UPDATED: Palin talks "accountability," doesn't take any
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UPDATED: Palin talks "accountability," doesn't take any
It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Sarah Palin is a Daisy Buchanan for our time -- a careless person, indeed, who tosses around words or images with nary a thought as to their effect, before she retreats back into her money or vast carelessness or whatever. Her ill-timed and ill-conceived statement of resentment and self-pity -- on a day of national mourning for the victims of the massacre in Tucson, has accomplished its mission of calling attention to herself, particularly with her appallingly careless (how else to describe it?) use of the phrase "blood libel" to describe critics who have stated that her use of gun imagery and violence-tinged rhetoric had something to do with Jared Lee Loughner's insane actions.
The phrase "blood libel" has a long history and context in society's struggle against anti-Semitism which makes it a stunningly inappropriate use of language -- in addition to the loaded history, it is such a divisive term that elevates her alleged persecution in the media to the level of the murder of six people, including a 9-year-old girl, and that is simply unfathomable.
But I think there's something else. The perhaps predictable brouhaha over "blood libel" obscures the much broader -- and to my mind much more serious -- flaws in Palin's seven-minute speech, read from a Teleprompter, her first public comment or appearance since the tragedy in Tucson. The ex-half-term Alaska governor's talk touched greatly on the main conservative talking point since the events of 1/8/11, that the killings weren't about society or our national rhetoric but merely about the one unhinged person who did it.
In other words....personal responsibility.
Here is a key passage of Palin's talk:
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.
Let's take a step back and remember the context here -- exactly why America was even interested in hearing from Sarah Palin at all this week. It was Palin's political committee that last March released a map of the districts that it was targeting -- including that of Tucson shooting victim Rep. Gabrielle Giffords -- by using the image of rifle crosshairs. I don't know of any other map like that one, from other Republicans or from Democrats, and so when Palin talks of "maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle," I have no idea what she is talking about. If she is aware of a similar map to her rifle crosshairs map, she should produce it. If there is no other map, then we should call this what it is. Lying.
UPDATE: Apparently, as others have told me, Palin is referring to a 2004 mailer from the Democratic Leadership Committee. Fair enough. It's wrong for the DLC to use violent imagery, just as it's wrong for Sarah Palin's PAC. Two wrongs don't make a right.
What's more, Palin has long reveled in violent imagery, whether it's the multiple images of her wielding a gun (such as at top of this blog post, from her "reality" show) or her comment made on more than one occasion that conservatives -- in the face of their political losses in the late 2000s -- need not to "retreat, instead reload."
Ironically, Palin could have retaken the high ground this morning. For one thing, there's no evidence that the gunman Loughner even knew who Sarah Palin was, let alone had any awareness of the crosshairs map that featured Giffords (whom he'd been paying attention to since 2007, or before Palin became a national figure) or the other extreme statements that Palin has made. It is certainly right for Palin and her supporters (and her detractors, like me) to point that out.
That said, many public figures on the right and the left have taken the Tucson shooting as a time to reflect on their own words and actions, regardless of what can or cannot be learned about how public discourse influenced Loughner. A high-profile example of that has been a liberal commentator, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who reflected on his own contributions to the national dialogue on the night of the shootings and scrapped his feature called "the Worst Persons in the World." This was a golden opportunity for Sarah Palin to state something along the lines of, "Ya know, I had nothing to do with what happened in Tucson, but I've nonetheless taken some time to reflect on the words and images I use. I hate violence. I hate war (those last two sentences are what she purportedly said to Glenn Beck in an email) and so when I fight for my bedrock conservative values -- as I will -- I'm going to be extra careful that I don't glorify violence or war. And to the extent that I have in the past, I am truly sorry."
In other words, to stop being so careless.
To, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions."
To take personal responsibility for her past words.
But Sarah Palin didn't do that. Instead, she doubled down on the victim card today, using unnecessarily inflammatory language to do so, and she dishonored not only herself but the real victims of the tragedy in Tucson and her fellow citizens who are trying today to mourn and process that loss. The only solace is that I believe more people are starting to realize what should have been apparent from Day One, that Sarah Palin is a careless person who continues to smash up things and creatures.
- ///A serious question. Does anyone have an example of a pundit, or journalist, or politician, who actually said that Palin's use of the crosshairs, or anything else she did for that matter, "caused" the murders in AZ?///
Example 1: "Shot Congresswoman Was In Sarah Palin's 'Crosshairs' Gawker.com (http://tinyurl.com/2g7r434)
Example 2: "Howard Stern blames Sarah Palin crosshairs map: 'they should lock her up"
(http://tinyurl.com/4z5bjsb)
Example 3: NBC News' Matthews Links Bachmann to Shooting
(http://tinyurl.com/45zoy75)
Example 4: Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin Innocently Implies Link between Tucson Shooting and Palin “Crosshairs” – Video 1/9/11
(http://tinyurl.com/4o7m99l)
I could keep going TPS, but you get the idea. Let me know if you need help on this Google thingy. Will can head right over to assist. - Sure did. For example, your first link in its entirety.
