Should we have expected anything else? Four days after the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that left six dead and fourteen wounded, and on the day that Congress and the President will honor the victims of this tragedy, Sarah Palin just happens to choose today to assure America that she is among the victims.
In a carefully orchestrated video, complete with a large American flag that apparently flutters next to her fireplace, Palin quickly gets her sympathy for the victims and their families out of the way so she can get to the real reason for her message -- to attack the debate that has arisen about the role violent rhetoric so commonly used among elected Republicans, their media surrogates, and of course Palin herself, may have played in last Saturday's tragedy.
And while Palin's message can be criticized on so many levels, its self-centered, self-serving offensiveness is best encapsulated in this one sentence:
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.
First, the obvious. Blood libel? Is it possible that Palin doesn't know that the term -- an accusation of killing Christian children to use their blood -- has been used throughout history to justify the persecution of Jews? Of course she does. But never mind its bloody and oppressive historical significance, it's a great sound bite. And such a great hook to attack the "lamestream" media.
Second, the violence they purport to condemn? Subtle.
And finally, this phrase really jumps out:
... that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence ...
Didn't Palin just spend nearly eight minutes insisting that rhetoric has nothing to do with violence and that mere words don't make an evil man act?
Apparently they do if the words are critical of Sarah Palin.