In 1988, white supremacist Tom Metzger was successfully sued by the family of an Ethiopian man who was murdered by skinhead racists. Metzger had not met the men personally nor had he specifically ordered them to kill anyone. However, the rhetoric he spewed had created a situation where other racists felt compelled to kill people.
The shooting of Congresswoman Gabirelle Gifford and the killing of six other people by a mentally ill man who felt the government was trying to control his mind and was against health care and other things he saw as government interference in his life I believe is directly caused by the ratcheting up of violent rhetoric by the tea party and other groups associated with the republican party.
In particular, Sarah Palin’s use of gunsight bullseyes over the names and districts of politicians her PAC was attempting to defeat in the 2010 elections crossed the line. It is one thing to want to defeat someone politically it is another thing to use firearm related rhetoric and words such as “lock and load”, “in the crosshairs”, and “rearm and reload” and put the contest in the context of violently taking another person out.
I hope that Rep. Giffords as well as the families who lost loved ones in this horrendous act consider filing a civil law suit against Sarah Palin….Like Tom Metzger, she should be held accountable.
2 comments:
The civil trial you are referring to was held in a Federal court in Portland, OR. My sister's HS classmate's father was the lead lawyer for the plaintiff. It set quite a precedent and really ended up silencing that racist fool.
Its quite obvious that the media is looking for a scapegoat and Sarah Palin served as an excellent one to take the blame.
Blaming Sarah Palin over the Arizona shooting is like blaming Islam and the Quran for the 9/11 attacks.
Its hardly fair to say that Palin is to blame for it as she does not represent the entire Conservative Movement. Its not her fault that the Tea Party decided to rile everyone up through their vitriolic rhetoric and tensing the political scene so much more than neccesary. Did she contribute to the rhetoric? Yes, she most certainly did though.
I am not trying to defend that website of hers or her conduct, but at least try to be fair before pinning the blame on her. For all you know, the mentally ill guy always had the preconceived notion of government being too intrusive and etc...its just unfortunate that he decide to explode recently and go on a rampage.
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