Fineman: With 'Blood Libel,' The 2012 Campaign Has Begun

[RamboLiberal]

WASHINGTON -- Sarah Palin has just proven again that she has only one gear -- forward -- and only one mode -- attack.

The 2012 presidential campaign has begun, not in Iowa or New Hampshire, but in the bloody streets of Tucson.

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After a litany of other Republicans, from Roger Ailes to Ari Fleischer, suggested that calmer rhetoric is warranted in the aftermath of Tucson, Palin -- after remaining essentially silent for three days -- amped up the rhetoric in a pointed counterattack, accusing "journalists and pundits" of manufacturing a "blood libel" against her by suggesting that she somehow is to blame for the toxic political atmosphere in Arizona.

There are few more freighted phrases in the history of hate than "blood libel," which is the ancient and false accusation that Jews secretly murder Christian children as part of their religious rituals. This anti-Semitic attack has resulted in countless pogroms and massacres through the ages.

Saint Sarah, it seems, is now comparing herself to one of those martyrs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/sarah-palin-2012-president-blood-libel_n_807925.html

[RainDog]

1. she is not worthy of election as dog catcher. nt

[Jester Messiah]

5. She can catch what my dog leaves in the yard. [nt]

[liberal N proud]

2. I hate to think just how ugly it will get with her in the running

[NightWatcher]

3. She has no chance. She knows she can't get more than 20% of the electorate

So now she's just trying to stay relevant and make money off her pseudo-fame like a twisted version of Newt

[hlthe2b]

6. She may get in for exactly that reason--to be the lead "shit-stirrer"

[dhill926]

11. exactly......

she knows she can't win. It's all about the money......

[NightWatcher]

4. Dupe

[pacalo]

7. Who taught her the term " blood libel" & the anti-Semitic meaning of it?

This is the first time I've heard of it, & it's appalling to imagine Palin getting amped up by her own turdblossom to add it to her pathetic defense.

[annabanana]

10. Probably the same pastor who protected her from witchcraft.

The fundy right alligns itself with right wing of Israel so the the second coming will come sooner.. Then all bets are off.

[RainDog]

15. that same pastor carried out a literal witch hunt for political gain in Kenya n/t

[justiceischeap]

12. Possibly her anti-Semitic preacher, Larry Kroon

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/3/154432/1140/908/584902

[RamboLiberal]

20. RW Media had already started writing it day of the shootings

Before Sarah Palin posted her Facebook provocation this morning accusing the media of committing "blood libel" for connecting some of her statements to the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), that phrase was being batted around by the conservative media.

Andrew Brietbart used the phrase in a tweet last night (though it's likely Palin's video, posted in the early morning hours Wednesday, was filmed before that tweet).

"Blood libel" popped up in a Wall Street Journal op-ed by professor and Pajamas TV host Glenn Reynolds. "Where is the decency in blood libel?" he wrote on Monday, Jan. 10.

Adam Graham of Renew America was the first to use the phrase in reference to the Tucson shootings, according to a search of Google News.

But the very first reference to "blood libel" in the wake of the Tucson massacre came from political consultant Jon Henke, who used the phrase on Twitter the same day as the shootings, according to Google's realtime search.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/palins_use_of_blood_libel_mirrors_that_in_right-wing_media.php?ref=fpb

[somone]

8. For the grifter, it's about money, not public service

She knows she is not electable, but the big bank account is sooo nice.

[emulatorloo]

9. HOLY CRAP

[Mike 03]

13. Or "The Campaign has ended--at least for Palin."

She may appease her base but she needs to do far more than that to win political office.

I think her political career walked off a cliff this morning.

[DCKit]

14. She's gunning for sainthood.

[Uncle Joe]

16. Palin began her 2012 Campaign the day she quit as Alaska's Governor and the corporate media have

endlessly kept her front and center in the nation's consciousness.

Palin abandoned her duties to the people of Alaska because it was easier to build and sustain a myth; in this case "Calamity Jane" if there was little or no public record of her actual governing experience.

Thanks for the thread RamboLiberal.

[TwilightGardener]

18. "..easier to build and sustain a myth"--exactly. If she was still busy governing, which

is often banal and uninteresting, involves an actual record, and isn't necessarily conducive to building a campaign myth--her chances of maintaining a carefully crafted image would go way down.

[mindem]

17. She has to keep the rhetoric ramped up.

It is the only way she can stay relevant. If things start to get toned down she doesn't have the intelligence to stay in the game. After all, can anyone name one positive, forward thinking solution this creature has put forward?

[mzmolly]

19. As others have noted, Palin gave cred ot the notion that words have consequences

with her poor analogy. Apparently consequential words only matter when Sarah is critiqued, not when people lay dead as a possible result.

Criticize Palin = blood libel.
Criticize Democrats using gun specific, violent rhetoric = free speech.