviously there’s no way to really quantify this question, but the point is that politicians’ behavior and rhetoric can adversely affect millions of people.
Time to start holding these irresponsible partisan b*stards accountable. Beyond voting them out of office, the public needs to start holding them responsible in a court of law with the threat of punitive damages hanging over their heads. I’m sick and tired of the damage and havoc wrought by some of our politicians. The “body” of our country requires healthy “medicine” no less than the human body of a patient.
The look on Palin’s face on that video tells it all.. She is seething!!!!! Why Sarah? You know you blew it don’t you! As for McCain during the election—-he should have got rid of her a long time ago.
He still stands up for her, even through I don’t think he approves of what she is doing, but to say otherwise, would be a reflection on him. I don’t think Mcain’s daughter will shut her mouth– Nor will his wife Cindy.
Lets hope not both right now seem to be pretty open
If she was so confused or upset when she first heard the news of the shooting, why was her first instinct to take the map from SarahPAC page? (It’s still on her FB.)
Does anyone know just how quickly it came down? I have heard it was even before the White House released a statement. Is there a time stamp on her Facebook post that day?
I can’t decide if her speechwriters are trying to destroy her or if the cobbling together of fundamentalist catchwords results in rampant stupidity.
This was such an epic fail on so many levels.
Well, I guess she CAN’T fire Bristol or Willow!
Sullivan’s weighs in (as we knew he would):
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/palins-test.html
I just read that and wow. I was actually just about to post it myself. He nails it as only he can. I have already read many comments about her horrible response, but his is my favorite, so far.
One of my favorites too. Sullivan expressed so many thoughts poignantly and with measured passion.
Mr. Sullivan wrote a most excellent article. i hope it goes viral.
How is it apolitical if the intended target was a politician and the shooter was anti-government or at least a believer in conspiracy theories about the government?
Sarah Palin’s Arizona Shooting Statement Blasts Journalists & Pundits’ ‘Blood Libel’ (VIDEO) http://huff.to/dTgXPj
Part of Pain’s “speech”
Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congresswoman Gifford had publicly complained about Palin’s cross-hairs map and was looking for ways to end this terrible tone in politics, even reaching out the night before she was shot to a college.
Palin took every opportunity to “go after” congresswoman Gifford in THE most hateful ways, as she did with Obama in the ’08 campaign.
John McCain’s staff could not stop her, even after McCain ordered her to stop her hateful speech.
Gifford’s office (amongst MANY other Dems) was vandalized by gun fire immediately after the health care vote, yet Palin STILL put her on her cross-hairs map and bragged about it.
Gifford is seriously injured, a well respected judge and an innocent 9 year old child are amongst the dead, many are injured yet Palin is claiming that SHE is the victim?
Now wonder Palin quits every job she gets, perpetual victims do not last at anything.
Her TLC program helped her poll #’s go down because the more folks she her, the more they dislike her.
There is ALWAYS someone else to blame for Sarah, but considering these particular circumstances, claiming to be the victim is even WORSE than her hateful rhetoric in the first place.
Palin has just sung her swan song this time.
She’d have been better off staying silent, really.
I live in Tucson.
I teach at the school that monster happened to attend.
I work in the room I inherited from Pam Simon, aide wounded in the line of duty, upon her retirement. She was my department colleague her last year of teaching English.
This is my town, and I love it here. The true character thereof can be seen not in the monster’s face, or his action, but in the coming together I’ve seen over the last half-week.
I’m not going to the U for the memorial, because it will be a massive crush, but I’ll be watching on TV with a good friend coming over. She’s a teacher too.
I’ve despised Sarah Palin since 2008. My mother in law in Yuma, upon her emergence, asked me what I thought of her. “She’s fucking horrifying,” I said, and she made a face at me and changed the subject.
I am a Jew. Palin’s use of language strikes even me, a High-Holy Days Jew at best, as lip-curlingly revolting and tone-deaf. I’m sure Gabby Giffords, a fellow sister of the tribe, would wince to hear it. Fortunately, she WILL hear it.
Jackie—–thanks for the link (Gabrielle-Giffords -cousin) She is correct—Words do matter.
