Palin's Gunsight was on Arizona District (rain, party, showing)

[captaincatfish]

Any of you folks here in the Alaska Forum, who've read any of my posts, know how I feel about Mrs Palin...for those that haven't, I'll be direct---I do not like the woman...never have, never will

But today I stand shoulder to shoulder with Met, Moose Whisperer, and anyone else here who thinks that blaming her in any way for what happened in Tucson over the weekend is utter, pointless bull****, because it is...

I too have both heard some of Mrs P's more incendiary comments, and have seen the now-legendary 'gunsight map', and I'll tell you, I was a few notches above 'highly p****d-off'...but let's get one important thing straight here...I didn't run out and grab a pistol and start busting caps at people, just becuase of some overheated, divisive rhetoric...the young man in Tucson, to these old eyes, is just some sort of weiner-unable-to-cope-with-life, who seems to have had a mad-on against Cong. Giffords dating back to 2007, which, as others here have ably pointed out, was WAY before Mrs P was a blip on anyone's radar, political or otherwise...

Arrest Mrs P? Sure, then let's also arrest Olbermann, Maddow, Rush, Beck, O'Reilly, Cong Bachmann, and anybody else who's ever made any kind of unkind remark toward each other's 'side'...I think cooler, more logical heads will prevail, and after the smoke clears, it'll be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mrs P had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with whatever voices were in that young man's head...

Has she said and done some things that have been kinda incendiary? Yep...but I REALLY don't think, as much as I dislike her, that she was any kind of contributor to the young man's mental state...she and that blamed gunsight map, to me, make much to easy of a (pun intended) target, for folks seeking answers as to why this happened

[BacktoBlue]

Originally Posted by captaincatfish

Any of you folks here in the Alaska Forum, who've read any of my posts, know how I feel about Mrs Palin...for those that haven't, I'll be direct---I do not like the woman...never have, never will

But today I stand shoulder to shoulder with Met, Moose Whisperer, and anyone else here who thinks that blaming her in any way for what happened in Tucson over the weekend is utter, pointless bull****, because it is...

We should wait to make her change her tactics until someone actually DOES behave because of her fear mongering hate filled words? I disagree. Whether or not this incident had anything to do with it is irrelevant. The fact that it brought attention to someone or a group of people using tactics like this is proof that it is simply not right. If any random American had posted a map with crosshairs meant to target people on their FB page (especially if that person were a Muslim) would have been in jail 2 days after it was posted. Just because it is Sarah Palin is the only reason she wasn't arrested for it long ago. People had a problem with this months ago; but no one listened. People are listening now. At the very least the one good thing that can come of this (good... bad word maybe in this situation) is that it will change the way our political "leaders" act and speak lightly about violent actions.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by AADAD

yes, your compassion and comments mirrored that.

Typical AADAD, pull out the personal slams when you can't form a cohernet counter argument to something that you disagree with.

Constitutional precedent is either too complex of an issue for you to understand, or you really do want this country to become a police state.

[gobrien]

Hopefully, Palin and the others using gun terminology will stop using such hateful images of their own accord now. While those things did not cause the fruit loop to go on his rampage, they were in poor taste then, and totally unacceptable now.

[Moose Whisperer]

Some famous quotes in recent history:

If they bring a knife, we bring a gun...

If they hit us, we hit back twice as hard...

I know who's ass to kick...

--Barack Obama, President of the United States

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by BacktoBlue

We should wait to make her change her tactics until someone actually DOES behave because of her fear mongering hate filled words? I disagree. Whether or not this incident had anything to do with it is irrelevant. The fact that it brought attention to someone or a group of people using tactics like this is proof that it is simply not right. If any random American had posted a map with crosshairs meant to target people on their FB page (especially if that person were a Muslim) would have been in jail 2 days after it was posted. Just because it is Sarah Palin is the only reason she wasn't arrested for it long ago. People had a problem with this months ago; but no one listened. People are listening now. At the very least the one good thing that can come of this (good... bad word maybe in this situation) is that it will change the way our political "leaders" act and speak lightly about violent actions.

That's where it gets complicated.

Your legal allegations are wrong, by the way. Like it or not, Sarah Palin is as entitled to due process as anyone else, and shares the same Constitutional freedoms that we all do. She's been the recipient of about 20 death threats from a deranged internet blogger--no, I won't link it--and that guy hasn't been arrested.

And no, whether she had anything to do with inspiring this young man to go on a killing spree is very much relevant because some seem to believe that this incident should lead to her arrrest.


That said---she has been looked at by the FBI in regards to the rise in death threats against the President that were possibly inspired by her internet activities.

I don't like her commentary any more than you do; it's in bad taste, sophomoric , and yes, incendiary.

But one of the legal standards at play here is whether a reasonable person would find such rhetoric compelling enough to commit murder.

Yes, I agree with you that if some good is to come out of this at all, perhaps those on both sides will tone down their rhetoric. Personally....I think her crosshairs map is gone for good, and I think she'll tone down the rest. Not because of any sense of social obligation though...it would be one of the few smart political moves that she has at her disposal at this time.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

Some famous quotes in recent history:

Please!! Your only fanning the flames when you point out stuff like that!!

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Tundra Boy

-sided.

Met asked several times in this thread, "what about the music" he listened to. I personally just think he was F'd up. But the music question is certainly as fair to ask about as anything else. How many times has music/lyrics been blamed for suicides? Right now 99% of everything being said and supposed is just noise pollution, including what I just posted.

Regards,
TB

I'm not really pro censorship regarding music either, but it's probable that the music he listened to had more of an effect on him than Sarah Palin did. At least there is evidence that he listened to that type of music, while none at all that he paid any attention to her. Given his extreme bias towards anyone involved with government, it's likely that he didn't.

So many people are pointing fingers, saying that the guy was a lefty, or a righty, when in actuallity he was neither. He was all over the place ideologically; even his reading list was classis paranoid schizophrenic. His ramblings about anything concerning politics were all in the abstract as well.

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Personally....I think her crosshairs map is gone for good, and I think she'll tone down the rest. Not because of any sense of social obligation though...it would be one of the few smart political moves that she has at her disposal at this time.

Don

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

So many people are pointing fingers, saying that the guy was a lefty, or a righty, when in actuallity he was neither. He was all over the place ideologically; even his reading list was classis paranoid schizophrenic. His ramblings about anything concerning politics were all in the abstract as well.

Yes, it's turning out that his main heros are Chez Guevera, Karl marx, and Hugo Chavez. His main gripes against the government and Ms. Giffords appear to center on his inability to establish his own currency and a new letter in the alphabet. There's no evidence to suggest he's even aware that SP or the Tea Party exist at all.