Sarah Palin is under fire for the criminal actions of Jared Loughner. It’s being said she incited him to commit these acts, whether directly or indirectly targeting Representative Giffords.
I’m no fan of Sarah Palin. I didn’t vote for McCain. If Sarah Palin runs for President, I won’t vote for her. I’ve never supported her in any way. I don’t think she’s got the skills or knowledge (or inclination to gain such) to actually be President. I’m not a “member” of the Tea Party in any of its various configurations. I understand some of their grievances, and feel that others are pretty outlandish. Yet one high-school friend said he was waiting for me to repudiate or condemn what Palin (and by extension, the Tea Party) has done since she came into the national political scene. Why should I repudiate or in any way distance myself from someone I’ve never aligned myself with in the first place?
Keith Olbermann made a statement last night about the shooting, and called for an end to the inflammatory and vitriolic rhetoric that’s pervaded the political scene over the last few years. I caught myself agreeing with him, right up until he started naming names. I suppose it’s not surprising that he only named right-wing or conservative pundits, candidates and officeholders. But that’s only part of the problem. Both sides, liberal and conservative, Republican and Democrat, engage in militarily metaphorical verbiage. Both sides have associated bulls-eyes with specific candidates (including Democrats marking Representative Giffords). Both sides need to stop. They need to stop now, without resorting to any kind of juvenile “I’ll stop when he stops” schoolyard crap.
I discuss occasionally inflammatory topics here. I may occasionally make inflammatory statements. So to prevent the kind of comments being made against Sarah Palin, I now post this disclaimer.
I apologize and refuse any responsibility now for anything I say, speak, pronounce, write, play, publish, construct, have said, or might possibly say that anyone can possibly misunderstand, misconstrue, confuse, misinterpret, misjudge, misapprehend, distort, exaggerate, misinterpret, reinterpret, pervert, take the wrong way, even or especially if they then take it upon themselves to commit an illegal, criminal, crooked, extralegal, felonious, forbidden, prohibited, proscribed, prosecutable, felonious action based on their mistaken, wrong, incorrect, erroneous, fallacious, false, faulty, illogical, inaccurate, specious, spurious, inexact, invalid, or misguided interpretation, understanding, analysis, comprehension, discernment, explanation, perception, reading, slant, or translation. Really. I didn’t mean it. Whatever you thought I meant.
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