I am posting a link that I posted yesterday—–Words do matter. Well worth the read.
http://matthewdg.wordpress.com:80/2011/01/09/words-matter-and-they-can-hurt-even-kill/
What have we become?
Glock sales surge:
http://tinyurl.com/4p3jjl5
Another defender of Palin during the aftermath of Tucson’s tragedy is disgusted by her latest rant:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-12/sarah-palin-says-media-guilty-of-blood-libel-why-her-speech-was-wrong/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
Wow, Kurtz has done an about turn!
Sarah Palin is the most willfully and woefully ignorant and tone deaf public figure I have ever seen. Her statement today is ill-timed, pitiful in its content, disrespectful, angry and grossly inappropriate. If she had an ounce of humanity and humility she would have stepped aside today (afterall, she’s said nothing for four days, why not wait) and let the memorial, the victims and their loved ones and the president have the attention. Yeah right. Tune in tonight Mrs. Palin and see what compassion, decency and eloquence look like.
Why would she start that now? I mean, she’s attended other funerals and somehow made certain that she would at least be in the warm glow of lights & cameras. She certainly wouldn’t step aside for the funeral of some little girl, if she wouldn’t for the deaths of powerful adults!
She’s a Diva!!!!
I have to take issue with this statement. I think the definition of “diva” includes the idea that the person has talent, or skills. Not sure it applies in this instance.
Palin timed her statement to upstage the memorial service and the President’s speech. She is talented and has the skill to turn the attention to her and away from what we really should be focused on today. Timing and talking points, a true diva will do anything to get what she wants. And we are giving it to her even if she isn’t Maria Callas.
She’s a hack?
2. A worn-out horse for hire; a jade.
3.
a. One who undertakes unpleasant or distasteful tasks for money or reward; a hireling.
b. A writer hired to produce routine or commercial writing.
4. A carriage or hackney for hire.
Don’t forget, she was using her Blackberry during the last funeral.
No doubt she’ll do it again, too. Her adult clearly learned their manners from their parents examples.
I am sick of this “make believe elected official” using up good air time and getting this undeserved attention. So disrespectful. So delusional. Who is writing her dialog? We all know from those first few interviews that this woman is as bright as a chicken. All of her “lines” are being fed to her.
I guess she will continue to get attention from the media, because we respond to her.
From today’s Democracy Now headlines:
Family Friend of Slain Girl Remains Hospitalized
The memorial service with President Obama is one of a number taking place in Arizona and around the country. The youngest victim was nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, a third-grader recently elected to the student council at her elementary school. The husband of Susan Hileman, a family friend who escorted Christina to the event and was herself wounded in the shooting, said his wife remains in shock.
Susan Hileman: “I hear her in her semi-conscious ramblings screaming out, ‘Christina! Christina! Let’s get out of here! Let’s get out of here!’ And she keeps talking about the holding of hands and then the realization that she was on the ground and the bleeding was profuse. Her memory seems to end there.”
*****************
Sad beyond anyone’s imagination.
I can’t imagine what this woman is going through. There are so many times that I took along other children with mine when we went to all sorts of community events. Of course, it was not her fault, but how awful to always have that memory.
Wonkette does a good job with Palin’s latest:
http://wonkette.com/434921/sarah-palin-delivers-annual-state-of-hateful-reactionary
Take a look at Politico’s arena under Palin’s “blood libel” thread.
http://www.politico.com/arena/
Whoa. That was quite a read. Thank you!
I really and truly hope that this is Palin’s downfall, unfolding for all of us to see.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2011/01/sarah_palin_doesnt_get_it.html?hpid=topnews
Whoa…Palin bettered by Al Sharpton.
The world stopped spinning!
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2011/01/blood_libel_social_sin_and_sarah_palin.html
This is a good one. Please, join the forum and post.
Wallflower–noted and will happen. Thank you for passing along the information.
I’m sure most Mudpuppies have this already, but for those of us who can, and who want to make a tangible gesture on behalf of the congresswoman and the other victims but who can’t be in Arizona, here is the address of the food distribution program Gabby Giffords supports. I think donations on her behalf would make her happy and might even help the healing process:
Community Food Bank
3003 S Country Club Rd # 221
Tucson, AZ 85713-4084
(520) 622-0525
I saw a post that in 7 hours, $18,000 in donations was received by the food bank.
