Palin: I'm not to blame for Arizona shooting

Palin Seeks to Evoke Presidential Aura in Video Message
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin released a lengthy video statement on Wednesday morning in which she discussed her reaction to the tragic Shooting Spree in Tucson on Saturday and the political discourse that has developed in its aftermath. Released on the day when President Obama is scheduled to travel to Arizona to pay his respects to the Shooting Victims and deliver remarks near the scene of the carnage, Palin's video message appeared designed to present a measured tone and to conjure up a st...

Palin defends her bloodlust politics
Sarah Palin: Does she even give a damn? Prominent Republican Sarah Palin defended her fiery Rhetoric on Wednesday but ignited a fresh Controversy by accusing critics of “blood Libel” in linking her to a deadly Arizona Shooting Spree. A defiant Palin, leaping into a roaring debate on the consequences of overheated political rhetoric, said her critics had been irresponsible in rushing to blame Saturday’s gun rampage on vitriolic campaign Speech. “Especially within hours of ...

Polarizing Palin plays by her own rules
With her video accusing critics of “blood Libel,” Sarah Palin again showed an unprecedented and daring political command of Social Networking to maintain a high profile in speculation about the Republican Party and the 2012 presidential race. The former Alaska Governor regularly gets nationwide attention with her selective use of Facebook and Twitter, choosing provocative words when others testing the presidential waters prefer a lighter touch. Some political pros say her tactics, wh...

The Politics of Insinuation
David Warren: While it did not quite rise to a blood Libel, the headline in Monday's Guardian (U. K.) did not fail for want of trying: "Gabrielle Giffords shooting reignites row over right-wing Rhetoric in U.S." Elsewhere in the Guardian, the distance was bridged. Consider this heading (over a piece by Michael Tomasky): "In the U.S., where hate rules at the Ballot Box, this tragedy has been coming for a long time: The shooting of Gabrielle Giffords may lead to the temporary hibernation of right...

Palin: Attacks over shooting are 'blood libel'
Sarah Palin today accused her opponents of Manufacturing a "blood Libel" by suggesting her Rhetoric and campaign tactics had anything to do with the Arizona shootings. Four days after an incident which left six people dead and critically injured the congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Palin released a video statement condemning the attack. She denied that a now infamous campaign map showing Giffords's electoral district in the cross hairs of a gun had influenced the shooter Jared Lee Loughner. In ...

Sen. Paul: Dems trying to 'manufacture' controversy over rhetoric
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused liberals of wanting to "manufacture" a political Controversy over Conservatives' Rhetoric even before the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Paul, in dismissing the notion that alleged shooter Jared Loughner was motivated by political ideology, accused some Democrats of trying to exploit the attack as a way of boxing in Republicans. "Well, these are the kind of things that I think some on the left decided to manufacture even before the events occur. ...

Death threats against Palin increase
Death threats against Sarah Palin have reached an unprecedented level in recent days, an aide says. In the wake of Saturday’s shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others, the aide said that threats against Palin have spiked, ABC News reported. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset The aide did not offer further details on the threats or whether Palin has taken additional security precautions. Palin’s use of gun-related language and imagery, including a map that marked Giffords&r...;

WashPost Offers Al Sharpton a Peacemaker Op-Ed: 'Passion Without Poison'
On the very same day that The Washington Post is shaming Sarah Palin on the front page for using the phrase "blood Libel," The Post editorial page welcomed the shameless Rev. Al Sharpton to paint himself as a peacemaker in the post-Tucson political games. The headline was "Passion without poison." Nowhere in the article did the supposedly reformed Sharpton find the words to apologize for smearing innocent people with the Tawana Brawley Rape Hoax, something he's never apol...

Palin cops flak for term offensive to Jews
Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. What type of connection do you have? Your video format settings have been saved. Sarah Palin on Wednesday defended her fiery campaign Rhetoric and took issue with critics for indirectly linking her to a deadly Arizona Shooting Spree. Los Angeles: In saying her critics ''manufactured a blood Libel'', Sarah Palin used a phrase linked to the false accusations made for centuri...

Backlash Grows Over Palin's 'Blood Libel' Claim
Sarah Palin's use of the loaded phrase "blood Libel" is attracting more attention and condemnation as the day goes on. The former Alaska Governor used the words to describe the claims of critics who said Palin deserved some of the blame for the Arizona shootings because of her fiery Rhetoric and her target-marked election map that put the sights on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), among others. But the phrase most often refers to an anti-Semitic myth that's been used to justi...

Obama urges unity in face of shootings
Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. What type of connection do you have? Your video format settings have been saved. President Barack Obama says the United States needs healing in the wake of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Tucson: Seeking to bring unity after several days of rancorous debate over why the shooting here last Saturday happened, Barack Obama was mostly on song in his address t...

Obama to the nation: We can be better than this
Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.” Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: “She knows we’re here, and she knows we love her.” In an electrifying mo...

The contrast couldn't be clearer | Michael Tomasky
Expat Scotsman wondered last night why I bothered to throw in to my post on Obama's Speech a seemingly (to him) gratuitous mention of the former half-term Governor. I didn't think it was gratuitous, that's why. On the very day that was designated the official day of mourning and remembrance, she made a Speech that was about her. Now her defenders can say well, it was just those two words, but that's a non-defense. Those two words always generate screaming headlines. Always. It'd be like stringi...

