Before everyone here freaks out and wonder why I've turned to the dark side or wonder what recreational drugs I have been ingesting into my body, I just want to say that in light of the tragedy that happened in Tuscon, Arizona over the weekend, the level of vitriol, hatred, fear, and bigotry in our current political discourse should be and needs to be condemned, and those responsible for spreading such vitriol need to be held accountable. But in the past few days, I've noticed that Sara Palin has been, for lack of a better term, unfairly targeted for all of the outrage. What worries me about the outrage is that she will be thrown under the bus while others who are equally deserving of our condemnation will get a free pass.
While most rational people are not claiming that the GOP, conservative groups, and right-wing public commentators are responsible for the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the murder of six people including a federal judge, two aides, and four citizens including a nine year old girl, they are right in pointing out the toxic political climate that is being perpetrated by these same persons. Naturally, a lot of this outrage is being aimed at figures like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck and deservedly so, for they are the most visible leaders of this vitriolic movement.
After the initial news of the tragedy in Tuscon made the airwaves, Sarah Palin took down her map of representatives which she used during the most recent midterm campaign to unseat several democratic representatives which featured those districts using the crosshairs of the scope of a rifle. Naturally, this implied some sort of guilt which she tried to cover up. However, she is hardly the first right-wing figure to state, imply or use violent imagery against their democratic and/or liberal opponents. Several GOP candidates for the House and Senate, including Sharron Angle, publicly stated that they would use "second amendment remedies" if they should fail to be elected. Others had campaign commercials featuring target practice, and Gabrielle Giffords' opponent even had a campaign rally inviting people to participate in target practice. Michelle Bachmann has publicly stated that supporters of health care and other of President Obama's policies should be investigated for possible treason, and even John Boehner verbally threatened another Democratic candidate by implying that he should be afraid to go back to his home district.
But it wasn't just elected and would-be elected officials spouting violence. Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and numerous other right-wing radio personalities have stirred up their listeners with violent verbiage about "taking out" Democratic candidates, and on the TV side, Glenn Beck has been practically screaming for revolution. This has resulted in several incidents of people being shot and killed, many which occurred after the perpetrators had listened to or watched Glenn Beck's programs.
However, most of the focus the past few days has been on Sarah Palin, and while she deserves some condemnation, it appears that others who are equally guilty of the toxic discourse in our country are ready to throw her under the bus to cover their own behinds. Naturally, they are being really defensive of their own words and actions and accusing the left of being equally vitriolic when in fact it is not the case, but in the long run they appear ready to sacrifice one of their own and hope the issue goes away so they can resume bringing hatred and fear against the progressive movement. I urge all of us to not relent on calling out these charlatans for who they are and what they are doing. Only when we go after all of the perpetrators of this toxic vitriol can we change the political discourse in this country and work towards fixing what's wrong with the economy and our government.