Just saw palin’s over rehearsed “blood libel” speech and saw the following at Politico. My first reaction was Giffords is Jewish….is palin really that stupid and insensitive to use such a hurtful term in connnection with the attempted murder of Giffords? What a robot.
““The blood libel is something anti-Semites have historically used in Europe as an excuse to murder Jews – the comparison is stupid. Jews and rational people will find it objectionable,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic political consultant and devout Jew. “This will forever link her to the events in Tucson. It deepens the hole she’s already dug for herself… It’s absolutely inappropriate.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/s…
“is palin really that stupid and insensitive to use such a hurtful term in connnection with the attempted murder of Giffords? ”
I know! It’s almost mind-boggling to realize that she IS that stupid and insensitive! But I guess we should look no further than her portraying herself as the victim this weekend.
So much for being Margaret Thatcher-tough (and smart). [I’m no fan of Thatcher, but she was tough-minded AND smart. Just wrong.]
“This will forever link her to the events in Tucson”
The Republicans have been desperately trying to pin a Katrina moment onto Our President.
Looks like this is Palin’s. And she’ll never rid herself of it.
Maybe we Alaskans will finally get a break from our karmic unbalance.
With as many times has she’s tried to use that gun imagery–“she can even field dress a moose!”–with her father’s “she’s not retreating, she’s reloading,” etc., she’ll be forever tied to this incident, no matter what her idiot supporters, handlers try to do.
This Lunatic Fringe imagery:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wkgIzuqJM0w/TSwk6xq0EKI/AAAAAAAAIBs/LhxmHg0OJLk/s1600/SARAH+PACK.jpg
and The Stranger cover:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d4ad6QlLNEE/TS1SNsQf5mI/AAAAAAAAA0w/6M2EJQ6gNB4/s400/thumb-1294783164-crosshairsstrangercover.jpg
with the attempts/assassinations will always be linked to her.
In fact, I’d suggest her political opponents put together a video of her speeches/tweets/facebook postings mentioning guns, shooting, targets, etc. I’m sure Mitt or Huckabee would pay for that.
The people at PG are likely to be the only others to do this.
More commentary from The Washington Post.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/sarah-palin-responds-pundits-s.html?hpid=topnews
I love how Palin is trying to blame the words of the media for escalating violence thus agreeing with the point that words matter. Thanks Sarah for seeing the light (NOT). Yes darling, your words matter because you walked through that opened door to celebrity and have minions that listen to your hate-filled speeches and read your violence-laced FB and Twitter rants. Yes, Sarah honey, you must be held accountable for your violent rhetoric.
Can I ask something? How come “words matter” when someone is calling her little baby who has down’s syndrome, retarded? But words don’t matter when you put up gun sights on a map of Congressional Districts of members of Congress and tell people to RELOAD? Huh?
Someone else’s comment I have been using today….
Lilybart, she only made that up. No one called her? baby retarded – if I remember rightly, Levi said she was the one who called the little fellow retarded.
When the shooting in Arizona occured, most Americans thought of Palin’s gunsight map targeting 20 members of Congress. No matter how Palin denies it, she is permanently associated with that map and all our memories of her violent campaign rhetoric. Palin is a media creation, a vapor of images. She wanted to live and prosper by the media, and now it has turned on her. Palin is now toxic, to both Republicans and Democrats.
Honestly, she thought it was just peachy from March 2010 – 7 Jan 2011. I guess it underscored how she was “gutsy” and “rill”, among other things. But now? Well…now she (or her minions) scurry about squeaking that those were surveyor marks all along.
Gutless heartless soulless unapologetic common dim-witted classless irresponsible lying purveyor of dreck.
She can’t deny the fact that she or her staff took the map down within minutes of the event. If they didn’t think it was inappropriate why take it down so quickly?
My answer: They knew that they had put crosshairs on one of the victims. They also knew folks would be talking about it.
Absolutely true.