Christie says Palin needs to let loose
(CNN) - Sarah Palin is getting some unsolicited advice from another popular Republican, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Christie, who has never expressed particular affection for the former Alaska Governor, says Palin needs to engage with the media and voters in settings less staged than those she currently utilizes. “You have to look at it and see, what are they like when they’re tested, what are they like when they’re not scripted, what are they like when they’re ...

Sarah Palin proves shes not presidential
When nations mourn, leaders heal. Sarah Palin, the darling of the right and self-appointed standard-bearer of appropriate political Rhetoric, demonstrated she is incapable of rising above a tragedy or Controversy to project the kind of leadership that brings Americans together in times of crisis. Too bad. I had hoped for more from her. Earlier this week I was talking with my colleagues at the office and we were discussing how unfair it was that Sarah Palin was linked to the tragic and sensel...

Left really hates it when people respond to their attack narrative
Image via Wikipedia Lori Ziganto: ... A pitch perfect response, both from the heart and smart. Naturally, that then caused the Left to lose whatever tenuous grip they had left on reality. See, Sarah Palin was bad for being “silent and on the lam” last night. But, today, she is super icky for responding and not remaining silent. After being accused for days of having “blood on her hands” and of being responsible for the acts of a madman. Who, incidentally, apparently did...

Never Forgive, Never Forget
I had a piece about half worked out in my head. It would have been a good piece, on inflammatory Rhetoric in politics. I was going to make a suggestion: that those most concerned with "calling out" those who use violent language start with their own sides first. I'd even set an example, by choosing some right-winger who I thought had gone too far and chewing them out -- then ask someone to point out a leftist going after one of their own. If they needed help, I'd point to any of a number of com...

Blame Arizona shooting on the shooter
It will be all too easy and popular to claim that the shooting in Arizona that killed six people was caused by the vitriol prevalent in American political discourse, but as usual the easy and popular explanation of this tragedy will avoid the truth, R. Lee Wrights, Libertarian writer, Activist and potential 2012 presidential Candidate said in a statement today. "As a father of two daughters myself, I am especially saddened by the Murder of a 9-year-old girl, and I mourn the death of all those ki...

Team Sarah Points to Even More Recent Uses of 'Blood Libel'
As a follow up to yesterday’s post, Rebecca Mansour, Communications Director for SarahPAC, sends along even more uses of the term “blood Libel” in a non-traditional context: MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle: John Kerry Underwent A “Blood Libel By The Swift Boat People.” “The problem for Kerry here is that two years ago, Joe, he did not talk like that when he was undergoing a blood libel by the Swift Boat people. If he had stood up two years ago, in July of 2004, ...

Uncivil and dishonest public discourse
President Obama gave an uplifting and inspiring Speech last night in Tucson, at the memorial ceremony for the Victims and heroes of the tragedy.  Obama’s words were meant to soothe the helplessness and anger Americans were experiencing due to the killings.  In one segment of the speech, he attempted to show how we need to approach solutions to the problem of a madman acting on his own. “The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in ou...

New York Times: Salving a National Wound Is Presidents Responsibility
Thursday, January 13, 2011 By Susan Jones (CNSNews.com) - "It is a president’s responsibility to salve a national wound. President Obama did that on Wednesday evening at the memorial service in Tucson for the six people who died in last weekend’s terrible shooting," said a New York Times editorial. The newspaper pronounced it one of Obama's "Most Powerful and uplifting speeches" -- then contrasted Obama's words "to the ugliness that continues to swirl in some parts of the country." Sara...

RI governor defends talk radio ban; says may be temporary...
PROVIDENCE — With his talk-radio avoidance policy making the national news and rating the second-highest placed headline on the Drudge Report at one point on Wednesday, Governor Chafee is defending his decision. In an interview Wednesday, Chafee denied speculation that the policy had anything to do with the harsh criticism that some of the state’s conservative talk-show hosts had been flinging his way in the wake of his move to rescind his predecessor’s Executive Order on illeg...

Obama strives to comfort mourners and unite a nation
"We can be better," he said, striking a familiar refrain. "What we cannot do," he said, "is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other." What's required now, he said, is that we "expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy." Obama, interrupted repeatedly by cheers from the crowd, eulogized those who died and praised the people who rushed to the scene of the shooting --the two men who wrestled suspect Jared Loug...

On shootings and politics, Palin has her own rules
WASHINGTON (AP) — With her video defending herself against critics — in which she accused them of “blood Libel” — Sarah Palin again showed she is weighing a presidential bid in unprecedented and even daring ways. The former Alaska Governor commands nationwide attention with her selective use of Facebook and Twitter, choosing provocative words when others testing the presidential waters prefer a lighter touch. Some political pros say her tactics, which protect her fr...

Let's Go to the Confrontational
The videotaped confessional (or these days, it might be better to call it a "confrontational") is all the rage among those who believe they've been aggrieved. What better way to defend yourself uninterrupted or go after designated critics without fear of having your message diluted? The tactic is big on the political front. Exhibit A is Sarah Palin's nearly eight-minute commentary on Saturday's shooting in Tucson that injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords and killed six people. Palin spends ...