Palin's hyperbole gets congresswoman 'target' killed?
Sat, 01/08/2011 - 3:28pm
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords reported shot in Arizona, was on Palin's "target" map http://tinyurl.com/2546hbz
Sun, 01/09/2011 - 9:06am
#2
Point taken.
Disregarded.
Not comparable.
"Critics suggested at the time that she was inciting violence by using the crosshairs imagery and for later writing on Twitter to her supporters, "'Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!'"
"Around the time of the Palin post, Giffords's district office was vandalized with a window being shot out. CBS News's Jill Jackson reported at the time that staffers were "kind of shaken up" after receiving numerous threats including "nasty language, foul language."
Sun, 01/09/2011 - 11:25am
#3
The verdict is still out on this.
I suppose as soon as his lawyers get to him, which I'm sure they already have, we won't be hearing too much from the shooter. But I'd be very curious to know his specific reasons for what he did.
I don't think you can totally blame Palin on this but I think we could say she is a part in it as much as Abbie Hoffman is. I agree that this is different than the Judas Priest thing if for anything we're comparing Art with Politics and Suicide with Homicide. Art is subversive by definition in my opinion. The original idea of what Politics (and I'm not saying this is what they have become) is supposed to be is a more scientific approach to government: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics . Political theater has now become politics and I think this is where the danger comes from.
Sun, 01/09/2011 - 12:04pm
#4
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It would be way more comparable if Rob Halford had sung "I have a map with gun scope cross lines on it, and you Dan Doodle are in one of those sights." and then Dan Doodle had been shot.
People advocating the murder of Assange and this psycho woman making a map that has fucking gun sites on it with people's names listed is not art.
Sun, 01/09/2011 - 2:53pm
#5
EDITED: People who want to empty a
People who want to empty a gun at themselves or others will always find an "inspiration" to do so. We're not talking a mass violent movement, here. We're talking about a mentally ill person who open fired on a crowd at a political event. Spending any significant time on whether Palin was a catalyst for the shooter just seems a bit ridiculous. The Judas Priest accusations and the Palin accusations are similar because they are laughable.
The rhetoric directed at Assange by Huckabee, Lowry and others is a completely different--overtly violent, a direct plea for the government to assassinate/execute someone.
Mon, 01/10/2011 - 2:14am
#6
Bee K
I am not convinced that Palin's hit list map is not a direct plea for the people to assasinate/execute someone(s).
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 6:01pm
#7
I just caught this. If people
I just caught this. If people think that Palin made a direct plea to assassinate someone, and if they think this reflects alarmingly on how she would act as president, then they should probably turn their sights towards the unconstitutional assassination orders being given by our current president. If Obama isn't held accountable for his frightening expansions of executive power, the groundwork will be laid for whatever right wing boogey(wo)man gets elected to do their business. In a future where Palin is president, Obama seems to be making her job a lot easier.
This is what people neglect to mention in their critiques of Palin...her potential for destruction as a future president is dependent on the executive expansions of power and influence that previous presidents leave for her.
Personally, I don't see her becoming president. But I could see a Republican president who is just as dangerous, but not a blatant idiot.
Mon, 01/10/2011 - 3:53am
#8
I don't think he carried out
I don't think he carried out the attempted assassination because she voted for the healthcare bill, which was the purpose of the graphic. There are reports he met her in 2007 at a similar event and didn't like her. He doesn't seem to fit in the liberal/conservative spectrum- he's more of an extreme libertarian/anarchist type.
I'm more disgusted that Palin is trying to pretend she didn't mean what she said. Those are obviously targets, but I think she was just trying to keep up her image as the "Gun-totin' Mama Grizzly" and wasn't specifically calling for those Congress people to be taken out. She's been perfecting this persona for the past two years, she can't try to run from it now. The fact that she's trying to hide the evidence on her website just makes her look even worse (Not to mention- its the internet, even if she takes it down- it won't go away).
She likes to use this rhetoric because it drives her critics crazy and it gives her even more media time. I think she just put it out there to be controversial. Especially since her reality show revealed her outdoors woman persona was an act.