Sarah Palin Accuses Journalists Of ‘Blood Libel,’ Calls Loughner ‘Apolitical’ (VIDEO)
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/sarah-palin-accuses-journalists-of-blood-libel-calls-loughner-apolitical-video.php?ref=fpa
definition of “Blood Libel” (which i didn’t know):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel
Maybe it would have been a good idea for her ghost writer to have googled this phrase before using it.
He/she knew exactly what it means, and how it would be received. The WGE on the other hand, is so clueless she went ahead and said it.
An excellent blog that refutes (and yes, I used that word correctly!) the idea that the left and right are equally to blame for the increase in violent rhetoric.
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2011/01/lets-get-this-straight.html
That was an excellent read.
Thanks for this link – a great article!!
Excellent, should be required reading.
Comments are an equally good theraputic read.
loved this! outstanding article. this lady can write!!!
Thank you for keeping us informed while AKM is away.
I’m not quite sure where I got the link. “All Sarah All The Time” made a self serving statement that will pull at your heartstrings. Help, Help, Help!!!!!
Here is the full transcript as I do not want to link to the site where it was posted.
Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sympathy.
I agree with the sentiments shared yesterday at the beautiful Catholic mass held in honor of the victims. The mass will hopefully help begin a healing process for the families touched by this tragedy and for our country.
Our exceptional nation, so vibrant with ideas and the passionate exchange and debate of ideas, is a light to the rest of the world. Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to exchange ideas that day, to celebrate our Republic’s core values and peacefully assemble to petition our government. It’s inexcusable and incomprehensible why a single evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day.
There is a bittersweet irony that the strength of the American spirit shines brightest in times of tragedy. We saw that in Arizona. We saw the tenacity of those clinging to life, the compassion of those who kept the victims alive, and the heroism of those who overpowered a deranged gunman.
Like many, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event.
President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.
The last election was all about taking responsibility for our country’s future. President Obama and I may not agree on everything, but I know he would join me in affirming the health of our democratic process. Two years ago his party was victorious. Last November, the other party won. In both elections the will of the American people was heard, and the peaceful transition of power proved yet again the enduring strength of our Republic.
Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.
There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.
As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.” Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences respectfully at the ballot box – as we did just two months ago, and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next. That’s who we are as Americans and how we were meant to be. Public discourse and debate isn’t a sign of crisis, but of our enduring strength. It is part of why America is exceptional.
No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults.
Just days before she was shot, Congresswoman Giffords read the First Amendment on the floor of the House. It was a beautiful moment and more than simply “symbolic,” as some claim, to have the Constitution read by our Congress. I am confident she knew that reading our sacred charter of liberty was more than just “symbolic.” But less than a week after Congresswoman Giffords reaffirmed our protected freedoms, another member of Congress announced that he would propose a law that would criminalize speech he found offensive.
It is in the hour when our values are challenged that we must remain resolved to protect those values. Recall how the events of 9-11 challenged our values and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security. And so it is today.
Let us honor those precious lives cut short in Tucson by praying for them and their families and by cherishing their memories. Let us pray for the full recovery of the wounded. And let us pray for our country. In times like this we need God’s guidance and the peace He provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves, or weaken our solid foundation, or provide a pretext to stifle debate.
America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country. May God bless America.
In other words, “It wasn’t my fault…Saint Ronnie said so!!!!”
She makes me positively ill.
From the Guardian:
Four days after an incident which left six people dead and critically injured the congresswoman Gabriel Giffords, Palin released a video statement condemning the attack.
She denied that a now infamous campaign map showing Giffords’ electoral district in the crosshairs of a gun had influenced the shooter Jared Lee Loughner.
In an attack on her accusers, she said: “Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”
Palin’s bizarre use of language is sure to provoke further controversy – a blood libel refers to the false claim that Jews murder children to use in religious rituals. Giffords is Jewish.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/12/sarah-palin-response-arizona-shooting
“In an attack on her accusers, she said: “Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”
Palin’s bizarre use of language is sure to provoke further controversy – a blood libel refers to the false claim that Jews murder children to use in religious rituals. Giffords is Jewish.”
