Posted on 01/12/2011 8:50:02 AM PST by markomalley
The talk in political circles has been that Sarah Palin had a rare opportunity in the wake of the Tucson tragedy to reach out beyond her base and recalibrate her image beyond that of a gun-toting mama grizzly.
After all, the strategists said, there was some sympathy for her—beyond the Palin-haters—for being tied to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, even if she had erred with her “reload” talk and by posting that map with the gun-sight targets last year.
Instead, Palin chose to throw kerosene on the embers of a smoldering national controversy.
“Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding,” Palin said in a video on her Facebook page, “journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”
Blood libel, for those who are not familiar, describes a false accusation that minorities—usually Jews—murder children to use their blood in religious rituals, and has been a historical theme in the persecution of the Jewish people.
Had Palin scoured a thesaurus, she could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase.
As someone who has argued that linking her rhetoric to the hateful violence of Jared Loughlin is unfair, I can imagine that the former governor was angry about how liberal detractors dragged her into this story. But after days of silence, she had a chance to speak to the country in a calmer, more inclusive way. She could have said that all of us, including her, needed to avoid excessively harsh or military-style language, without retreating one inch from her strongly held beliefs.
Instead she went the blood libel route.
She added that blame for the shooting of 20 people should rest “not 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.”
With her defiant video, Palin continued—no, escalated—her war with the press, which plays so well with her strongest supporters (despite a recent thaw in which she actually granted a few interviews to the lamestream media). She continued her us-versus-them approach to political discourse. She punched back at critics rather than trying to fashion a unifying message.
I would say that sounds like the response of someone who wants to stoke her base and further her lucrative career as a culture warrior—not someone who is plotting to run for president.
What are the DUhmmies saying? I bet they are losing their MINDS over this.
The blood libelists in the Provence of Manhattan are getting their presstitute asses kicked
“The talk in political circles has been that Sarah Palin had a rare opportunity in the wake of the Tucson tragedy to reach out beyond her base and recalibrate her image beyond that of a gun-toting mama grizzly.”
Just like Reagan missed his chance to stop being the tough talking Cowboy who told them to “Tear down this wall.”
Fixed it for him...
Sorry bout that, but she IS a gun-toting mama grizley.
Sorry Howie. She doesn't need to "recalibrate" her image. It's you 'RAT liberals who need the recalibrating.
Kurtz is stupid. Just another Dumb Leftist hack, that doesn’t know what he is talking about.
The press still hasn’t figured out Ali’s statement,
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.
Palin for President!
Well said.
She went right for their heart just like a hunter.
They wanted her to beat around the bush on the subject so they could retreat with their dignity intact.
So now they are mad for exposing them to the ridicule of 70% of Americans.
Since when should we take advice from the enemy?
Aren’t they the one’s who told us to get in the back of the bus and shut up?
I’d be honored to vote for Sarah - against Jughead, any day of the week. She is the ONLY Conservative that actually has an opinion that doesn’t change with the polls.
The other RINOS have neither integrity, nor a clue of what honor even means.
I guess he’s pissed that she fought back.
With her defiant video, Palin continued—no, escalated—her war with the press...
heh heh heh ... maybe this idiot isn't as stupid as I thought ... he got part of it right.
Ok, WE WON, NOW LIBS GET IN THE BACK SEAT!
Considering in what was likely an unbalanced poll at CBS 57% STILL said that political rhetoric had nothing to do with the massacre. Who would have guessed that 60% of the county at a minimum is her base huh Howie?
I think the term fits.
What the MSM did was indeed (”Libel”) and specifically they libeled Palin by accusing her of contributing to mass murder including that of a 9 year old girl (”blood”).
That’s blood libel, and that’s what the liberal MSM did.
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