Tue, 01/11/2011 - 10:10am
#9
In my opinion, it's more of a
In my opinion, it's more of a gun control issue/mental health issue. In that sense it is a political issue. The guy should have never been allowed to have a gun. This is not to say he wouldn't have been able to get one otherwise but he might not have. I also believe in the campaign to outlaw these oversized clips. Sort of a morbid thought but it could have meant a few more lives saved.
Mon, 01/10/2011 - 3:24pm
#10
A few bloggers I read have
A few bloggers I read have pointed to this article, which brings up some excellent points regarding this incident.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10douthat.html
I should point out that I don't agree with the conclusion. "There is no faction in American politics that actually wants its opponents dead?" Really? Douthat seems to suggest that no politician in America harbors lethal fantasies about their political opponents, or that they would act upon them given the chance. I think this is a bit exceptionalist. I have no doubt that our government harbors some politicians who, given the right climate, could be a modern Goebbels.
But again, the first part of the article is enlightening.
Tue, 01/11/2011 - 11:14am
#11
She's clearly all broken up about it
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 5:19am
#12
Can't she even google?
"Blood Libel"
Pro-Israel lobby group J Street said in a statement that it hoped Ms Palin would retract her comment and choose a "less inflammatory choice of words".
"The term 'blood libel' brings back painful echoes of a very dark time in our communal history when Jews were falsely accused of committing heinous deeds," the group said.
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 10:14am
#13
Palin's response
I don't know about the blood libel thing but I find it wild how rapidly she moves from compassion for the victims to defensiveness and then political rhetoric. I felt a twinge when she mentions her, "...beautifu catholic mass..." I personally find these religious distinctions in bad taste. I do like that she finally said at the end that people must use their vote, not violence, to change things. I fee like the speech rapidly moves into almost a campaign speech. I found it pretty tacky, for lack of a better word. I do not agree with her statement that heinous acts begin and end with the perpetrator. I don't think you can fully blame this act on anyone. But I don't think the correct response is "There's always going to be nuts. Whadda ya gonna do?" I believe more than ever this is an opportunity to talk about how we view guns and mental disorders in this country. Hmmm maybe there's a connection there?
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 11:58am
#14
It gets worse
Obama's reaction was even more offensive:
"[Senseless violence] has no place in free society."
Really. Do drones have senses?
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 5:50pm
#15
The Washington Post
As Obama urged unity, Palin brought division
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/13/AR201101...
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 5:28pm
#16
That's why...
...they use drones outside "free society"!
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 6:11pm
#17
What kind of unity does Obama urge?
Unity with Ralph Nader?
Unity with Chris Hedges to put our bodies on the line in protest to the wars?
Unity with the Iraq veterans that march and protest against the war?
Unity with all those that were against the bank owners and CEOs getting billions of our tax dollars?
Unity with all the underemployed and unemployed that are tired of Obama's hollow words?
or just unity in that we all support him and his careering?
Unity that violence is not the answer I am all for, but that would not mean unity with Obama.
Let's quit killing children in Iraq.
Let's unite under that cause Barack.
Let's close our military bases in the Middle East.
Let's unite under that cause Barack.
Let's eradicate the Federal Reserve.
Let's unite under that cause Barack.
Let's quit causing pain and suffering all over the globe.
Let's unite under that cause Barack.
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 11:31pm
#18
When people defend our
When people defend our government by saying "Well it WORKS". Great. Smacking them upside the head works in that it makes me feel better.
Fri, 01/14/2011 - 8:58am
#19
I feel sorry for Obama
I mostly believe this:
"I have this feeling that whoever's elected president, like Clinton was, no matter what promises you make on the campaign trail - blah, blah, blah - when you win, you go into this smoky room with the twelve industrialist, capitalist scumfucks that got you in there, and this little screen comes down... and it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before, which looks suspiciously off the grassy knoll.... And then the screen comes up, the lights come on, and they say to the new president, 'Any questions?'
'Just what my agenda is.'
-Bill Hicks.
Judas Palin!