Palin is ignorant of that fact. We all know it. She thought it sounded catchy though and demonstrated her usual level of interest and competence in researching a topic before speaking about it. History is her passion, right? I mean, she knows all about de Tocqueville’s take on America.
Whoever wrote this You Tube speech didn’t have any idea about the history of “blood libel”- and neither did Palin. She’s great at reading off a teleprompter, or her hand, but she doesn’t know anything about editing or research.
And of course all hip, savvy politicians make important commentaries on You Tube, or Facebook or Twitter.
The contempt I have for this horrible woman has only grown.
Palin’s assertion that, “Acts of montrous criminality begin and end with the criminal” is false. Americans do not now and never have believed that crap. Our Scots-Irish ancestors came to this country because of violent rhetoric in Northern Ireland and the associated violence directed at irish political and religious leaders.
In our lives today, the whole point of a loving, moderate, tolerant, caring, and literate community church is to support and nurture the fabric of the community around us. Most Americans hope for similar civility, respect, and tolerance in the political setting of our neighborhoods. I thought Palin was all about church. Apparently not.
In our families today, as a parent, if your words lay a toxic and violent environment in the family, if your words are bullying and violent, or if your words are disrespectful, then Americans believe your children are likely are likely to act out what they see and hear. In our daily lives as parents, we see and understand the direct linkage between family violence, bullying, and violence toward innocent victims in our schools, neighborhoods, and communities. As parents, we are concerned for our childrens’ peer groups, and clearly understand how peer pressure, including violent peer language, can lead a child to violence.
When a political candidate lays out a map with gunsights targeting 20 congressional districts and uses violent rhetoric inviting citizens to “aim” and to “reload”, and her supporters repeat all that violent rhetoric, then it is no different than the language of pre-war Nazi Germany, and Americans certainly do assign responsibility and accountabilty to those German leaders for their words. It is distressing for us to hear Palin’s violent language, and we rightfully worry whether the susceptible will follow her.
When Palin tries to deny accountability for her own actions and words, then she loses credibility with American families. You reap what you sow.
She is terrifyingly clueless….
or…”It’s ok to use violent rhetoric! The Founding Fathers wanted us to!”
Irishgirl, you deserve a gold star for transcribing her message. There is no way can I watch that woman. Even reading her speech made me feel queasy.
Nevertheless, we must remain informed about her. Her followers seem devoid of rational thought and cannot be reasoned with. They will no more admit that incitement to violence is her trademark than they will admit that they themselves are driven by irrational fears.
That is what makes her so dangerous to the rest of us.
It was transcribed already. I just copied and pasted as I know a lot of people can’t bear to listen to her.
I’d be one of those. She has the kind of voice that sticks in your head and I have better things to be sticking there!
Funny, her choice of the word “shrill.”
Bet her telepromter said “screech” and she made an “executive” decision to “reload” that word and “shoot” out “shrill” just to mess with Obama.
You may be right, dreamgirl, but I don’t think she has the intellectual capacity to make a word change while reading.
Her Facebook followers are absolutely gushing over this. So sad they will never see the light.
She finally found a writer! She certainly didn’t write that speech.
Probably Koch Bros. or Murdock.
It read like someone from the Aryan Nation wrote it. “Blood libel” indeed. Shameful, shameful language from a shameless clueless person.
As a nation mourns six lives cut short and prays for the restored health of twelve injured, cro$$hair$-death-panel Paylin considers herself and only herself. I have something to say to her: shut your hate-filled cookie hole you lying Murdoch sniper.
Would someone please turn off the stage lights and cut the power to her microphone?! Out, damned egomaniac!
“To all things there is a season.” I long for the season of peace.
Yes-“To all things there is a season.” of which she-who-should-not EVEN be acknowledged on today of all days. ( )… ) (… ( ) me shaking head…B*..on second thought.. no comment
Sorry.. I too long for a season of peace.. I just thought that maybe for today she would have kept to herself..but nooooo she just could not have today be about those who are suffering..again (shaking head)
I would prefer a moment of silence; Palins evoking prayer makes me sick
from her hypocrisy, her referencing prayer gives it a feeling of evilness .
