Pointing Fingers Rather Than Saying a Prayer

The leftwing Daily Kos on June 25, 2008, called for putting a “bull’s-eye” on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ district. The Kos called it a “target” list that included Mrs. Giffords, who now fights for her life after an attempted assassination on the Second amendment champion. The author of the “target” list on Kos goes on to say that perhaps Giffords should be “primaried.” In other words, Giffords was a traitor and should face a primary challenge to take her out. “Not all of these people will get or even deserve primaries, but this vote certainly puts a bull’s eye on their district,” the Kos publication reported.

Then, two days before a nutcase attacked Giffords, the Daily Kos printed the words:

“My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!”

The eerie writing referred to Congresswoman Giffords who had voted against Nancy Pelosi as minority leader in the House.

The Daily Kos scrubbed these writings from its website, but screen copies of the offensive screeds remain, thanks to quick-thinking readers.

So what are we to make of these rants in the face of the tragedy in Tucson that left the congresswoman with a bullet-wound to her head and an uncertain future, and six innocents dead: Judge John Roll ,63; Dorthy Murray, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; Christina Greene, 9; Phyllis Scheck, 79; and Gabriel Zimmerman, 30? Should we blame the Daily Kos and others who used their First Amendment rights to criticize Giffords at one time or another? Should we look toward ways to shut down the Daily Kos and others who publish outrageous and sometimes untrue diatribes? In a Democratic Republic like our own, the resounding answer has to be “no.”

Though we have every right to rant and rave about others and point our fingers following a senseless attack like that which injured Mrs. Giffords, such banter is destructive and painful. More importantly, blaming folks who didn’t pull the trigger is outrageous and nonsensical. The blame lies with one person, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, a lone wolf who no doubt had serious mental problems.

Politicos from all sides have looked at various facts about Loughner to attempt to prove their point that fault lies with either the left or right in this country. That Loughner loved the “Communist Manifesto” proves he was a lefty, right? The proof of this young man’s illness is the blood left in the Safeway parking lot and the upcoming funerals of innocent Americans, including a 9-year-old girl who wanted to learn more about government in her trip to visit Rep. Giffords.

It is dead wrong and offensive that some spend their time and the public’s airways to look for culprits when, as far as law enforcement is concerned, the suspect is in custody. I have been blamed for the shootings by leftists. I wouldn’t mind the lies and innuendo if it didn’t detract from what we should be doing as country: Every one of us should be on our knees and praying for the victims instead of flinging filthy mud.

Bloggers decided it was newsworthy to attack me with quotes that misquoted me to prove I was a demon who infiltrated Loughner’s sick gray matter and influenced him to shoot those folks outside of Safeway. What’s next? I suppose some losers will swear that you can play my radio shows backward and hear Mephistopheles himself goading sickies to kill, KILL, KILL.

Following Loughner’s attack, people have written all kinds of goofy and untruthful things about me and blamed me for the nastiness that drove Loughner to kill. What did I do? According to some know-nothing, I was “fired for saying about Pelosi, ‘We’ve got a bull’s-eye painted on her big, wide laughing eyes.'” Not true. I did say that Pelosi was being targeted – but certainly not for physical violence but for political change like we just saw as she lost the speakership. Secondly, I was not fired for anything. I lost my job because of budget cuts. Period.

Politics is nasty. They always have been. The Founding Fathers knew that. Their political views brought real violence. The British Navy came at them full force and colonists died due to their beliefs and words. It was not uncommon for people to duel after words were exchanged. Our presidents, senators and others in public office get all kinds of hate mail, derogatory postings on the Web, and punditry with colorful dissent. Thank the good Lord that assassinations and attacks are rare. It shows that society has become more civil, not less, since its founding.

That isn’t to say things are cordial. Lies are consistently spread about me from leftists and, yes, I’ve been stalked and have had death threats. Do I blame the Daily Kos and other left-leaning publications for the hateful and untruthful things they’ve written about me? Nope. Political speech is specifically protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution and our Founding Fathers had it right when the protected political speech, no matter how ugly it gets.

As for the naysayers, the whiners, the blamers and the haters, give it up. No matter how hard you try, your weak arguments and blame games will not convince any sane person that I, Sarah Palin, the tea party or even the Communists pushed Loughner over the edge. Save your breath. Or better yet, say a prayer for the victims.