The commentary concerning the horrific mass murder in Tucson over the past weekend has ranged from thoughtful to thought provoking to downright thoughtless. The most glaring example of the latter came in a message issued by Sarah Palin. Decide for yourself by doing a Google search of her name.
What is unsettling is that Mrs. Palin picked the day of a public memorial gathering where the President spoke about the victims to launch her defense. On a day when many paused and reflected about the lives altered or quieted by this terrible incident, Mrs. Palin decided to come forward with a recorded message. Her words and her tone will be interpreted by many as provocative and will probably spin off additional public commentary focused on her words and the timing of them. The debate will shift to her again.
Some critics have linked the crosshairs images on her website with the actions of the alleged murderer. The images were removed from Palin’s website a few days ago. Crosshairs were superimposed over the photographs of 20 Democratic Congressional candidates for re-election last November, including Congresswoman Giffords, who was nearly assassinated.
There’s no evidence that this website or any other rhetoric can explain the actions of a single individual who is most likely psychotic, according to Charles Krauthammer, a psychiatrist who happens to be a columnist. I agree with him until it is proven otherwise. The crosshairs imagery is offensive on its own.
If someone advised Mrs. Palin to release her message yesterday, that person deserves to be fired or banned from offering opinions in future. If Mrs. Palin decided on her own to release the statement yesterday, then we can conclude she is lacking in both sense and sensibility.
Anyone who exhibits the poor judgment to make a day of reflection about dead and injured victims a day to issue a manifesto, is undeserving of consideration for leadership of anything other than a remote city in Alaska.
