Playing Politics with Pain

By Adrienne Ross – http://www.motivationtruth.com

The games people play. I hate them. And what I’ve seen the last couple days since the horrific shooting in Arizona has given me a deeper, more vehement hatred for them.

Maybe it’s my naivete. Maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t grow up immersed in the dirt of politics. Whatever it is, I simply cannot wrap my brain around people using human tragedy for political posturing. I’ve sort of sat on this since Saturday, but the churning in my stomach and the weight upon my chest necessitate that I speak up. Perhaps you’ve heard others weigh in on some of the same issues, but I must have my say…

The thought that a public official meeting with constituents could be so cruelly gunned down is unfathomable. The sound of parents mourning the loss of their nine year old girl, who wanted only to see how her government works, breaks my heart. These are just two of the victims. So many lives have been forever impacted by the evil act of Jared Loughner. I continue to pray for all involved, for as much as words, cards, and vigils are appreciated, only God can bring peace at a time like this.

I am reminded, however, during this time, of how much I have abhorred politics for most of my life. I am certainly no wet behind the ears, pie in the sky juvenile, but I must admit that I expected better of people than what I am seeing. In spite of the endless hours of news coverage, the emails, and the Facebook rants, I still cannot grasp how people could use such a tragedy to push a narrative that they know isn’t true. And surely they must know. No rational human being can justify blaming Governor Palin for the shootings that took place. No rational human being can really offer a case that Loughner–a mentally sick, unstable man–performed his evil act because Governor Palin, using a common political symbol, asked the American people to vote Congresswoman Giffords out of office. Although they played it up like they did–because it was politically advantageous–no one really thought when she posted the surveryor map months ago that she was advocating violence. They knew better then, and anyone with a shred of common sense knows better now.

However, it’s a game for these people. This is the opportunity they’ve been waiting for. This is their chance, as they see it, to silence Governor Palin–and they don’t care if doing so means playing politics with pain. They don’t care about Congresswoman Giffords, Christina-Taylor Green, the nine year old slain girl, or even the facts. They only care about gaining political advantage. Check mate! King me! Bingo! These are the words gameplayers say, isn’t it, when they have reached one of their most desired goals? Such is the case here. And that’s what turns my stomach.

Violence is real. Pain shatters. Jared Loughner is a mad man who ALONE is responsible for the carnage left at Safeway in Arizona. But good people like Governor Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh are blamed.

Why is it that after the Fort Hood shooting, President Obama and journalists, among others, urged Americans not to jump to conclusions but are not urging the same restraint in this case? Instead, people rushed in to pin this one man’s heinous crime on the Tea Party and Governor Palin.

Byron York reports:

There was ample evidence, in other words, that the Ft. Hood attack was an act of Islamist violence.

Nevertheless, public officials, journalists, and commentators were quick to caution that the public should not “jump to conclusions” about Hasan’s motive. CNN, in particular, became a forum for repeated warnings that the subject should be discussed with particular care.

“The important thing is for everyone not to jump to conclusions,” said retired Gen. Wesley Clark on CNN the night of the shootings.

“We cannot jump to conclusions,” said CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell that same evening. “We have to make sure that we do not jump to any conclusions whatsoever.”

“I’m on Pentagon chat room,” said former CIA operative Robert Baer on CNN, also the night of the shooting. “Right now, there’s messages going back and forth, saying do not jump to the conclusion this had anything to do with Islam.”

The next day, President Obama underscored the rapidly-forming conventional wisdom when he told the country, “I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.” In the days that followed, CNN jouralists and guests repeatedly echoed the president’s remarks.

“We can’t jump to conclusions,” Army Gen. George Casey said on CNN November 8. The next day, political analyst Mark Halperin urged a “transparent” investigation into the shootings “so the American people don’t jump to conclusions.” And when Republican Rep. Pete Hoekstra, then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, suggested that the Ft. Hood attack was terrorism, CNN’s John Roberts was quick to intervene. “Now, President Obama has asked people to be very cautious here and to not jump to conclusions,” Roberts said to Hoekstra. “By saying that you believe this is an act of terror, are you jumping to a conclusion?”

Fast forward a little more than a year, to January 8, 2011. In Tucson, Arizona, a 22 year-old man named Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a political event, gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing a federal judge and five others, and wounding 18. In the hours after the attack, little was known about Loughner beyond some bizarre and largely incomprehensible YouTube postings that, if anything, suggested he was mentally ill. Yet the network that had shown such caution in discussing the Ft. Hood shootings openly discussed the possibility that Loughner was inspired to violence by…Sarah Palin. Although there is no evidence that Loughner was in any way influenced by Palin, CNN was filled with speculation about the former Alaska governor.

Read more here.

In truth, Governor Palin needs no defense. She has done nothing wrong. I’ll just say this: the Governor Palin I know and respect loves her God, loves her family, loves her country. She would never advocate violence of any kind. Those who are using this incident to target her and pretend she’s responsible for violence are the ones inciting violence. She has been on the receiving end of threats for a long time now, but just since Saturday’s shooting, she has been the target of even more sickening vitriol and threats. The people who so dishonestly are blaming her for the actions of Loughner are hypocrites, liars, and dangerous people, and I have heard from these people in the last few days–via email, via twitter. They make me sick.

