"Palin's 'Blood Libel' Fumble"

[ProSense]

Via Daily Kos, the following shows how Sarah became a conservative pariah for a day.

GOPers Steer Clear of Palin's "Blood Libel" Comments

Sarah Palin dropped her latest rhetorical bombshell on Wednesday morning, claiming, in a widely circulated video, that media reports highlighting incendiary right-wing rhetoric (hers in particular) in the wake of the Tucson shootings was comparable to "blood libel." Palin lobbed the term—which has historically referred to the claim that Jews used the blood of Christian babies to make matzoh—just as the House was convening in Washington for the first time since Saturday. Hours before a congressional prayer service for the victims of the shooting rampage, Republican lawmakers made it clear they didn't want to go near the former Alaska governor's inflammatory remarks.

"I'm going to let her speak for herself," Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a tea party-backed freshman, told Mother Jones before walking onto the House floor for speeches mourning the Arizona victims. Other House Republicans were also cautious about weighing in. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who's made joint appearances with Palin, said: "I haven't seen the video yet... I gotta watch the video before I comment."

Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD), one of the Palin-backed "Mama Grizzlies" during the midterms, had even less to say. When asked whether she any comment or reaction to Palin's use of "blood libel," Noem said, "No, I don't." Pressed further on whether the media attacks on Palin over the Arizona shooting have been out of line, Noem replied, "I don't have a comment for that."

But at least one House Republican stepped forward to warn the media against using Palin's latest "blood libel" comment to unfairly malign her. "I didn't hear what she said exactly, but I just want to make sure that people on both sides of the media don’t take this and try to turn it into something that I’m not sure that it is," said Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), leaing the House GOP's caucus meeting on Wednesday, adding that Palin has been unjustly attacked in the past. The Pennsylvania Republican, however, declined to comment on her specific remarks. "I honestly couldn't you exactly what she said, so I couldn’t put a comment out there that would be intelligent."

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First Read:

The Incredibly Shrinking Palin? The president’s speech made Palin’s response look very small by comparison. While Obama tried to uplift, Palin tried to settle scores. While the president called for more civility, the former Alaska governor talked about duels and "blood libel." And while Obama’s message was, well, presidential, Palin’s was not. We’ll say this: If Palin has ambitions for the White House -- and we’re still not sure she does -- then her tone, message, and timing from her eight-minute video was a serious miscalculation. Is this what happens when you live in a bubble? Is this what happens when you don't have advisers you trust that live outside her bubble? Palin's speech struck as a natural response only if she spent the last three days reading every nasty email and Tweet she received, and didn't extract herself from the story.

Palin's "Blood Libel" Fumble

But when it became clear both that Palin had indeed given offense--not just to liberal Jewish advocacy groups but also to some of her sympathizers--and that the reaction was clouding her intended message, she should have been more nimble. Assuming that Palin did not actually mean to invoke an old anti-Semitic trope, even a quick Tweet clarifying and apologizing to anyone who took offense would have been a winning move. Palin would have looked gracious, sensitive and--even if she generally avoids on-the-spot questioning from non-friendly media outlets--responsive to legitimate criticism. Not holed up in her Alaskan homestead pretending she is infallible.

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David Frum On MSNBC Calls Sarah Palin A “Big Melting Iceberg”

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But it isn’t merely that Frum thinks Palin did not come off as presidential– she came off even less presidential than she has in the past. “She’s mad– that showed. She’s madder than she is sad. She’s very wounded by what has been done to her,” he explained, a sentiment he found inappropriate in comparison to the gravity of the event she was discussing.

As for her presidential ambitions, Frum concluded with an apt metaphor for an Alaskan politician: “She’s like a big melting iceberg in warm water, and I think a big chunk of ice just slipped off the side.”

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[tanyev]

1. Sarah brings a bucket of gasoline to put out the fire she helped create.

[ProSense]

3. Yup. n/t

[rocktivity]

2. She tries to defend her use of violence-tinged terminolgy with....WAIT FOR IT!!!

violence-tinged terminology?

She has the political instincts of a moose carcass.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[ProSense]

4. One of the OP articles mentions an apology for offensive phrase. That may come with the

cancellation of this appearance:

Palin to keynote gun convention (in two weeks)

"She has the political instincts of a moose carcass."

Yup.

:rofl:

[opihimoimoi]

5. Suffers from Extreme Delusion as the norm for the GOPer Party but she is over the TOP

She is deluded as they come....

[eilen]

6. that is what happens when you only engage the media

and the public one-way.

[opihimoimoi]

7. Empty head is her prob....not too many subjects she can speak on....poor thing

[66 dmhlt]

8. Sarah: You do NOT get to yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater ...

And blow your dog whistle to your bloodthirsty Teabaggers - and then expect to wash your hands of it when it all goes bad.