Running from Consequence

As soon as I read about the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford, I knew the political and social right (PSR) would be running from the consequences of their violent rhetoric as quickly as possible.  It didn’t take much time for the PSR to start making sure that everyone knew that Mr. Loughner was on his own, that it was the fact that he was mentally unstable that he tried to kill Congresswoman Giffords and successfully killed nine others.  They also made sure that everyone knew that it was their violent rhetoric that pushed Mr. Loughner to such a heinous act.

If the PSR wasn’t at least partially responsible for loading Mr. Loughner’s mind, just as they would a firearm, then why did Sarah Palin’s SARAHPac quickly remove the “crosshair” graphic from their website that specifically targeted Congresswoman Giffords?  It wasn’t because the 2010 midterms were over.  It was because they knew the graphic would come under scrutiny.  They knew that it was a violent graphic and reasonable people could point toward it and go, “Gee, Mrs. Palin is partially responsible.”

Jesse Kelly, Congresswoman Giffords’ “tea party” movement backed Republican opponent quickly made sure his website was squeaky clean and had no violent rhetoric to be found.  This of course is the same Jesse Kelly who brandished an M16 at campaign rallies and talked about the need to “take out” Congresswoman Giffords.  Do you think maybe he has pangs of guilt over the assassination attempt or do you think he is just covering his ass?

I wrote earlier about how the PSR were experts at controlling the message.  It seems that their expertise is failing them on this issue.  When you have noted members of the PSR such as former Congressman Joe Scarborough saying that maybe other members of the PSR have gone too far and get Pat “Culture War” Buchanan to agree, don’t you think you have lost control of the message?  Don’t you think when you have a premier member of the PSR such as Congressman Peter King (R-NY) calling for legislation to make it illegal to carry a firearm within 1000 feet of an elected official that maybe, just maybe you have lost control of the message?

The PSR can deny as much as they can.  They can email fund raising letters bashing the political and social left (PSL) all they want.  They can cry out that reminding the world of the violent rhetoric is “blood libel”.  None of it will save them from the consequences of their words or their images.  Running from consequence won’t protect them from their collective guilt and I am rather glad for that.