Palin stirs anew on rhetoric

WASHINGTON - Trying to squelch one controversy, Sarah Palin launched another Wednesday as she dismissed accusations that her firearms-infused political attacks might have had something to do with the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., in a rampage that left six dead and 14 wounded.

In an eight-minute video posted online, the former Alaska governor and potential Republican presidential contender for 2012 accused critics of her political rhetoric of mounting a "blood libel" against her.

The phrase conveys a long history of victimization for Jews, and its use drew rebuke from a variety of critics.

Rabbi Ira Stone of Congregation Beth Zion/Beth Israel in Center City said he believed it was unlikely that either Palin or her circle of advisers knew what the term meant. "The phrase obviously resonated with them," he said. "We have to assume that they purposely attempted to redefine it in terms of her own suffering, which is really kind of obscene. To use the term to describe a political controversy, as opposed to the reality of the blood libel and the suffering it has caused Jews, is very insensitive."

But Palin also found defenders.

"There is nothing improper and certainly nothing anti-Semitic in Sarah Palin using the term to characterize what she reasonably believes are false accusations that her words or images may have caused a mentally disturbed individual to kill and maim," said Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz, commenting on the online site operated by conservative gadfly Andrew Breitbart.

Palin's video had the trappings of a presidential-level address, with an American flag prominently in the frame and Palin speaking at length in a calm tone - noticeably different from her self-styled Mama Grizzly approach while campaigning last year for congressional and gubernatorial candidates she endorsed.

It also served as another example of Palin's undeniable star quality. On the same day President Obama traveled to Arizona to speak at a memorial service, Palin commandeered much of the news media, securing the kind of coverage denied to other potential GOP candidates.

Mitt Romney, who is overseas on a tour of the Middle East, and Mike Huckabee both issued statements on the shootings this week that largely went unnoticed.

Ken Khachigian, a speechwriter for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and a longtime GOP strategist in California, said he was struck by Palin's bearing in the video, saying the former vice presidential candidate "appeared more grown up."

In her message, Palin did little to scale back her rhetoric in the face of accusations that her use last year of a map "targeting" Democrat Giffords' Arizona congressional district and others with symbols apparently of rifle crosshairs helped foster a climate of violence.

"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," Palin said.

She saved her harshest words for "media and pundits," who she said "should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

Critics reacted swiftly, saying Palin had put herself in the same category as Jewish victims of anti-Semitic behavior over the centuries.

Blood libel is a term that dates back to the Middle Ages, when Jewish people were accused of using the blood of Christians in religious rituals.

"Palin's comments either show a complete ignorance of history, or blatant anti-Semitism," said Jonathan Beeton, a spokesman for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), who, like Giffords, is Jewish. "Either way, it shows an appalling lack of sensitivity given Rep. Giffords' faith and the events of the past week."

William Lutz, professor emeritus of English at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, said he wouldn't be surprised if Palin used the phrase out of ignorance.

"This is a prime example," Lutz says, "of using a word to create a certain response, without knowing what the word really means, or the associations it carries with it."

But within hours, more than 30,000 Palin supporters on Facebook cheered her comments, a reminder of the allegiance the former GOP vice presidential candidate inspires among conservatives.

Possible GOP presidential candidates have been wary of criticizing Palin. Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, took a minor jab at her Tuesday morning, saying the now-infamous "target map" was "not my style."

By that afternoon, he told conservative interviewers that "people shouldn't try to connect this to Sarah Palin" and called her a "remarkable leader."

Khachigian argued that Palin had to respond to her critics. "There was a feeding frenzy taking place," he said, praising her for giving no ground. "She shouldn't have to concede. This is an effort by some to cow her into lowering her voice and stopping her message."

Todd Harris, a Republican strategist, said the Palin video will "be loved by those who love her, hated by those who already hate her."