The following YouTube video, courtesy of Breitbart.tv, exposes death wishes and threats made on Twitter. Be forewarned: the language is disgusting and the messages sick, but these are people accusing her of advocating violence. Such glaring, heart-rending hypocrisy:

See, this is the game I’m talking about. Radical haters are using the pain that families, colleagues, a state, and a nation are dealing with to promote their own agenda. They feel justified now, it seems, in their own desire to rid the planet of Governor Palin, despite the fact that there is absolutely no rationale for such thinking. Let’s take a look at their sick game, as reported by Politico:

One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did.

“They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers,” said the Democrat. “Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”

The truth of the matter is this guy was no tea partier. He was a nut. As Jim Hoft writes:

The shooter was a pro-Marxist, anti-flag, anti-Constitution, anti-religious crackpot. He was hardly a tea partier.

Newsmax.com points out:

The left’s systematic ridicule of Sarah Palin and other conservatives following the Arizona shooting rampage reflects a deliberate campaign to “ultimately criminalize” conservative thought in America, according to media watchdog L. Brent Bozell.

[…]

Bozell said such efforts to blame the Tucson massacre on conservatives reflect a broader agenda.

“This is a part of a campaign to delegitimize, and ultimately criminalize, conservative thought in this country,” Bozell said. “Note how quickly The New York Times came out with an editorial calling for the Fairness Doctrine as a result of this.

“I mean, anything to pin to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or the Tea Party … anybody on the conservative side, to delegitimize them, that’s what they’re going to do. That’s the tactics of the far left.”

Truth always comes out. The truth is that this man has no connection to the Tea Party or Governor Palin. He is a nut, was refused by the military, and is a drug abuser. He has been in trouble with the law before and was kicked out of college because his bizarre behavior was a serious concern. His interest in Rep. Giffords isn’t something new. He has been obsessed with her since 2007. His actions weren’t the result of some so-called political rhetoric. His actions stemmed from the fact that he has serious issues that went unaddressed. His college professor and former classmates are now speaking out about how odd he was, how dangerous he appeared, and how unsafe he made them feel. But somehow Governor Palin and other conservatives are responsible? Give me a break.

Again, unlike the far-Left loons who choose to politicize pain while advocating violence themselves, Governor Palin hates violence, has stated time and time again that violence is no solution, and has no connection whatsoever to Jared Loughner. Disagree with her on issues, if you must. But enough of playing this political game of accusing her of murder, a game as sick and demented as the shooter himself.

Today on his radio show, Glenn Beck discussed communicating with Governor Palin this weekend via email. He shared these words she wrote to him:

I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence. Thanks for all you do to send the message of truth and love and God as the answer.

This is the real Governor Palin. This is the person–the public servant–I support. The games need to stop. The politicizing of pain to coerce certain people to sit down and shut up will be exposed for what it is.

I stand against this reprehensible, deplorable behavior. I stand with Governor Palin.

(h/t to many truth-loving people, too numerous to name, who have been on top of this issue)

The Left May Not Be Playing Stupid

By Adrienne Ross – http://www.motivationtruth.com

When I know I’m wrong, I’ll be the first to admit it. I have no problem whatsoever doing that. Sometimes, however, I’m stuck, and I’m just not sure. Today is one of those days, so help me out. The other day I wrote:

And though I often wonder about the brain power of anybody who would embrace a liberal worldview, the saddest part of this whole nonsense today is that this time they are playing stupid.

I have since come to wonder if perhaps I gave these people more credit than they deserve. Is it possible they are not acting at all? Is this genuine stupidity?

Could the people on the Left and their lamestream media friends really be of the mind that Governor Palin is inciting violence when she discusses reloading? No matter how many times she has stated, even before this current nonsense, that violence is not the answer, they refuse to let it go, insisting that she is responsible for any thuggish behavior on the part of anyone. Could it be that they really believe that people have risen up to fight–literally–because Governor Palin wrote on her Facebook page that conservatives need to reload and target various Liberals come November?

Again, anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that she was referring to the voting booth. Do these people really lack that common sense? This does seem to be the case, for I am observing them still marching down this ridiculous road. They are looking more and more stupid everyday.

The headquarters of the Alaska Democratic Party was vandalized this weekend. Despite the fact that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Governor Palin had anything to do with this situation, Patti Higgins, state chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, blames her for it.

Joshua Saul of the Alaska Dispatch writes:

The headquarters of the Alaska Democratic Party were vandalized this weekend, an act the party’s leader thinks is due in part to violent feelings being stoked by Alaska’s former governor.

“There has become this inflammatory rhetoric, and Sarah Palin is leading the charge,” Patti Higgins, state chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, said. “In the beginning I didn’t think she knew what she was doing, but now I think she does.”

Stupid or just acting?

