Shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and Death of Others: Violence Has No Place in a Democracy

Palin's 'hit list' which was circulated in 2010 'targeted' congress people like Giffords.
(Image by Alyce Santoro)   Details   DMCA

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday. While meeting with constituents, an assailant, who has now been identified as Jared Lee Loughner, fired shots killing six people and wounding 13 others. One killed was a 9-year-old child.

With the presence of the Internet and the existence of Twitter and Facebook, it did not take long for many Americans to suggest certain rhetoric and symbolism used by figures like Sarah Palin and Giffords' former Republican opponent Jesse Kelly could be connected to the violence. Palin had circulated a "hit list" of political targets, which included Giffords. A map had been circulated and, where the congresswomen to be "targeted" were located, targeting crosshairs were placed. And, Kelly in June 2010 had organized an event where supporters could shoot assault rifles with Kelly. A promotional advertisement for the event said, "Get on Target for Victory in November Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."

In March 2010, Giffords shared her belief that Palin's rhetoric could have "consequences." The list she appeared on and Palin's use of "reload" and "take aim" led her to say, "The thing is, the way that she has it depicted -- the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district -- when people do that, they've got to realize that there's consequences for that action."

Lest one think that liberals and avid watchers of MSNBC are the only ones suggesting Palin and others might have played a role in creating a climate that could produce violence in Arizona, Sheriff Dupnik during a press conference said without hesitation, "But, again when you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that come out of certain mouths about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, I think Arizona has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

"There's reason to believe that this individual may have a mental issue. And, I think people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol," added Sheriff Dupnik.

There are questions to be addressed and raised, many which Keith Olbermann in his "Special Comment" on the shootings on Saturday at least partially illuminated. Olbermann declared, "We need to put the guns down. Just as importantly, we need to put the gun metaphors away and permanently." He suggested that "left, right, middle -" politicians and citizens -" sane and insane" must end their acceptance of "'targeting' of political opponents and putting bullseyes over their faces" and end "the dangerous blurring between political rallies and gun shows." And, in conclusion, he clearly stated, "Violence, or the threat of violence, has no place in our Democracy, and I apologize for and repudiate any act or any thing in my past that may have even inadvertently encouraged violence. Because for whatever else each of us may be, we all are Americans."

Olbermann took responsibility for saying something that could have led to violence in the same way that Palin's rhetoric could have played a role in escalating the climate of violence in Arizona. He apologized to Hillary Clinton for uttering such a remark. And, he urged other talk radio personalities and pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck to take this opportunity to apologize for possibly feeding into a climate where someone might find it permissible to act out violently.