Palin breaks silence on Tucson shootings
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 11:39 am
- 17 Comments
Early this morning, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin published a 1,141-word Facebook post with an accompanying eight-minute video responding to the Tucson shootings at length on the same day President Obama is scheduled to travel to Tucson to speak. The response comes as a reply to critics who have said that her political action committee’s map, showing Democratic representatives in GOP-leaning districts who voted for the health care law in gunsights, contributed to a charged climate in American politics before the shooting.
“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?” she said.
This statement was Palin’s first response to the tragedy, except for a very short post the day of the shootings and an e-mail exchange with Glenn Beck, of Fox News. Her spokesman preposterously said the gunsights were intended to be “surveyor’s symbols,” in an interview on the Palin-friendly Tammy Bruce Show.
“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,” she said.
As usual, Palin targeted the media in her post. “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,” she said, apparently accusing the media of inciting violence following the Tucson shootings.
The phrase “blood libel” has drawn the most controversy so far in the speech, since it refers to the historical anti-Semitic canard that Jews sacrifice Christian children. The phrase was used most recently when Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled, “The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel.” (It’s very likely that Palin or one of her advisers read this op-ed.)
Another odd phrase was the mention of September 11, 2001. “Recall how the events of 9/11 challenged our values, and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security,” she said, without any specifics to what freedoms have been traded.
The speech’s optics were as notable as its content. She spoke with an American flag and fireplace in the background, mimicking a presidential speech. The speech — in contrast to say, her rambling resignation (as governor of Alaska) speech — seemed well-prepared. Also, releasing the speech thirteen hours before the president speaks in Tucson guarantees the two will be compared. The content, however, was not much different from her previous speeches and posts — frequent references to the founding fathers, attacking the media, Reagan quotes and platitudes about the positive aspects of the American system of government.
She closed with a long platitude about what to do next:
“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.”
Sarah Palin: “America’s Enduring Strength” from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.
17 Comments
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
Hey remember the Gilda Radner character on SNL?. After a long rant, Emily used to end it by saying, “never mind”, sounds sort of what like Sarah Palin is saying, to me.
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 1:16 pm
Tsk tsk on Sarah Palin’s use of “blood libel” given Rep. Giffords is Jewish. She would be wise to shut up and fade away from the political scene altogether.
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 1:21 pm
She’s still hiding.
Facebook? A taped message? Why isn’t she doing the media tour – appearing on every network that would have her, answering questions directly? Because she knows she could never survive that. She would say something stupid, something a 5th grader could call her on.
These are not the qualities of a leader in any way, shape or form. Nope. Bye-bye Sarah. You have no future with us.
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 1:25 pm
Sigh.
Clarification: PALIN would be wise to shut up and fade away from the political scene altogether.
My annoyance with Palin is aggravated by my thoughts today who are with the victims and their families and friends.
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 2:06 pm
Is that a Teleprompter reflected in her glasses? Why didn’t she just write “blood libel” on her hand?
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
Hey Sarah,
How’s that bullseye mappy thing working out for ya? (in the spirit of your “hopey changey statement”)
No amount of lipstick can hide the guilt on your face but a sincere apology for your responsibility in posting that hateful poster would have been appreciated.
Yes,Loughner bears personal responsibility for these killings. Thankfully we have footage of Giffords response to Palin’s bullseye map.
Comment posted January 12, 2011 @ 3:13 pm
Has anyone noticed the lighted squares in Sarah Palin’a glasses??? That is from the teleprompter she was reading off from. Would she have memorized such a speech?
It is also obvious that this speech was written for her, not by her. Still no responsibility from her for her vitriolic words at the mid-term rallies held in Arizona and Nevada where she cried out to the TP crowd…”Don’t retreat! Instead RELOAD!”
I found Palin’s performance shallow, making it appear that she is the victim here for the Tucson shootings. She is not!
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 7:10 am
When are you rubes going to realize that Sarah Palin isn’t speaking to you or people like you, she’s speaking to people like me.
And in doing so, she doesn’t have to watch her language or care whether “blood libel” was once also used to describe jews being unfairly accused. She knows that when you talk to gun owners and veterans, you can use their language which may include phrases like “Don’t retreat, reload.” We’re not restricted by speech codes.
You politically-correct nanny-statists may have found her brilliant presentation offensive, but her supporters did not, which is all that matters.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 8:39 am
@Dennis—watch the movie “Idiocracy”—–it’s a prophetic movie. Dumbing down our language to the level of SP’s will only lead us down the road to more violence and less freedom.
And regarding her presentation—did you note the difference between the way she spoke in her FB broadcast vs. when someone asks her a direct question? The first was highly scripted by handlers and the other well, she sounds as inarticulate as I do sometimes—only I’m not thinking of running to be the POTUS.
And no, as a gun owner Sarah doesn’t speak my language. Don’t be so gullible— snappy soundbites like “Don’t retreat, reload” belong in a Chuck Norris movie—-not in political discourse.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 9:07 am
“watch the movie “Idiocracy”—–it’s a prophetic movie. ”
Oh please. If people had to take a literacy test to be able to vote, the democrats would never win another election and we both know it.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 9:44 am
Dennis -
” When are you rubes going to realize that Sarah Palin isn’t speaking to you or people like you, she’s speaking to people like me.”
That’s exactly what we need – rather than speaking to the country as a whole and trying to bridge the gap between the right and left – we need somebody who chooses to speak directly to right-wing fringe assholes like yourself further fueling the hate and divisiveness.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 10:41 am
Speechwriter Bob Schrum summed up Sarah Palin’s 8 minute and the President’s speeches this way…”“At the end of the day, after listening to the president and Sarah Palin, we’ll know why he’s president and she never will be.”
Yes Dennis! Sarah Palin speaks to people like you. Gullible, emotional, and often unread as she is.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 11:39 am
A nine year old child lost her life to this tragedy and Sarah Palin thinks that the real victim is sarah Palin? What is wrong with this woman’s good sense? She is so self absorbed that she can not get past her own nose for sympathy with the real victims.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 1:14 pm
Ahh here is the real Sarah Palin showing a self absorbed piece of grizzly bear S-it that is not fit for office of anykind. I don’t know how she ever became govenor of Alaska oh wait the whole state is only about 700,000 people in it and that means it only take a little over 350,000+ plus idiots to vote for her and get elected. The speechewriter above said it best when he said At the end of the day after listening to Palin and Then Obamas speeches we know why he is President and she never will be.
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 2:07 pm
Sarah Palin~~ Helping Democrats Since 2008 !!! We really should love her..
Comment posted January 13, 2011 @ 5:40 pm
LadyK:
Bob Schrum’s a democrat campaign consultant (none of his presidential clients won, btw), what do expect him to say?
Obama’s 30-year old speechwriter has yet to write a memorable line other than “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!”
heh
Comment posted January 14, 2011 @ 9:54 am
Yep, Shrum’s a Dem. David Frum is not. He also thinks Palin completely blew it.
The quitter demonstrated once again she is nowhere near Presidential material.
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