Palin has posted a video regarding the Arizona massacre. It goes on for over 7 minutes and she is reading from a teleprompter. She takes absolutely no responsibility for her rhetoric and the whole thing is rather sickening.
http://vimeo.com/18698532
I’m as disgusted as you are. This woman has no shame. It is no coincidence that the video is released this morning before Pres. Obama’s trip to Tucson. It is so obvious and silly but I am afraid some people will fall for it.
Poor Sarah, always the victim never the leader. Read Greg Sargent’s take on her comments:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/ (you may have to scroll to find it but it was his lead on today’s blog.)
No, it’s right at the top of the screen (it’s 9.34 EST)
Now she gets to make up a new meaning for ‘blood libel’. Can’t wait.
(BTW, when grabbing stuff from blogs like the Wash Monthly, if you click ‘permalink’ at the bottom of the post, it will give you a page with just that article to share.)
As a member of the tribe of Abraham, I find her use of the term “blood libel” particularly reprehensible. Shame on whatzername!
and might I inform her, also, too, that members of my tribe have been victims of much fear-mongering and hate-mongering down through the ages, but we are not Victims. We are Survivors. BIG difference. It’s that do unto others Social Justice thing we work for and that works for us…Just sayin’.
Wait. You’ll confuse her. Isn’t that “do unto others” thing from Jesus?????????? And doesn’t it only apply to Rill Kristchuns?
I don’t blame you for finding this remark reprehensible, but as a Christian, I find it reprehensible, too. No real Christian would have ever said something like this now, or in its original meaning. This just lumps her in there with all those fake kristchuns that were trying to get rid of the “other.”
{{{{{ Baker’s Dozen }}}}}
I love the fact that the national news is FINALLY getting it that Palin sees herself as the victim. This is nothing new to us in Alaska – she has ALWAYS played ‘the victim’. Just happy to see everyone else is finally catching on!
I detest the fact she is sucking the air out of what just occurred in Tucson. And, I can hardly wait to hear the words of President Obama at the service today. God, do we need him!
She is the personification of revolting:
Revolting governorship,
revolting ethics,
revolting parenting,
revolting “inciting to violence” language,
revolting hypocrisy,
revolting book “writer” (haha)… need I go on?
But of course. Everything’s always all about her, dontcha know?
Bleh….
I refuse to watch it. There is simply not enough Pepto-Bismol in the world to quell the nausea that would result.
Me too. The clip I saw and read was more than enough.
How horribly disrespectful to release this on the day of the memorial service here in Tucson. After 4 days, this is what we get? Sarah playing the victim, again? Trying to upstage the services today and the President? Disgusting. I hope the media somehow finds a way to ignore her on this solemn day as we remember our true victims
The photo is beautiful and the sentiments behind the flowers and gifts are touching, but I hope the people who contributed to the memorial and those of us who view it with loving hearts will go beyond just the tangible. I hope each and every one of us does one meaningful thing to reverse the trend to violence and the fears or anger that manifest tragedies such as this.
Please drop over to IM and read what Rep. Gifford’s cousin wrote to Sarah Palin. It is a moving letter that I think should touch the heart of even the most callous politician or citizen. It is simple and non-accusatory, but very effective, in my opinion.
I hope we each do what we can to get semi-automatic weapons, multi-bullet clips and armor-piercing bullets out of reach of disturbed individuals. Hunters don’t need them. Law-abiding individuals don’t need them. What we need is reasonable gun laws and more law enforcement officers. We need to trust in our system and those who protect us. Peace be with us all.
Sunflower, do you have the link?
Here’s the IM link for Gabrielle’s cousin’s letter.
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2011/01/rep-gabrielle-giffords-cousin-has.html
Excellent letter and excellent comments.
the Immoral Minority, http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/
She didn’t hold back. Good for her.
I have written letters to Begich and Murkowski and Young. I am working on more. We need to flood all of conress with letters and e-mails and phone calls to take action.
Last night on MSNBC it was reported that the NRA announced that “any response to this tragedy beyond praying is inappropriate”. That sounds like a challenge to me. I immediately sat down and wrote my letters. I told our delegation that I do not want to be held hostage by the NRA.
