Palin Uses Her Voice in Response to Tucson

The Presidents Speech and Killing Sarah Palin
What was billed as a “memorial service” in Arizona last night was more of a pep-rally and celebration of life. It was complete with sloganeering, Bumper Stickers, and t-shirts. It is what was needed. What’s more, Mr. Obama gave a stunning rebuke to his own base who’ve engaged in a horrific blame game all week. But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized - at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of...

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...

Capehart: Sarah Palin doesn't get it
Sarah Palin has emerged from the protective cloak of Twitter and e-mails to Glenn Beck to speak directly to the American People about the tragedy in Tucson. In a video, she expresses condolences for the Victims' families and concern for those recovering from Saturday's horrific events. But for nearly eight defensive minutes, the woman who has been at the center of a stormy national debate over our super-heated political discourse does her best to absolve herself of any role in that discourse. ...

Does Sarah Palin's Handling of This Week's Events in Tucson Tell Us Anything about her Presidential Ambitions?
Sarah Palin today release a video on Facebook expressing her grief and outrage over Saturday's shootings in Tucson. She also explained her Rhetoric and hit back at those who have suggested that the level of political discourse in the country is, in part, to blame for Jared Lee Loughner's unhinged rampage. “We know violence isn't the answer. When we ‘take up our arms', we're talking about our vote,” Palin says in the seven-and-a-half minute video. “Yes, our debates are ful...

Sarah Palin Refudiates Sarah Palin
Everyone's all aflush with talk of Sarah Palin's invocation of "blood Libel," so this section of her prepared statement probably isn't getting the attention it deserves: 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, ...

Sarah Palin Response to Tucson: Americas Enduring Strength
Update:  Alan Dershowitz, who is, BTW, a Jewish liberal, says Palin’s use of the term “blood Libel” is appropriate. Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent Victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sympathy.  I agree with the sentiments shared yesterday at the beautiful Catholic mass held in hono...

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 retreat...

I Can Hear The Civility From My House
Sarah Palin takes aim on her Facebook page; 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 dist

It's Better To Keep Your Mouth Shut
As you've undoubtedly heard, Sarah Palin finally broke her silence today on the shootings in Tucson last weekend. Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo. [Transcript below the fold.] Anyone who's watched Ms. Palin over the last eighteen months knows that she didn't write this Speech. (And she didn't memorize it, either; you can see the reflection of the Teleprompter in her glasses.) But whoever wrote it for her either didn't know that the term "blood Libel" is cons...

On Faith: Will Palin regret using 'blood libel'?
In response to the tragic shooting in Arizona, Sarah Palin on Wednesday released a nearly eight-minute video that said that those who imply that she bears some responsibility for Jared Lee Loughner's act of violence are guilty of "blood Libel." "Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn," Palin said in the statement. The term may come to haunt Palin. According to the Anti-De...

Sarah Speaks
Posted by John at 10:03 AM After being out of the public eye for a few days, Sarah Palin has released a video in which she responds to liberals' attacks on her and other Conservatives. The text is here; the video is posted below. Palin's statement is, I think, very good. It emphasizes, appropriately, the Victims and the nation's political process rather than politicians, demonstrating once again that Palin is less obsessed with Sarah than her enemies are. Overall, the statement comes across as ...

My reaction to the Presidents Tucson memorial speech
…was noted here last night in the comments: [...] you’d think Lowry would’ve known exactly how this was going to play out. Obama and his handlers essentially orchestrated a minor Sister Soldjah moment. It was planned this way. We know this because yesterday Obama was on the phone with Sheriff Dufus commending him for his fine (dirty) work, which in castigating the Tea Party (YAY!) and right-wing radio (YAY!) set Obama up for tonight, allowing him to appear above the fray even as he w...

Death Threats Against Sarah Palin at 'Unprecedented Level,' Aides Say
ABC News An aide close to Sarah Palin says death threats and security threats have increased to an unprecedented level since the shooting in Arizona, and the former Alaska Governor's team has been talking to security professionals. Palin has taken much heat for her "crosshairs" map that targeted 20 congressional Democrats in the 2010 mid-term election, including that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was the main target of Saturday's attack. Friends say Palin, a possible 2012 contender, was ga...

Krauthammer: Palin’s Statement on Tucson ‘Unfortunate and Unnecessary’
He mainly laments that Palin gave the Speech at all. Sure, it might be a sensitive issue given that Gabrielle Giffords is Jewish, and she's fighting for her life while the rest of the nation debates allegations of "blood Libel"? I'm personally not bothered by the use of the term as it's applied to the libelous attacks on Palin and Tea Party Conservatives. Frankly, Glenn Reynolds' essay at WSJ the other day has been one of the most penetrating: "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel...

