# Sarah Palin takes no responsibility for the Tucson shootings? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 10, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104 "2011-01-10T16:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/61 "2011-01-10T18:39:38Z")
I wonder if Palin would like it if someone said they should survey Sarah Palin. With a reloading surveyor tool :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/62 "2011-01-10T18:40:07Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And what Republican was shot through the head as a result of all that anti-Bush rhetoric? None. And what Democrat was shot through the head as a result of all that Palin rhetoric? NONE. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/63 "2011-01-10T18:44:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The DLC is unsanctioned fringe speech? You don’t even know who the DLC is, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/64 "2011-01-10T18:46:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > You don’t even know who the DLC is, do you? Sure I do. I take them at [their own word.](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=85&contentid=893) Why? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/65 "2011-01-10T18:49:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > None. > > And what Democrat was shot through the head as a result of all that Palin rhetoric? > > NONE. For years, American Conservatives have laughed at how Willie Horton was such a good trick played on the American left. And now that you’re forced to eat your own plate of gravel, you break down and cry. Fucking pussies. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/66 "2011-01-10T18:56:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Sure I do. I take them at [their own word.](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=85&contentid=893) Why? I thought so. You don’t know who the are. Here is who the are: > [@](#): > > [Edward Gresser](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=3286) > President of the DLC and Director, Trade and Global Markets Project > > [Bruce Reed](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=3420) > CEO > > [Al From](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=1131) > Principal, The From Company, LLC > Founder, Democratic Leadership Council > > [Marc Dunkelman](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=254344) > Vice President for Strategic Communications. > > [Tali Stein](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=255045) > Chief of Staff > > [Jamie Lyons](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=255046) > Director of Development & Programming > > [Paul Weinstein Jr.](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=250338) > Senior Fellow & Counselor > > [Andeana M. Gaither](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=191&contentid=254525) > Controller They are nobody, certainly not sanctioned to speak for the Democratic Party, and none speak as Democratic nominees for federal office. They are nobody. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/67 "2011-01-10T19:06:56Z")
I think you’re missing the real issues here. Yes, she’s an idiot. Yes, he’s deranged. Politics will always produce inflammatory rhetoric. Nothing is going to change any of that. Guns in the hands off any fool with cash. This fool was a known problem to the police, yet they were powerless to keep him from owning a glock. Think gun controls. Allowing anyone to knowing spread misinformation with the intention of riling the ignorant is where hate laws come into play. It focuses the discussion on, is this or is this not, hate speach, instead of just dialing up the rhetoric on both sides. The media is motivated by ad sales, it is in their interest to keep America polarized. And each year, it takes crazier and crazier shit to garner headlines and attention for the attention whoring politicos. But your unfettered freedom of speech, (yet it’s illegal to shout 'fire in a crowded cinema. Hmmm, a restriction, widely recognized as wise, increases public safety and has yet to cause ‘the end of America, as we know it’), and freedom to have weapons, even nut jobs, are at the bottom of these incidents but no one wants to address that. But do feel free to cling to those unfettered freedoms, I’m sure they’re comforting, even if Rome is falling. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/68 "2011-01-10T19:09:01Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And you don’t see the difference between political speech by the nominees of your party, and unsanctioned fringe speech from unoffical liberal sources? [Here’s](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Obama_brings_a_gun_to_a_knife_fight.html) Barack Obama saying, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Obviously he’s not advocating shooting anyone; this is just how politicians sometimes talk. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/69 "2011-01-10T19:11:25Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why is Palin’s map dangerous and theirs not? [This map](http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253055&kaid=127&subid=171) you linked to earlier? Because that map “targets” battleground states that Bush barely won for a presidential election. Palin’s map “targets” specific people. The DLC map doesn’t target any specific person or persons. If they had, it would be equally deplorable. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/70 "2011-01-10T19:12:37Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Obama_brings_a_gun_to_a_knife_fight.html) Barack Obama saying, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” > > Obviously he’s not advocating shooting anyone; this is just how politicians sometimes talk. [And here’s Obama taking responsibility for the comment and apologizing](http://www.imao.us/archives/010153.html). Accountability. Foreign, but important, concept. