's becoming increasingly clear that Jared Lee Loughner is mentally unstable. Sarah Palin's bullseye on Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords did not direct Loughner to shoot Giffords point-blank in the head on January 8, 2011.
Did the vitriol in political discourse, crosshairs and phrases like "Don't retreat, reload" (by Sarah Palin) or "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" (by President Obama) influence Loughner's state of mind?
Perhaps in an idiosyncratic way, according to Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University. "Political rhetoric provided some of the context for his thinking, the pretext for his actions, but the core reasons for his actions were his psychosis," Lieberman told National Journal.
Regardless of what motivated Loughner to pull the trigger, the tragedy in Tucson has put the tone of political discourse, and those who tend to inflame more than inform, in the spotlight.
Campaigning has often been rough and tumble and full of venom and half-truths since the founding of the country, but as Giffords told MSNBC on March 25, 2010, after her campaign headquarters in Tucson was vandalized, "In the years that some of my colleagues have served -- 20 to 30 years -- they've never seen it like this."
In reference to her district being targeted with the image of a crosshairs gun sight by Sarah Palin, Giffords said, "We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, the way she has it depicted, it has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."
But Palin doesn't seem to think that there are any negative consequences associated with her campaign words and images.
Like the rest of the country, she was shocked by what happened to Giffords and others killed or wounded in Loughner's rampage. Following the Saturday shooting rampage, she issued a statement, offering her "sincere condolences" to the families. At the same time, Palin's sighting of Giffords in the crosshairs stirred up the press and pundits regarding the overall tone of political discourse and the former Alaska governor's campaign rhetoric.
Palin surfaced again on Wednesday with an eight-minute video on her Facebook page, in which she said, "There is a bittersweet irony that the strength of the American spirit shines brightest in times of tragedy," and used the anti-Semitic term "blood libel " in an accusation aimed at journalists and pundits. (watch left left)
"If you don't like a person's vision for the country, you're free to debate that vision. If you don't like their ideas, you're free to propose better ideas. But, especially 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. That is reprehensible," Palin said.
Blood libel is the false accusation, perhaps originating in the 12th century, that Jews murder children to use their blood for religious rituals and holidays. Palin appears to be appropriating the term to indicate that she is a victim, as a result of some groups and individuals claiming that her political rhetoric contributed to the actions of the deranged, lone gunman.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Wednesday, January 12th 2011 at 10:34PM
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