Yes, Ashley Todd did an evil evil thing. Yes, she obviously knew what the potential consequences would be.
But, I think what we are all forgetting is that she did not act alone.
Follow me below so I can explain
I am a little baffled as to why no-one has made the connection between the nature of McCain's campaign and the girl that faked being mutilated to incite racism.
The McCain campaign has made it clear to their supporters that race-baiting is OK. The following attacks are all, at their core, race-baiting:
Barack Obama: that one
Who is Barack Obama
Pal around with terrorists
Barack Obama: scary, wants to teach your kids about sex
excuse me if I forgot some, I'm sure there are many more that I can not think of at this moment.
My point is that Ashley Todd is obviously a very impressionable young lady. She's not mentally healthy and this situation is exactly what John Lewis warned McCain of just a few weeks ago, let me remind you in case you've forgotten:
John Lewis said this:
"Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, . . . George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks"
No Ashley Todd did not bomb anybody but she knowingly attempted to inspire someone to do Exactly that. We all know who gave Ashley Todd the idea to do that.
Whether the girl decided to go off-script herself or even if she had help as far as I know this was probably not a stunt that was approved by anyone in the actual campaign. So, in that sense, Ashley and other co-conspirators acted alone, separate from the McCain campaign.
However, other McCain surrogates and supporters are achieving race-baiting every day with "smarter" tactics.
It's easy to see how an impressionable mentally troubled young girl could be convinced that race-baiting is the endorsed campaign tactic at this point and that it was her job to race-bait, her duty.
It is clear that race-baiting has been endorsed by McCain and Palin as their central attack on the democratic ticket. Ashley Todd probably thought she was doing McCain/Palin a favor. The fact that she got a personal call from the two might shed some light as to whether that is true.
The saddest thing about this is that this incident could have very real consequences on her future.
Ultimately I see her as a victim. I despise her at the moment, but I feel very sorry for her. I find myself thinking, "why couldn't she have fallen in with some Obama supporters?" If she had her life could be completely different.
She's just 20 years old people, think about where you were when you were twenty. Save for a few of you that were wise beyond your years the rest of you know what I'm talking about!
Update: Just found this article by Dawn Teo, McCain-Palin and the Lucifer Effect, that does a much better job of explaining my points! It's here