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/71 "2011-01-10T19:13:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Because actors don’t sway public opinion when they speak? > > I know what the deal is. > > In your little liberal heart of hearts, you honestly don’t see the liberal rhetoric as being that bad, because it’s RIGHT. You know it’s horrible to put a SNIPERS WANTED graphic over President Bush’s picture, but it’s so understandable, because the man’s a smirking chimp that lied us into a war. The outrage is just… forgiveable. Anyone can understand it. > > But Palin’s an idiot. What she stands for is wrong. Those who oppose her are correct. So there’s NOTHING understandable when Palin does this kind of tactic, because she’s just plain wrong. > > You know it. I know it. That’s why this discussion rages on and on now. That’s why examples from the left are hand-waved away. Because Bush was WRONG, and fury against him was RIGHT; Palin is WRONG, and fury from her is WRONG. > > Tell the truth and shame the devil. That’s it, isn’t it? I’ll let you in on a little secret that comes from the darkest recesses of my liberal heart of hearts. Putting “SNIPERS WANTED” and a bulls eye on a picture of Bush is idiotic. It’s really stupid to want or need to (or even just dream to) kill in order to win an argument. I think the people who make these arguments are stupid people. What I also think in my liberal heart of hearts is that I’m grateful that these stupid people who don’t speak for me are just stupid people on a street corner holding up a stupid sign they made, rather than being stupid people in positions of power and authority who influence other stupid people into acting stupidly. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/72 "2011-01-10T19:17:51Z")
> [@bup](#): > > [And here’s Obama taking responsibility for the comment and apologizing](http://www.imao.us/archives/010153.html). > > Accountability. Foreign, but important, concept. Am I being whooshed? That article is a satire. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/73 "2011-01-10T19:28:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The DLC is unsanctioned fringe speech? The DCCC is? They both had maps with targets on them. Why is Palin’s map dangerous and theirs not? You really don’t think there’s a qualitative difference between a dartboard-style target over the graphic of a state, a gun sight over the photograph of a specific individual? Seriously, I can understand your frustration with the rhetoric blaming Palin and other right wingers for this, because it’s pretty clearly bullshit. But that’s an incredibly weak and disingenuous comparison, and I’m pretty sure you know it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/74 "2011-01-10T19:33:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You really don’t think there’s a qualitative difference between a dartboard-style target over the graphic of a state, a gun sight over the photograph of a specific individual? Apparently, clicking on one of those bullseyes would pull up a picture of a Congressperson under the heading “Targeted Republican.” There was no bullseye over their actual faces, though. ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/75 "2011-01-10T19:39:27Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > We’re not going to get rid of the crazies but we don’t have to work them up into a lather either. > > I don’t know that this incident was the result of all the hateful rhetoric but it does highlight that the rhetoric was poisonous enough that **most people wouldn’t be surprised if there was a link.** Yes, it’s startling. Where people fail (as per this very thread) is in trying to attribute this guy to any specific rhetoric, when his beliefs aren’t attributable to any damn thing in the dimensions we are familiar with. Indecently, I cannot believe that people’s arguments about substantive issues, _on this board_, are little more than “OMG A CROSSHAIR!” Rebutal: “OMG A CROSSHAIR!” That’s stupidity on the level of “OMG OBAMA IN A TURBAN!” Be proud of yourselves. Drop this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Robbin\_Hood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Robbin\_Hood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robbin_Hood)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/76 "2011-01-10T19:41:14Z")
Okay for the sake of argument, I will give you that SP is a semi-intelligent human being who did not mean for anyone listening to her speeches or reading her FB and Twitter rantings to do harm to anyone who opposing the Republican agenda. But that said, how long has she lived in this country? She knows our violent, bloody past, particularly where elected officials are concerned, so why even go there? No, she is not directly responsible for Tucson, but she damn sure didn’t do anything to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/77 "2011-01-10T19:42:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Am I being whooshed? That article is a satire. I apologize for being an idiot. You are right. :o ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/78 "2011-01-10T19:46:07Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Am I being whooshed? That article is a satire. It IS funny though. I like this quote: > [@](#): > > “What I would do,” concluded Obama, “is agree to negotiations without preconditions so that I can continue to unite America through the hope of change. Unless, of course, the person with the knife were spreading rumors about Michelle’s Whitey-hating, in which case I would absolutely bust a cap in his ass.” ETA: Apologies to **bup** if you found that link in the other thread and thought I was being serious. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/79 "2011-01-10T19:49:37Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I apologize for being an idiot. You are right. :o No worries. There’s a ton of weird stuff out there. It lightened the mood of this thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104/80 "2011-01-10T19:50:52Z")
> [@Robbin\_Hood](#): > > Okay for the sake of argument, I will give you that SP is a semi-intelligent human being who did not mean for anyone listening to her speeches or reading her FB and Twitter rantings to do harm to anyone who opposing the Republican agenda. But that said, how long has she lived in this country? **She knows our violent, bloody past, particularly where elected officials are concerned, so why even go there?** No, she is not directly responsible for Tucson, but she damn sure didn’t do anything to prevent it. Does she? I thought as far as conservatives were concerned the past was all sunshine and rainbows where Americans prospered amidst unfettered capitalism and family values. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-takes-no-responsibility-for-the-tucson-shootings-really/567104.md?page=5)