On the one hand, Sarah Palin and other Conservatives who are "outraged" by the idea that their ugly, violent rhetoric may somehow be responsible for the tragic shooting in Arizona are right: It is impossible to draw a straight line from their inflammatory words to the act of one mentally unstable individual.
On the other hand, just as rain falls on the just and the unjust alike, so too does rhetoric designed to provoke fear, rage and paranoia fall on the sane and the insane alike.
Palin and her Conservative friends would like to believe that they can, on the one hand, strongly imply that violence and armed revolt are acceptable- in fact, possibly the only - remedies to the "problems" (i.e. President Obama and health insurance reform) afflicting our nation, and, on the other hand, deny any responsibility when real acts of violence occur.
As has been the case since the beginning of the Bush/Cheney/Rove era, Palin and the conservative right continue to live in a fantasy world in which other people's words and actions have real consequences, but not their own.
Palin and other Conservatives consistently blame government "handouts," "welfare," and other government programs for every social ill, every anti-social behavior we see in our society. "Liberal" policies, in their world, are to blame for the "moral decay" we see all around us.
But if someone buys an easily accessible gun and assassinates a public official, then that act begins and ends with the individual. In an official statement, Palin says:
Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them...Especially 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. That is reprehensible.
Aside from the highly offensive use of the term "blood libel," the history of which Palin naturally seems to misunderstand, the statement is notable for Palin's use of two characteristically conservative techniques:
- Utter denial of responsibility; 2) Accusing the accusers of engaging in the very "reprehensible" behavior that she herself is denying.
The conservative state of denial extends, of course, beyond this particular incident to the larger problem of gun violence in America. The National Rifle Association has basically made guns a forbidden topic in our nation's political debate. It no longer matters to them or to the public officials in their thrall how many people die because of gun violence.
Guns equal freedom. Guns equal liberty. Period.
Tell that to the dead and the grieving in Arizona, Mexico and all the other places where people die needlessly due to easy access to powerful firearms.
Despite our pathetic national image of machismo, we are essentially a nation of cowards - unwilling to stand up to the NRA, Palin and the rest of our elected officials, including - tragically - Gabriella Giffords, who herself boasted about owning a 9mm Glock prior to being shot by one.
What an infantile nation.
For more information about guns, violence and the rise of "insurrectionist" activity across America, I would urge you to visit the following two sites:
The Hidden Life of Guns.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
May God bring peace to all who mourn.