By MARC McDONALD
Sarah Palin has drawn criticism for her infamous "target" map that illustrated Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' 8th district with target crosshairs. A Palin spokeswoman has defended the map image, claiming that it was never meant to evoke guns or violence.
But if that's true, then why did Palin's camp rush to scrub the site with the image from the Internet only minutes after Giffords was shot? And why, in March, when Giffords criticized what she called a "gun sight" graphic, did Palin not rush to dispute this description back then?
Clearly, Palin doesn't have the courage of her convictions---which is ironic, because she portrays herself as a rugged "mama grizzly bear" who proudly stands her ground against the wimpy Dems and the "lamestream" media. But now, she's cowering in fear over what the latter might have to say about her crosshairs map.
It's notable that Giffords herself had previously raised concerns about Palin's map. Last March, Giffords, who had been the target of threats over her vote on health care reform, told MSNBC: "The way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have got to realize there are consequences to that action."
Note that Giffords' comments were scrubbed from Palin's Facebook page on Sunday.
Incidentally, anyone who expects the Giffords tragedy to cause GOP hate-mongers to tone down their heated rhetoric is dreaming. Right-wing radio continues to spew hate and bile and indeed, has reached a new low in the aftermath of the shooting.
On Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh said the suspected shooter, Jared Loughner, was smirking in his latest photo for a reason.
"What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that...the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame."
Keep it classy, Rush.
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Just Saying NO Is Not An Agenda
6 hours ago
6 comments:
"If Palin's "Crosshairs" Map Was Really Harmless, Why Was It Scrubbed From Web?"
Holy crap! I didn't think of it that way! She probably knows she is the reason those people were injured and killed. She brainwashed that innocent kid with her mind control map and forced him to do her bloody work. What a bitch! And if she had not taken down that map, she would have gotten away with it too! That f-ing map and you meddling kids!
re:
>>I didn't think of it that way
That's probably because you get all your "news" and views from Fox and Rush.
re:
>>She brainwashed that innocent
>>kid with her mind control map
>>and forced him to do her bloody
>>work.
This is typical Right-Wing "logic" and an idiotic straw man argument. Who, exactly, has ever suggested that Palin "brainwashed" the gunman and "forced him to do her bloody work"?
I bet you couldn't find an assertion like that anywhere in the Liberal blogosphere---not even on the most extreme, Far-Left, radical blog.
(By contrast, I routinely see wild, crazy allegations in Right-Wing Media and talk radio: "Obama is a Muslim!" "Obama was born in Kenya!")
Palin HERSELF said (direct quote) that Obama was "palling around with terrorists." Truly crazy talk.
Here are a couple of FACTS:
1. Palin DID post a map on her Web site, with a crosshair image over Giffords' district.
2. Back in March, Giffords, like many of us, was disturbed and alarmed by this and she said in an MSNBC interview (direct quote):
"The way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have got to realize there are consequences to that action."
Do you seriously believe that this is not a legit news story? Do you seriously believe the mainstream media should have just ignored this completely and not reported it at all? If so, you are truly delusional.
These guys make it tough to blog. Every time I come up with some kind of hyperbole to demonstrate the heights of ridicularity, it turns out someone like Rush already said it.
Republicans, much like their Thumper friends, can redact all their stupid mistakes because Jebus loves them...
-WageslaveZ-
Rather than read between the lines and make my own assumptions about your meaning, let me instead pose a question: What exactly are you saying in your article? Are you saying the Palin map with the crosshairs had anything to do with the shooter making a decision to kill and injure people?
To the previous commenter:
re:
>>What exactly are you saying in
>>your article?
I think I'm quite clear in what I'm saying. First off, I'm raising a very legitimate point in asking why the Palin camp scrubbed the "crosshairs" graphic from the Web minutes after the Giffords shooting (and then at the same time claimed that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the graphic).
If Palin had the courage of her convictions, the image wouldn't have been scrubbed.
Now, let me ask YOU a question: do you honestly believe that this issue (or the fact that Giffords had complained about the "crosshairs" graphic months ago) isn't newsworthy?
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