Oops. She did it again.

Posted: January 12, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Crime, Gun Control, Hillary Clinton: Her Campaign for All of Us, the blogosphere, the internet, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , , | 98 Comments

Click on Max Headroom for a great Wired read on How Max Headroom Predicted the Demise of TV Journalism

While I was doing some grant writing, the Palin video detailing her supposed victimization during the events surrounding the Tucson Massacre was scrubbed.  It’s amazing how many things disappear from there these days.

benpolitico Ben Smith

Weird – Palin video’s gone. http://is.gd/npdcKe

I didn’t watch or read it since I have to admit I have developed a serious tic that only  appears when the ex-Governor from Alaska is speaking.   It’s been getting worse too.  Evidently, her use of the term “Blood Libel” is creating a stir heard round the village. It’s adding to the conversation on what makes up hurtful rhetoric.  It also gives us a study on what makes up intellectual and political gravitas.   This is a short explanation from Ben Smith’s link via the tweet.
The phrase “blood libel” was introduced into the debate this week by Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds, and raised some eyebrows because it typically refers historically to the alleged murder of Christian babies by Jews, and has been used more recently by Israeli’s supporters to refer to accusations against the country. It’s a powerful metaphor, and one that carries the sense of an oppressed minority.
As you know, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is Jewish.  You may also know that Glenn Beck is well known for what some folks have labeled “Nazi Tourettes”. That link goes to Lewis Black who originated the snarky label but raised important issues about Beck’s fascination with NAZI props.  Beck is not known for his fact checking.  He publicly admits it too.
Think Progress has some more information up on outcries from Jewish Groups in their recently published item: ‘”Jewish Groups: ‘We Are Deeply Disturbed’ By Palin’s Use Of Anti-Semitic Term ‘Blood Libel,’ She Should Apologize’. Something tells me Palin had no idea about the history of the term when she made the video.  She just jumped on it because Beck had used it.   This doesn’t surprise me.  We have more than a few opinion leaders these days that don’t seem to like to do their homework.  At least some of them get staff that to help.  Our President is surrounded by people that edit his words carefully because of the impact we all know they can have on the national and international conversation. Palin’s not the President but she’s got a group of people that consider her a leader. Her words do have meaning and effect.

This morning, Palin launched an aggressive Facebook and web-video campaign to counter what she deemed a “blood libel” against her by the media to connect her infamous cross-hairs map and other right-wing incendiary rhetoric to violence.Of all the terms Palin could have used, from “defamation” to even “implicating me in murder,” why did Palin choose “blood libel”? As the conservative National Review’s Jonah Goldberg, who says he “agree[s] entirely with…Palin’s, larger point,” notes, “Historically, the term is almost invariably used to describe anti-Semitic myths about how Jews use blood — usually from children — in their ritual.” Indeed, many Jews consider the term extremely offensive, and the Anti-Defamation League and other prominent Jewish organizations have spoken out against its use dozens of occasions in the past.

Indeed, Jewish groups are taking offense to Palin’s choice of the term. Noting that accusations of blood libel have been “directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries,” the National Jewish Democratic Council condemned Palin’s use of the term:

Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a “blood libel” against her and others. This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews, given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries — and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today. […]

All we had asked following this weekend’s tragedy was for prayers for the dead and wounded, and for all of us to take a step back and look inward to see how we can improve the tenor of our coarsening public debate. Sarah Palin’s invocation of a “blood libel” charge against her perceived enemies is hardly a step in the right direction.

Likewise, the president of the pro-Israel, pro-peace Jewish lobby J Street, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said he was “saddened by Governor Palin’s use of the term ‘blood libel,’” adding that he hopes “she will choose to retract her comment [and] apologize“:

Could this be the reason the video’s been scrubbed? moved to a less prominent place?  (updated, see note below)

Read the rest of this entry »

Gun Culture

Posted: January 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Gun Control, open thread, Second Amendment | Tags: , , , , , | 25 Comments

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

That’s the amendment that’s seems to define the United States right now.   The others appear to be to be negotiable or endangered.

Here’s a few tidbits in the news today dealing with Guns.

One strange headline from Politico:

Evidently, Republican Pete King thinks it’s okay to carry guns around, just not around him.  Well, at least not within about 1,000 feet of him and his colleagues.  I guess preschoolers don’t deserve the same kind of protection.

“It would give law enforcement the weapon they need to protect federal officials, and just as importantly, it would provide a large measure of security for those who want to meet with their federal elected officials,” said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

According to The Hill, Weeper of the House John Boehner just says NO to gun control.   Guess he really wants an NRA fundraiser for his next election.

King’s legislation got the cold shoulder from Boehner and other Republicans after it was announced.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the Speaker would not support King’s legislation.

The office of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the majority leader is reserving judgment until the King bill is finalized.

“Mr. Cantor believes it’s appropriate to adequately review and actually read legislation before forming an opinion about it,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring stated in an e-mail.

Michael Riley of Bloomberg writes that “Glock Pistol Sales Surge in Aftermath of Arizona Shootings”. Guess I’ll be ordering the latest fashion for those chickens among us:  a bullet proof space suit.

After a Glock-wielding gunman killed six people at a Tucson shopping center on Jan. 8, Greg Wolff, the owner of two Arizona gun shops, told his manager to get ready for a stampede of new customers.

Wolff was right. Instead of hurting sales, the massacre had the $499 semi-automatic pistols — popular with police, sport shooters and gangsters — flying out the doors of his Glockmeister stores in Mesa and Phoenix.

“We’re at double our volume over what we usually do,” Wolff said two days after the shooting spree that also left 14 wounded, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition.

A national debate over weaknesses in state and federal gun laws stirred by the shooting has stoked fears among gun buyers that stiffer restrictions may be coming from Congress, gun dealers say. The result is that a deadly demonstration of the weapon’s effectiveness has also fired up sales of handguns in Arizona and other states, according to federal law enforcement data.

“When something like this happens people get worried that the government is going to ban stuff,” Wolff said.

Yes, it’s the good old U S of A where you too can be a militia of one.

Yup, it’s an open thread, but please don’t lock and load!   I’m your Huckleberry.