From ‘Job Killing’ To ‘Death Panels,’ Republicans Have Numbed Us To The Imagery Of Their Rhetoric

[cynatnite]

Following Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, which led to the death of six people and the serious injury of 20 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) echoed the growing call for a more civil political discourse by challenging Republicans to change the name of their health care repeal legislation. “The bill, titled the ‘Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Law Act,’ was set to come up for a vote this week, but in the wake of Gabby’s shooting, it has been postponed at least until next week,” she wrote in a blog post on the Huffington Post :

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not suggesting that the name of that one piece of legislation somehow led to the horror of this weekend — but is it really necessary to put the word “killing” in the title of a major piece of legislation? I don’t think that word is in there by accident — my Republican friends know as well as anyone the power of words to send a message. But in this environment and at this moment in our nation’s history, it’s not the message we should be sending.

The GOP has relied on the phrase “job killing” to frame the repeal effort as an economic endeavor that will help create American jobs and sustain the economy, but conservatives probably didn’t give much thought to the implications of the word “killing,” having relied on the rhetoric of ‘life and death’ so frequently throughout the health care reform debate. In fact, if it wasn’t for Saturday’s shooting, few people would have seriously considered the real meaning of the GOP’s words. In the aftermath of “death panels,” suggestions that the law may “cost you your life“, kill more people, and abort babies, the Republicans have downright numbed us all to their frequent use of death imagery as a tool to ferment political opposition. A quick look through the past 18 months or so reveals a stunning array of messages warning Americans that the Democrats’ signature legislation would lead to death.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/10/gop-heath-care-rhetoric/

[still_one]

1. That isn't what does it. It is the overt targeting of people as "not American", "need to be taken

out", and comments by pseudo right wing celebrities that they have a right to remove people by whatever means if they fail at the ballot box

It isn't even subtle. During the mccain campaign it was more than obvious that the palin rallies were essentially calling for "death to the Obama"

In my view we are not even talking about free speech, we are talking about incitement to overthrow the government. Sedition