A sad anniversary

Greg Laden — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:17:43 +0000

One year ago today, nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green was shot to death by Tuscon resident Jared Lee Loughner, using a 9 mm Glock automatic pistol with a high capacity ammunition clip. Seventeen other people were shot in that incident, a total of six of whom died. One of the injured was Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords, whom had already been “targeted” for removal by radical elements of the Republican Party. It is not clear that Loughner was acting as an agent of these radical elements, but it was widely thought at the time that his decision to attempt an assassination of the congresswoman was spurred on by the hateful and violent rhetoric, often laced with references to firearms, of the Tea Party Movement.

Sarah Palin Responds to Crosshairs Maneno

Greg Laden — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:54:57 +0000

First, watch this:

Mention of crosshairs at 2:20.

Then, Gabby got her head shot through with a bullet.

Then (blood libel phrase is at ca 3:20) :

Notice how she forgets to use the term “alleged” … so much for the fifth amendment. Notice the very intense attempt circumscribe responsibility and rip the event from context.

She is obviously FOS when she disavows her own responsibility, but at least she is repeatedly saying that debate should be peaceful. That does in fact knock the legs out of her overall rhetoric and will be used against her in the future by other teabaggers. It may also separate her from Michele Bachmann, who is mentally incapable of sticking with a non-violent position.

She spends way more time whinging about the post-tragedy finger pointing and relatively little on the tragedy itself.

She hits all the hot button issues, denigrates Democratic party proposals, mentions 9/11, and prays her ass off. As expected.

This is probably the best she can do.

For reference, here’s Palin’ Tea Party Speech:

Gabrielle Giffords – Greg Laden's Blog

A sad anniversary

Sarah Palin Responds to Crosshairs Maneno