Enough is Enough

(Graphic courtesy of Dark Wraith.)

Sarah Palin had the unmitigated chutzpah to post "her sincere condolences" to the families of the dead and injured in yesterday's assassination attempt of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson.

Sarah's "sincere condolences". Mmm, yeah, that carries a lot of weight! Coming from the person who may have been a contributing influence in this attack, that's some nerve - and obviously little more than pre-emptive public relations to cover her own ass. As of this morning, all of Palin's crosshairs target symbols on her "target list" have been removed.



The attack was carried out by a muddled, mentally-ill person, who is not unlike the other reactionaries who have been influenced to action by the constant drumbeat of hate speech, and violent rhetoric spewed by the mainstream media's wingnut millionaire mouthpieces.
Susie Madrak of Crooks and Liars asks, Remember when Beck ridiculed Pelosi for speaking out against violent tea party rhetoric? She says that, "I'm waiting for Glenn Beck to finally apologize. I'm waiting for him to acknowledge that violent rhetoric can and does influence mentally unbalanced people, and that a line has been so clearly crossed, even Glenn Beck has regrets. When you tell people Obama's planning to kill them, that has consequences. When you warn people of an impending Reichstag moment and power grab, you're targeting our leaders. When Byron Williams, armed to the teeth and wearing body armor, drives to San Francisco to shoot officials of the Tides Foundation and hopefully start a revolution, was it a coincidence that you'd targeted them with your violent rhetoric? When your fan Richard Poplowski became so convinced that the Obama administration would take his guns that he gunned down three Pittsburgh policemen, you planted those seeds. What's that old saying? "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind." You can hide behind the flag, Mr. Beck, but now everyone sees you for who you are. You're a liar, and a bully, and a thug. You incite other people and sit back, counting your cash."
Dave Neiwert, also writing on Crooks and Liars, notes that in the coming days there will be much hand-wringing from the media over yesterday's violence, and that "some of it, almost certainly, from the folks at Fox, who will wonder aloud how this kind of thing could happen.
It can happen, in fact, because conservatives so thoughtlessly and readily use violent eliminationist rhetoric when talking about "liberals" (to wit: anyone who is not a conservative). They will adamantly deny it, of course, but the cold reality is that this kind of talk creates permission for angry and violent people to act it out."
Professor Martin Kaplan writes that the "Lock and Load" rhetoric makes intelligent political discussions impossible, and points out that "The "second amendment solution," though, does something worse than make politics a branch of entertainment. It makes it a blood sport. I know politics ain't beanbag. But words have consequences, rhetoric shapes reality, and much as we like to believe that we are creatures of reason, there is something about our species' limbic system and lizard brainstems that makes us susceptible to irrational fantasies."
I think that people like Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and others need to be held accountable for their destructive hate speech and materials. The fact that these high-charisma, low-intellect wingnut faves have the extensive media platforms that they do is absolutely shameful. I encourage you to contact their program networks, and tell them that not only will you not be tuning in (duh!), you will be contacting their major sponsors as well. This will be the only thing that will influence corporate media outlets. They have zero interest in social responsibility or "doing the right thing." The bottom line, as always, is the revenue.
Also, Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhall, a psychiatrist, has launched a petition to the Justice Department, asking them to indict Sarah Palin for attempting to incite violence against democrats that appear on her "hit list". I've signed it already, and if you feel so inclined, please sign it and send the link to others. Sign petition here.