You know what, Higgins? I don’t know about all your buddies because, like I said, I’m still trying to figure it out, but I have a feeling you do know what you’re doing. You know Governor Parnell is poised to destroy whichever soul you put up against him, and you’re willing to use anything to ruin his chances, even if it means putting forth completely unsubstantiated claims about the former Republican governor of Alaska. So in all fairness to you, maybe you’re neither stupid nor acting. Maybe you’re just desperate.

Higgins’ comments remind me of what I hear everyday at the junior high school where I teach. “It’s his fault.” “She stole my pencil.” “They don’t like me because of what she said.” When asked for evidence, the response is a childish, “I just know.” This type of immaturity can be better tolerated from twelve and thirteen year old children. However, when adults who ought to know better point fingers and accuse a person of being responsible for a deplorable act, offering no proof at all, it really is inexcusable.

The article continues:

Democratic Party headquarters had been receiving “threatening and menacing phone calls” during the week prior, according to statewide party organizer Dave Metheny, who handled most of the angry calls. Over the past week, Metheny said, he’s fielded about a call a day from various screaming, swearing callers, along with calls from Alaskans who are angry with the party but express it more calmly and rationally. The focus of the anger is, unsurprisingly, the health care reform bill that passed Congress last weekend. When health care reform passed the Senate on Christmas Eve, Democratic Sen. Mark Begich voted in favor of the bill.

[…]

“It was a message,” Higgins said. “Random acts of violence are a form of domestic terrorism and they need to knock it off.”

Read the rest here.

One thing that truly sickens me is how readily the Left wants to blame Governor Palin for abetting “terrorism.” Higgins is doing it. Rep. James Clyburn is doing it. However, when the time comes to deal with true terrorism, Liberals somehow cannot bring themselves to call it for what it is. Bill Ayers can’t be called a domestic terrorist, President Obama struggles to call the Fort Hood shooter a terrorist, and when we do acknowledge one, the Obama Justice Department wants to mirandize him. Instead of the Left being outraged by this insanity, they want to play stupid–or not–and focus their attention on a Facebook note Governor Palin wrote encouraging the American people to vote these loons out of office. As she has so aptly expressed, “Our vote is our arms.”

Like Governor Palin, I do not condone vandalism or violence. It’s despicable, and there’s a better way to voice one’s disapproval. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Democrats were themselves responsible for this vandalism. People are angry and tempers are flaring, for sure. One might say we’re in a bit of a crisis, and we know how Democrats feel about wasting a good crisis. According to White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, that would be unthinkable. Isn’t this a great opportunity to further smear Governor Palin? Perhaps they decided headquarters just had to take one for the team.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Governor Palin was “targeted” by Alaskans. Since she is so concerned about terrorism, as we all should be, perhaps Ms. Higgins should have a talk with some of the Alaskans in her own party who regularly write incendiary things about the governor that would rile people up, things to encourage others to take action against her and her family. Did she ever tell people like Linda Biegel, who was the official Alaska blogger at the DNC, to “knock it off”? Will she touch base with her fellow Alaskan who is even now tweeting Palin hate speech? What about the Twitter death threats C4P reported yesterday? Threats against the governor have escalated since this nonsense surfaced accusing her of inciting violence. Can we get a “knock it off” memo sent to any of these miscreants?

While we’re at it, can we get the Left to cry foul about the brick thrown through the GOP office in Michigan over the weekend? How about the bricks thrown through windows at GOP headquarters Thursday in Virginia? Does this matter, or do only Democrats’ headquarters matter? Once again, selective outrage prevails. Just in case you need more examples of the extreme violence of the Left that gets buried by the lamestream media, click here for the egg-throwing that took place this past weekend at the peaceful tea party in Nevada, where Governor Palin peacefully spoke about peacefully taking back our country!

Finally, a good teacher is always willing to learn from others. As I fancy myself a good teacher, I will pass on some information I have recently learned. Perhaps the Left, so fond of accusing people of inciting violence, so prone to pointing out cross-hairs, should take a few notes as Devonia Smith of Examiner.com teaches the difference between a survey symbol and a cross-hair:

This is a surveyor’s symbol

This is a cross-hair

She then writes:

What was actually on Sarah’s site, was a map with district markers (surveyor symbols were used). There was noooooooo “gun imagery” at all. These surveyor symbols were used on the map to indicate the districts of Democrats who had voted “Yes” on the Healthcare reform; apropriately used. Being the weiner that many Democrats are, all Weiner saw was “the cross” and he went into meltdown over it. It appears that, afterall, Weiner missed the bulls-eye and now finds himself in the cross-hair of public ridicule.

Interesting…In light of this, does the Left really want to go round for round–because two can play the game.

We live in a very dangerous time. The threat of violence by radicals who hate our country looms. Our soldiers are daily risking their lives for the sake of freedom and safety. Focusing attention on the governor’s use of metaphor and wrongfully accusing her of inciting violence is particularly insulting and unethical in light of this. If it’s being done willfully by lying Liberals playing stupid, “knock it off.” If it is true stupidity and not an act at all, get a clue.

(Assistance provided by C4P editors and contributors and Tracey. Thank you.)