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...;

Sarah Palin says blaming rhetoric for shooting is 'a blood libel'
Sarah Palin ended her near silence on the Arizona shootings yesterday, saying that critics had manufactured a "blood Libel" by blaming her Rhetoric for contributing to the shooting rampage in Tucson in which six people died and 14 were wounded, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords. • In her video message, Sarah Palin said she and her supporters would not change their Rhetoric because of the Arizona shooting In an eight-minute address posted online, the prominent Republican...

Palin Statement On Arizona Shooting
(Editor’s Note: This is a statement from a public figure. It does not necessarily reflect the editorial position of FITSNews.com. To submit your news release, email blast, media advisory or issues statement for publication, click here ). Like millions of Americans I learned of the tragic events in Arizona on Saturday, and my heart broke for the innocent Victims. No words can fill the hole left by the death of an innocent, but we do mourn for the victims’ families as we express our sy...

Sarah Palin's 'blood libel' comment overshadows a calibrated message
Sarah Palin's statement Wednesday in response to the Tucson shootings, in which she has found herself at the center of a debate over civility in political discourse, was crafted as both a defense of her own actions and a strike against her critics - but reaction to the statement was dominated by a fresh Controversy over her use of the phrase "blood Libel." This Story Sarah Palin's 'blood libel' comment overshadows a calibrated message Gabrielle Giffords, congresswoman from Arizona, ...

The Right's George Costanza Problem
Palin could say "Yeah, y'know, I might've turned the thermostat up a bit there at times, but we all get excited in the heat of the moment, and I'd be happy to work with both Democrats and Republicans towards a more positive tone in Washington." As opposed to "Within hours of a tragedy unfolding, Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood Libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn." (And you want to be my Latex salesman president?) Limbaugh...

Palin grabs spotlight with video
On a day that political leaders in Washington and Arizona devoted to honoring Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and other Victims of Saturday’s Mass Shooting in Tucson, Sarah Palin proved once again that her bully pulpit is second to none in commanding the attention and passions of the political world. As Democratic and Republican lawmakers filed into the well of the House to offer prayers for the severely wounded Giffords and the six people who were killed, Palin’s eight-minute Facebook vid...

Sarah Palin receiving unprecedented level of death threats
(ABC News)- An aide close to Sarah Palin says death threats and security threats have increased to an unprecedented level since the shooting in Arizona, and the former Alaska Governor’s team has been talking to security professionals. Palin has taken much heat for her “crosshairs” map that targeted 20 congressional Democrats in the 2010 mid-term election, including that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was the main target of Saturday’s attack. ...

Mitchell Finds It Relevant to Highlight on NBC How MSNBC.com Users Reject Palins Retort
Sarah Palin’s use in a video commentary of the “blood Libel” phrase, against those exploiting the Tucson shooting in order to discredit her, inflamed television Journalists with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell ridiculously highlighting on Wednesday’s Nightly News how “more than 375,000 people have expressed their views in an online poll on MSNBC.com” and “nearly 59 percent do not agree with Palin.” As if MSNBC.com attracts any kind of representative au...

Loughner Friend: 'He Did Not Watch TV' or 'Listen to Political Radio'
It's become clear since Saturday that some in the media are determined to blame outspoken Conservatives for the Tucson massacre. So there's really no reason to believe that yet another fact contradicting that attack will put it to rest. But in the spirit of journalism - that thing the left's media attack dogs profess their reverence for - it should be noted: a friend of the killer, Jared Lee Loughner, told "Good Morning America" that Loughner "did not watch TV. He disl...

A Brief Remark On Sarah Palin
Jon Chait is defending her: Okay, it’s a little over the top for Sarah Palin to accuse her critics of “blood Libel.” But she does have a basic point. She had nothing to do with Jared Loughner. He was not an Extremist who embraced some radical version of her ideas. And her use of targets to identify districts Republicans were, um, targeting is not exceptional or prone to incite anybody. What’s happening is that Palin has come to represent unhinged Grassroots Conservatism...

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Thursday, January 13, 2011
In between consoling those touched by Saturday's Arizona shooting and warning the nation against politicizing the tragedy, President Barack Obama delivered some good news in his address at a Tucson memorial event on Wednesday. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona has opened her eyes for the first time since being shot four days ago. "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts," Obama said. "But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight." Congress has resp...