People everywhere are talking about this. Now is the time to bring rational gun control back into the public discourse.
Are we forgetting that the true victim in all of this is Sarah Palin? Her latest FB post:
http://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-palin-americas-enduring-strength-2011-1
Wonder who she paid to write that for her………………………
I think they pay her to say their words.
The main argument I have against what ‘she’ (yeah, I know!) wrote is that she claims that the angry words and arguments are packed up in a box after the election and put away until next time. Apparently, we all hold hands, sing Kumbaya and get down to the job of running the country.
“And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere”
Clearly, members of Congress as well as many governors, state and local legislators of the Republican persuasion have not read that particular memo. Once the Dems got into office, those on the right in both politics and the media have done everything in their power to block, obstruct and destroy all accomplishments of any kind, even those they proposed and previously supported themselves…and then bragged about it. They have gleefully sacrificed the wellbeing and security of our nation and its citizens for their own political motives. They have done everything in their power to demonize the opposition and paint them as un-American enemies, seeking to destroy the country. This is NOT ‘getting back to work’ and ‘finding common ground’.
As for the reference to working out disagreements with dueling pistols? Yeah, in the past women couldn’t vote or own property, children were forced to work in factories, manufacturers were allowed to place their workers in situations that inevitably led to injuries or death, and people were allowed to own slaves. Of course, somewhere along the way we realized that these things were inherently WRONG and set about changing them. Unfortunately, it all too often takes the death of innocent people to teach us that lesson. Let’s hope that the victims of the Tucson tragedy and their families have not suffered in vain.
“…she claims that the angry words and arguments are packed up in a box after the election and put away until next time. Apparently, we all hold hands, sing Kumbaya and get down to the job of running the country.”
This threw me off also – does that mean none of the crap I remember her sprouting between December 2008 and June 2010 (the NON-campaign season) didn’t happen?
Oops!! I meant:
the crap I remember … didn’t happen?
That depends.
IF…you’re one of the delusional loons from her ever-shrinking base, it all DID happen and she’s still that tough, caribou-shootin’, moose-huntin’, halibut-clubbin’ grizzly mama who is the ONLY person who can save this country from that Kenyan-born, secret Muzzlim, so-shalist Hussein guy who’s out to destroy this country.
IF…you’re sane, reasonable, intelligent, educated and compassionate, then no, she didn’t say ANY of that stuff and you’re just makin’ stuff up again. Ohhhh, no, don’t start pulling out those videotapes, transcripts and facebook postings ’cause they’re all fake and just created to make her look bad.
I know…it’s confusing, but welcome to Crazy Town!
Sarah Palin and John McCain never got over the fact that they lost the election to an intelligent, clever, calm black man! They both have worn their obscene sense of entitlement on their sleeves since that November night in 2008. He wears his resentment and anger for all to see, obstructing even legislation that he once sponsored. She, lacking even the veneer of culture or common sense, has reverted to her “barracuda” persona, blaming everyone else when things don’t go her way. Let us all turn our backs and our attention from this woman, for she has no relevance in a civilized society. My personal mantra is now going to be SARAH WHO?
Palin’s Facebook video (just in time before Pres. Obama’s address) is simply disgusting and a silly attempt at deflecting blame. Not a word about Rep. Giffords. Too little too late I am afraid.
yep,yep,yep!
I wonder what the Americans who also happen to be Muslim would have to say about her “victimhood”. How about those who happen to look like “a terrorist”?
“‘Sikh man killed in Mesa, Arizona in hate crime,’ she says. “His name was Balbir Singh Sodhi. He was murdered in front of his gas station by a man who called himself a patriot. He was the first of an estimated 19 people killed in the aftermath of 9/11.”
I really, really hope that this is the final nail in Palin’s coffin of political and “professional” aspirations.
They have already been saying things on my twitter acct a picture of a woman I assume is a Muslim said if a Muslim did this they would be called a terrorist and those who espoused the violence would be condemned like Bin Laudin is.(SP) Never spell his name right. But ya get the point everyone blames him even thought others flew the planes on 9/11
What a massive, steaming, putrifyingly odiferous pile of…you know.