--snip--
Gabrielle Giffords, The Arizona congresswoman shot today outside a Tucson Safeway, was featured on Sarah Palin's infamous 'crosshairs' map, which targeted legislators who voted for Obama's health care bill. Remember? The map that was criticized as an incitement to violence?
Giffords, a third-term legislator, supported Obama's health care reform bill. This earned her a place on the map, posted to Takebackthe20.com by Sarah Palin's Political Action Committe, that literally put Democrats in the cross-hairs last spring after the bill passed. "Don't retreat, instead- RELOAD!" was how Palin introduced the map to her Twitter followers. Days later, a vandal smashed the glass door of Giffords' Tucson office. Giffords' father tells the New York Post that members of the Tea Party "always threatened" his daughter.
Shot Congresswoman Was In Sarah Palin's 'Crosshairs'Giffords' Tea Party opponent in the 2010 election, Jesse Kelly, went even further with the violent rhetoric. Kelly's campaign held an event called "Get on Target for Victory in November." Description: "Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
There's no indication that the gunman who shot down Rep. Giffords was motivated by politics. But the Giffords shooting should at the very least underscore the fact that, as Matt Yglesias says, "gun imagery and electoral politics don't mix."
--snip--
Nowhere does anyone say that Palin was responsible for the AZ shootings. And neither do any of the other links.
C'mon, Bucky.
Give me four. That's all I'm asking for. Four examples.
Surely, you can come up with four.— Talking point sleuth - Are you even living in the same world as the rest of us? At least 4 articles in the NYT alone every day this week did exactly that.
And you seriously miss the point. Most of us are not outraged that "they did it too", but at the hypocrasy, and even more so at the fact that this is even an issue.— Mirror - One more thing - it is beyond hypocritical to suggest that Palin is using the tragedy to her benefit. SHE'S BEEN WRONGLY ACCUSSED OF BEING AN ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER BY THE LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO RESPOND? I personally have no interest in Sara Palin. Too much of a sideshow and too conservative for my taste. That being said, I thought her retort was appropriate (and suprisingly tempered). I know I wouldn't be nearly as mild if I had been wrongly accused of murder by a bunch of opportunists with a political axe to grind.
Krugman, the NYT editorial board, Bunch and everyone else who made these accusations should be ashamed of themselves. They've turned a true tragedy into nasty, underhanded political tactic. Shameful, filthy, disgusting, immoral behavior. Scum.— tjm333126 - Asking her to take some responsibility for and to reflect upon her constant use of violent imagery is very different than accusing her of being an accomplice to murder. I haven't and won't do the latter, but I think the former is appropriate. — GreyHippie
- And why single out Palin for this "self reflection?" Anyone who's been following this story knows that there are countless examples of violent imagery and heightened rhetoric from both sides of the isle, including from the president himself. The fantasy being pushed by liberals is that vitriol only comes from the right. This is a flat out lie. How soon we forget the derisive and violent rhetoric from the left during the Bush years?
This whole thing is travesty. If I were a true believer in leftist ideology, I'd have to think I'd be ashamed of the punditry representing me right now. It doesn;t get any lower than what we've witnessed these last few days.— tjm333126 - I don't think she should be singled out; we'd all do well to engage in some self reflection. But circumstances (ie that the Congresswoman representing a district in the crosshairs was shot) dictate that she has lead role here and she's not handling it in a way that speaks of leadership to me.
Also, I will take responsibility for what I say and do, and feel proud or ashamed as that dictates, but be ashamed of others words or actions because we share some views on policy matters? No, way beyond me.— GreyHippie - Why the heck is it her responsibility to take the lead role in something she has no connection to? Stop with the map bs, its beyond intellectually dishonest. Every midterm I hear about parties "targeting" vulnerable seats for a flip. — RG
- I said her lead role was thrust upon her by circumstances; her responsibility is to take that role and lead positively which I don't see her doing. And it isn't the targeting that's at issue; it's the use of the crosshair imagery. And part of that is that there is a record of it. Most Presidential candidates don't get questioned for weeks about their minister/priest/rabbi's sermons. But when there's a record and those comments are inflamatory then they are thrust into that role. — GreyHippie
Comment removed.- sigh, I inevitably disappoint. but I don't entirely disagree with your characterization of our 24/7 media gasbags as "lowlife, intellectually dishonest jackals". This was an easy angle for them because the crosshair map existed, of course they ran with it. But Palin ould have elevated the discussion to something meaningful and shown real leadership. But alas it wasn't to be. — GreyHippie
- But she IS being singled out. That's kind of the point here. Is she showing leadership? I don't know, nor do I care. I'd never vote for her anyway.
The bottom line is that the liberal talking heads and thought leaders have done a grave disservice to both the country and their ideology by leveling these grotesquely false accusations against thier ideological enemies for political gain in the (immediate) wake of such tragedy. This is the ultimate in "playing dirty." Its disheartening and disgusting. I can't even find the words to describe it.— tjm333126 - Gee, grey, I hope you ask video game makers, and action movie directors to do the same. Lest you be a phony. — RG
- I have - but they tell me that's what the buying public wants. Hard to get around that. — GreyHippie
- TPS - Do you know what the word "imply" means. I don get why you can't understand the implications journalists are making in bringing Sarah Palin's name into all of this— kmjm22
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