Jon Stewart articulates my thoughts and feelings a lot better than I can. <table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'<a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-10-2011/arizona-shootings-reaction'>Arizona Shootings Reaction<a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:370499' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com/'>Political Humor & Satire Blog</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow'>The Daily Show on Facebook</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
Palin speaks. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18698532" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/18698532">Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5713437">Sarah Palin</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
text of her statement. -- 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 honor of the victims. The mass will hopefully help begin a healing process for the families touched by this tragedy and for our country. Our exceptional nation, so vibrant with ideas and the passionate exchange and debate of ideas, is a light to the rest of the world. Congresswoman Giffords and her constituents were exercising their right to exchange ideas that day, to celebrate our Republic’s core values and peacefully assemble to petition our government. It’s inexcusable and incomprehensible why a single evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day. There is a bittersweet irony that the strength of the American spirit shines brightest in times of tragedy. We saw that in Arizona. We saw the tenacity of those clinging to life, the compassion of those who kept the victims alive, and the heroism of those who overpowered a deranged gunman. Like many, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance. After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event. 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. The last election was all about taking responsibility for our country’s future. President Obama and I may not agree on everything, but I know he would join me in affirming the health of our democratic process. Two years ago his party was victorious. Last November, the other party won. In both elections the will of the American people was heard, and the peaceful transition of power proved yet again the enduring strength of our Republic. Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. 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. There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure. As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.” Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political differences respectfully at the ballot box – as we did just two months ago, and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the next. That’s who we are as Americans and how we were meant to be. Public discourse and debate isn’t a sign of crisis, but of our enduring strength. It is part of why America is exceptional. No one should be deterred from speaking up and speaking out in peaceful dissent, and we certainly must not be deterred by those who embrace evil and call it good. And we will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms by those who mock its greatness by being intolerant of differing opinion and seeking to muzzle dissent with shrill cries of imagined insults. Just days before she was shot, Congresswoman Giffords read the First Amendment on the floor of the House. It was a beautiful moment and more than simply “symbolic,” as some claim, to have the Constitution read by our Congress. I am confident she knew that reading our sacred charter of liberty was more than just “symbolic.” But less than a week after Congresswoman Giffords reaffirmed our protected freedoms, another member of Congress announced that he would propose a law that would criminalize speech he found offensive. It is in the hour when our values are challenged that we must remain resolved to protect those values. Recall how the events of 9-11 challenged our values and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security. And so it is today. Let us honor those precious lives cut short in Tucson by praying for them and their families and by cherishing their memories. Let us pray for the full recovery of the wounded. And let us pray for our country. In times like this we need God’s guidance and the peace He provides. We need strength to not let the random acts of a criminal turn us against ourselves, or weaken our solid foundation, or provide a pretext to stifle debate. America must be stronger than the evil we saw displayed last week. We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united in our desire to peacefully engage in the great debates of our time, to respectfully embrace our differences in a positive manner, and to unite in the knowledge that, though our ideas may be different, we must all strive for a better future for our country. May God bless America. - Sarah Palin
Holy Cow! Sarah Palin uses the same terminology (blood libel) as was used during the holocaust? Unbelievable.
how dare you blame sarah palin for the holocaust?!?! eta: waiting for basso to condemn palin for doing what he's been falsely accusing others here of doing. she's blaming violence that hasn't even happened yet on some journalists: how is that any different than saying violent rhetoric could've caused this tragedy?? it's not, but since a cute borderline r****ded woman said it, it's ok.
classic, she completely contradicted herself and undermined her whole thesis (?) on the subject. No one has incited violence so far. That's clear. And as for people having a debate on whether or not language and influence people and is there a responsibility of leaders to be mindful of their impact and gravitas of their words....hey, that's a good thing. People should think about this stuff even if in the end they conclude they are in the right.
I really don't want to contribute to this thread since it has gone so far down the rabbit hole, but Tom Tomorrow's latest blog post has some good stuff in it worth reading courtesy of Paul Waldman. I'll just pretend that I'm posting this as a new and innocent thread in a vain attempt to shield myself from any involvement in this cesspool.
