Sarah Palin's Facebook page
essay and video in response to
the Tucson shootings - a
tragedy in which she found
herself the centerpiece of a
debate over civility in political
discourse - was crafted as
both a defense of her own
actions as part of the grand
tradition of "our exceptional
nation," and a strike against
her critics.
That she waited four days and
then issued such a delicately
calibrated and polished
statement also displayed a
trait not normally associated
with the former Alaska
governor: discipline.
In Palin's version of events,
her controversial actions
represented common cause
with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
(D-Ariz.), who a few days
before being critically
wounded in the mass shooting
had read the First Amendment
on the House floor.
"Acts of monstrous criminality
stand on their own," Palin said
in the statement. "They begin
and end with the criminals
who commit them, not
collectively with all the
citizens of a state, not with
those who listen to talk radio,
not with maps of swing
districts used by both sides of
the aisle, not with law-abiding
citizens who respectfully
exercise their First
Amendment rights at
campaign rallies, not with
those who proudly voted in
the last election."
Palin's statement contained an
instance of provocative
religious imagery that might
be missed by more secular
voters who read her
statement, but which likely
will be recognized by the
religious conservatives who
constitute such an important
part of her following.
"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," she
wrote. "That is
reprehensible."
"Blood libel" is a phrase that
refers to a centuries-old anti-
Semitic slander - the false
charge that Jews use the blood
of Christian children for
rituals - that has been used as
an excuse for persecution. The
phrase was first used in
connection with response to
the Arizona shootings in an
opinion piece in Monday's Wall
Street Journal and has been
picked up by others on the
right.
Palin's defensiveness was
apparent in the indirect
reference to criticism of a
map on Palin's Web site during
the midterm elections that
showed districts of
congressional Democrats she
had targeted for defeat
marked with crosshairs.
Giffords, whose district was
one of those 20, had publicly
complained that this was an
invitation to violence.
"She's her own best
spokesperson and she wanted
to talk about this," said Tim
Crawford, the treasurer for
Palin's political action
committee. "The reason we
did the video was we wanted
the statement in total out
there. We wanted the video to
be seen in its entirety."
Palin's statement comes as
President Obama is headed to
Tucson to speak at a service
for the victims, and
guarantees that her
perspective will be part of the
storyline of the day.
In its careful timing and
deliberate language, it also
represents a departure from
her previous attention-getting
Facebook posts and tweets,
many of which were reflexive
spasms to even small
criticisms.
On Thanksgiving, for instance,
as most of the nation was still
sleepily digesting turkey
dinners, she issued an angry
blast at Obama and the
media, recalling a gaffe the
president made during the
2008 campaign. It was an
apparent reaction to the fact
that she herself had been
ridiculed for a slip of the
tongue in which she referred
to North Korea as South
Korea.
"The one-word slip occurred
yesterday during one of my
seven back-to-back interviews
wherein I was privileged to
speak to the American public
about the important, world-
changing issues before us,"
Palin wrote. "If the media had
bothered to actually listen to
all of my remarks on Glenn
Beck's radio show, they would
have noticed that I refer to
South Korea as our ally
throughout, that I corrected
myself seconds after my slip-
of-the-tongue, and that I made
it abundantly clear that
pressure should be put on
China to restrict energy
exports to the North Korean
regime."
Those kinds of outbursts could
be fatal in a presidential
campaign, and stand as a
stark contrast to the
statement that Palin released
Wednesday.
The new level of political
professionalism to her
approach - if that indeed is
what this represents - also
might not be merely a
coincidence in its timing.
Republican operatives report
that Palin has been calling
around in recent weeks to
seek advice not only on
whether but how she should
run for president in 2012. This
statement might suggest she
is not only seeking that
counsel, but taking it as well.
Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/12/AR2011011202145.html?hpid=topnews
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