From all accounts U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is a moderate Democrat (or Blue Dog) who recently made very public stands attacking Barack Obama for not securing our borders--not the type of liberal, elitist posing as a politician that could would even be in far-Right crosshairs or even in their afterthoughts. But if you're an idiot douchebag like Moulitsas Markos and all the rest of his lemmings at Daily Kos, why let something liek facts get in the way of smearing Sarah Palin. It's who they are:
Some prominent liberal bloggers wasted little time before politicizing the horrific and tragic shooting of a congresswoman in Arizona on Saturday.UPDATE: Turns out that one the Dauly Kos's own writers recently wrote a scathing piece attacking Giffords for being "too conservative". Hypocrite much?
Almost immediately after the nation learned of the shooting of Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and several others (including a federal judge), a few prominent liberal web writers sought to blame Sarah Palin and other conservatives for the action.
Linking to a map of U.S. House districts that Sarah Palin's pac wanted to "target" during the 2010 mid-term elections -- which sadly included crosshairs over Rep. Giffords' district (among others) -- DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas Tweeted, "Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin."
The liberal blog Firedog Lake also went there.
(Palin has deleted the image from her website, and issued a short statement on the shooting, writing on her Facebook page: "My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice."
Liberal blogger Matthew Yglesias Tweeted out several other examples of "violent rhetoric," including Rep. Michele Bachman saying, "I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous" to block climate change legislation.
A few personal observations...
First, it is sad to see folks immediately politicize such a tragedy. If your first response to such an event is to think of Sarah Palin, something is wrong.
Like it or not, the sort of rhetoric and imagery employed by Palin's PAC is not terribly unusual. Politicians constantly talk about "targeting" voters -- does anyone think they want to shoot them? Political consultants tell politicians to "hunt where the ducks are, " but they certainly don't mean to shoot voters. Ironically, Moulitsas has also previously urged his readers to "target" Giffords and put a "bulls eye" on her district because she "sold out the Constitution..."
To be sure, it is possible for a politician to use words to incite violence, but putting a target on a congressional district is clearly not an example of that.
Our culture is full of rhetoric that uses violent analogies for everyday events. Here is a headline I just pulled up: "Aaron Rodgers in the Eagles' Crosshairs...Literally." (Here's another: Lindsay Lohan in Sheriff's Crosshairs, Calif. Investigators Ask ..." (Clearly, we had better hope nothing happens to the Aaron Rodgers or Lindsay Lohan in the near future).
It's also worth noting that the majority of the most egregious comments were made on Twitter, an outlet that allows folks to Tweet before thinking.
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While I agree that some of us Liberals were too quick to put blame on Sarah Palin, and I don't think it was in any way Palin's fault. It is something to take a look at, and for her to be more careful about. With more details coming out about who this man is, he could very well be a Tea Party-er who took what Sarah Palin said too seriously, or got a bit too riled up about the message Palin was trying to convey. I think Sarah Palin does need to think about what she says and does before she says or does them.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, it is very hard to take someone seriously, especially when they have even a slightly opposing viewpoint, when you call the person an "idiot douchebag."Which, by the way you said it, also insinuates that you think all the liberals who jumped the gun on blaming Palin for this, are also "idiot douchebags" and that sir, is very offensive. I understand you are angry at this man, but it only hurts your case to call him names.