Wow, pretty amazing. I admit, I'm not that familiar with the termm as it doesn't seem to be used much in modern parlance. If wiki is right, the main context in which it was mostly used appears to be in 19th century european anti-semitic pogroms, referring to hysterical rumors about evil jews kidnapping and murdering children. How incredibly ridiculous that the moron who wrote that for her would even begin to use such a phrase. Might was well mention witchcraft and the gypsies. Great job Palin. Now show us your other main attribute: the astounding and voracious capacity for pride in profound,abject ignorance and stupidity. You are awarded a gold star for your efforts...not one of david, hopefully for you.
too bad, so sad... Sarah Palin Presidential Odds Plummet On InTrade After Arizona Shooting Sarah Palin's InTrade odds of running for president took a tumble Sunday following Saturday's deadly shooting in Arizona. In the wake of the shooting, the former Alaska governor has faced accusations that her placement of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on a list of 20 targeted legislators -- highlighted behind crosshairs -- may have played some role in catalyzing the violence
Wow!. . .Great speech by Palin! She responded in such a proper manner. MSNBC and the liberal media couldn't connect the dots to her despite an obvious attempt. This is a victory to her, the tea party movement, and those in her political corner...
do you think it's ok for her to try to do the same thing that she, you and others claim others are doing to her?
Nobody wins in this instance. Now we have both sides more peeved and more divided. While there are no "dots" to connect to Palin in this shooting, the initial reaction was an appropriate one for people trying to make sense of it all. FORTUNATELY, the shooter wasn't a right wing (or left wing) lunatic. I don't see a problem with holding polarizing politicians and talking heads responsible for what they say. This goes for everybody on both sides. Palin is probably the most polarizing politician that I have seen during my lifetime. Most people either love her or hate her. She STARTED the socialist/communist rhetoric during the last campaign. There are repercussions for making these statements. While it might net you a ton of votes from the uneducated, it will also net quite a bit of disdain from those on the other part of the spectrum (even from those close to the middle). This has been a snowball effect. Everytime we call each other socialists, communists, racists, morons, liars, etc. we lose sight of what is really important. It comes to no surprise that the rhetoric used by the right comes to light when a DEMOCRAT gets shot. It should be at the forefront. We should talk about it. We should talk about using crosshairs marked with people's names associated. We should talk about using rhetoric like "death panels for grandma." People are scared and I don't blame them if they choose to believe certain talking heads. I'm honestly tired of the dumbing down of politics. We have so many problems that we could work out if both sides worked together instead of going Spartacus on each other. Instead, we will have nothing for 2 years because both parties would rather argue than compromise (the talking heads say compromise is bad).
Please...stop trying to fan the flames of the Communist Revolution. I've already reported you to the mods, Glenn Beck, the town drunk who believes in UFO conspiracy theories and the Thought Police.
Reading someone else's words in a way that insures you don't interact with people who might actually ask you questions for the win! A little persecution whining and dog whistling to the anti-semitic and idiot wings of the base for the extra win!
I am responding to a post in another thread since that thread has been derailed and I think the discussion for it belongs here. Here is the post I am responding to. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5874965&postcount=162 Except that you have to consider that Rep. Giffords' office had been vandalized before and that she herself had said that she had been received threatening calls regarding her position on Health Care and other issues. Barring other information it would be logical to look at the source and nature of those threats as having something to do with an assault targeted at her. It would be like if a woman who had been stalked was assaulted by someone that it would make sense to consider the stalker as a likely suspect first. I can understand how that is upsetting to Conservatives, Palin and etc. but it is a fact that such rhetoric had been directed to Giffords, her office had been vandalized and she was very concerned about it. True also and historically we have had very negative political rhetoric going back to the founding of this country. What is different now though is the multiplicity of media sources to magnify and distort such rhetoric. Agree also. We should grow a thicker skin and take things with not just a grain but whole bags of heavy duty ice melt salt. As I have said we shouldn't jump to conclusions but we shouldn't ignore facts either. The facts are that Giffords had been metaphorically targeted by Right wing rhetoric, her office had been vandalized with the timing appearing to follow a rash of vandalism that happened to Congressional supporters of the health care bill, and she felt threatened based on those it should make the consideration of extreme political rhetoric worthy of discussion. As it turns out that appears to play probably no role which is why we need to be open to the evidence and consider where that leads us.
byron williams, influenced by glenn beck, was on his way to kill people at the tides foundation (which is a favorite target of glenn beck) and the aclu in the bay area before he got into a gun battle with police on the freeway. luckily he was not successful, but i wonder what the justification from their ilk had he been able to follow through with his plan. probably that he was a closet liberal just trying to make conservatives look bad.