MOOSE NUGGETS comes to mind!
None of that sounds like anything Sarah Palin has ever written or said. As they pointed out on MSNBC, her use of the term blood libel is ill-advised and just in poor taste. She never gets it right, does she?
I read Sarah’s posting first, and there was much to disagree with, so I decided to check out her delivery. Maybe she SHOWS some genuine remorse or feeling over her share of angry words in the past two years, when she should have been looking for ‘common ground’. I made myself listen to her all the way through and I was left with the thought – ‘She doesn’t even make a good actress!’ I noted very little sincerity. She seemed like an actress who has not yet identified with her role, but is trying to stress what she considers are meaningful words. NOTHING in this woman’s manner or words moves me! Is she for real?
[not a good governor, parent, politician, reality star, and now actress – where does her strength really lie, I wonder? And don’t say in lying – she must have a positive strength somewhere!]
I am an English teacher and everyone has an individual “voice” that clearly shows through in their writing. I said immediately that message was not written by Palin. Only a hint of “her voice” came out near the end.
Her reading of the message made it even more clear that the words were not her own. She had obvious difficulty carefully articulating words she does not use. I suspect she did not clearly understand that “blood libel” was a very loaded term packed with a lot of ugly historical imagery. If she did know, and used it anyway, she is dumber than I previously thought.
Poor Sarah is a victim – of her own self-pity and stupidity.
I am so sorry that I don’t know how to put a direct link for you, but I had read something in Vanity Fair Daily that might answer some of the questions about the curious use of “Blood Libel” I did a cut n’ paste.
According to Politico’s Ben Smith, “it typically refers historically to the alleged murder of Christian babies by Jews, and has been used more recently by Israeli’s supporters to refer to accusations against the country.”
More recently, as Smith observes, journalist Glen Reynolds of Instapundit used the term, in the very context Palin did, in a Wall Street Journal editorial published on January 10. “I don’t necessarily know that Palin picked up the phrase from me,” Reynolds told Smith. “I think a lot of people in the blogosphere were using that description.”
It is Palin’s invocation of the term, though, that’s made headlines. The Guardian reports: “Palin’s bizarre use of language is sure to provoke further controversy—a blood libel refers to the false claim that Jews murder children to use in religious rituals. Giffords is Jewish.” The New York Times generously suggests that Palin was “inventing a new definition for an emotionally laden phrase.” This claim checks out: Palin’s greatest post-political joy is the retroactively intentional coining of new words and phrases. “Blood libel” is currently trending on Twitter, suggesting that she has not lost her neologistic touch.
Now if I may: I do believe the Wall Street Journal connection is key. I believe ‘someone’ realized she was in trouble and wrote this speech for her.
Another well thought out column about spreading the hate and fear and the natural consequences of such actions:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/before-hatred-comes-fear/?hp
Interesting read over at DK.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/11/935554/-So-why-*wasnt*-this-a-Second-Amendment-remedy
The comments are also well worth reading on this one too. Cons and Baggers are going to have trouble with answering this one to the satisfaction of most Americans.
No amount of image rehab is going to help when the McCain PR and her own people put out so many “tough” Palin photos:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2011/01/lunatic-fringe.html
Then she has to shoot every thing in sight in her “unreality” show, with the help of her AIP-loving family.
Too late. It’s out of the tube, no shoving the toothpaste back in.
It sure has been a difficult week. Sure hope AKM is doing well. I’m sure this mess just makes it even more painful.
(((((((((AKM and Family)))))))))
Thank you for this vision of the compassionate side of Arizona and its peeps. I was encouraged that there is now legislation in place to keep the Westboro B. Church away from the funerals, giving us a little bit of common ground with Arizona’s governor.
That indeed is the best news. Maybe other states will be able to block them in the same way and render them irrelevant in the future. I’m sure that if the take it to court, they’d likely win the right to be there, but in the meantime, these families and friends might be allowed to mourn without their horrendous presence.
Some radio programs in Phoenix offered them airtime if they stayed away from the little girl’s funeral. I’m not sure that it was worth the tradeoff. They can get their message out to that many more people be spewing on the radio.