Sarah Palin’s call to arms, “Don’t Retreat, Reload” finally results in a tragic shooting of an Arizona Congresswoman. Three term Representative Gabrielle Giffords, representing Arizona’s 8th district and caught in Palin’s cross-hairs, was gunned down today and shot in the head. One of her aides was killed and at least 12 others injured.
In March, Sarah Palin posted this ad on her facebook page and tweeted, “Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: “Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!” Pls see my Facebook page.”
Arizona Senator John McCain defended Sarah Palin on NBC’s Today Show last March:
McCain was asked about what host Ann Curry described as Palin’s “incendiary language.”
“Ann, I have seen the rhetoric of targeted districts as long as I’ve been in politics,” he replied. “Please. This is — any threat of violence is terrible, but to say that there is a targeted district or that we ‘reload’ or go back in to the fight again, please…Those are fine. They’re used all the time.”
“Those words have been used throughout of my political career,” McCain added. “There are targeted districts, and there are areas that we call battleground states, and so please, that rhetoric and kind of language is just part of the political lexicon. There is no place for threats of violence or anything else, but to say that someone is in a battleground state is not originated today.”
After a testy back-and-forth, Curry said, “I think it is the ‘reload’ and ‘crosshairs’ that’s caused a lot of people to be concerned, senator.”
SarahPAC took the cross-hairs list down today. The mid-terms were over on November 2. Why would the Palin camp remove this ugly fund-raising ad from their website TODAY? Is this a tacit admission of her culpability in the violence she has been advocating since coming into the national spotlight on August 29, 2008?
SHANNYN MOORE: JUST A GIRL FROM HOMER 
“Is this a tacit admission of her culpability in the violence she has been advocating since coming into the national spotlight on August 29, 2008?”
You betcha.
By: Molly on January 8, 2011
at 12:53 pm
Hopefully, this will remind people, as Palin puts it “Words have consequence”. After the shooting I went to the FOX web page and read their readers comments concerning this tragic event. It’s not shocking to see many of their readers are blaming Obama and the Democrats for this violence. What’s really sad to see what some of their commenters wrote, about 70% show no sense of remorse for this violent act. This should speak volumes to our congressmen, of those who are willing to listen, how horribly biased and inflammatory speech that FOX News spiels out everyday affects our society. I’m not sure what the consitutional solution is, but I hope they find a solution quickly.
By: M Baker on January 8, 2011
at 1:18 pm
FOX, as well as the others, are using the publics’ airwaves. We used to have regulations regarding balance and truthfulness. Perhaps it is time to start a movement demanding we return to those rules, and demand our legislators stop allowing the free usage of the public airwaves for blatant propaganda.
By: beemodern on January 11, 2011
at 3:07 am
that maniac shooter had been semi stalking the congresswoman since 2007. long before Palin had a national voice. and beemodern, fox news is on cable. that is not the public airwaves. you pay for that channel.
By: darrel on January 15, 2011
at 8:26 pm
They still use the public airwaves to deliver their product/propaganda regardless of the form the consumer chooses to receive it. There is still good reason to go back to a “fairness doctrine” in the interest of protecting or representative democracy. As it is, we are on the fast track to being no better than Italy, losing its democracy because one person owned all of the media and once in office crushed and controlled the only public outlet.
By: beemodern on August 6, 2012
at 1:05 pm
Sarah Palin has blood on her hands today.
By: Angie on January 8, 2011
at 1:37 pm
The tea party and Sarah p are culpable
By: Nadeem on January 8, 2011
at 2:15 pm
Having just watched this weeks Up north. Your prediction early on in the conversation is looking spot on. This could be an ugly year. Today’s event seems to be bringing out the argumentative side taking. I see the he said she said of the left and right going up in volume. And i do believe snowdrift barbie has blood on her hands. I don’t care what they find about this kid in AZ. She knows what she was saying. Promoting even subtle violence is wrong.
By: AKjah on January 8, 2011
at 5:26 pm
Shame on Palin – she has blood on her hands and should be called out. Thanks for making sure this doesn’t slip through the cracks. WE are long overdue for her to step up and take responsibility.
I think she needs to go join Putin ………..
By: Bonnie on January 8, 2011
at 5:39 pm
They’re putting a 9 year-old in the ground this week because of Sarah Palin.
By: Angie on January 8, 2011
at 6:26 pm
SARAH PALIN HAS BLOOD ON HER HANDS!
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS!
By: Anonymous on January 8, 2011
at 6:29 pm
SARAH PALIN AND SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, A LITTLE GIRL
DIED TODAY BECAUSE OF THE HATE CLIMATE IN ARIZONA.
I BELIEVE PIPER PALIN MAY BE THE SAME AGE AS THE LITTLE
GIRL WHO DIED IN VAIN. MAY OUR GOD IN HEAVEN HAVE MERCY
ON YOUR SOULS.
By: Anonymous on January 8, 2011
at 6:34 pm
Shannyn,
Turned to you again today in our time of need. Thank you for being here. I posted during the elections. Tune in from time to time, but don’t understand the local politics. Now, once again she’s caused a National Tradgedy unsurpassed even by drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. I’ll post again when I’ve regained a touch of composure. Thank you Shannyn…and you, Molly!
By: Lincoln Nebraska on January 8, 2011
at 7:15 pm
If the shooting had happened in a school, the student who posted the cross-hairs map would be in jail.
By: Lydia Kirkland on January 8, 2011
at 11:02 pm
Teen role model and Candie’s spokesperson Bristol Palin comments on today’s tragic events:
“F#ck u, asshole!”
Reported->>”@MattKap20: I wonder how SarahPalinUSA would feel if someone put a crosshair on @bristol_palin ‘s new house.
less than a minute ago via Twitter for Android
By: Oghma on January 8, 2011
at 11:03 pm
My mother taught me that actions always speak louder then words.
We have been subjected to over 2 years of sarah palin, doing and saying what she wanted with no consequences. She is the darling of the right wing. She thinks it is ‘cute’ to use gun references, using bull’s eye with real American names.
These are supposed to be the ‘pro life’ people?
Shame, Shame on them. They have caused this tragedy by allowing and reinforcing bloody images and the proposed use of weapons when they don’t like something.
These are the same same people who prayed for Obama’s death, using a bible quote.
May God have mercy on sarah palin. May she never have to bury her 9 year old daughter due to hate of a political party. May she grow in wisdom, take responsibility for her actions and words and change her ways. If not, she does not deserve to be hailed as a political star or anywhere near the White House.
By: mgardener on January 9, 2011
at 2:10 am
God will have mercy on Sarah Palin. She will be reborn numerous time until she learns her lessons. First as a 9 year old girl innocently stepping into the wrong line of fire. Than as a homeless person. Than as a moose being hunted. A bear being hunted. Going down further in the chain. A fish in the arctic suffocating in poluted water. Finally an amoeba. She will be that for thousand of years. Eventually her soul may rise again. Only than will be be able to redeem herself? Why? Because she is clearly not capable of redeeming herself in this lifetime.
By: Tobias on January 9, 2011
at 12:23 pm
Who is the real S PALIN ?
By: JJ on January 9, 2011
at 5:55 am
Using “real” in the same sentence as S Palin is an oxymoron.
By: terrydarc on January 9, 2011
at 5:39 pm
IMO Palin and/or her team scrubbed evidence from Sarah PAC site to conceal evidence of her supporters seeing nothing wrong with her rhetoric. Her devoted followers also believe the means justify the end. It is typical of Palin to go ona crusade claiming people are lying about her and making things up. I doubt Palin will cease her incendiary rhetoric and distorting facts to demonize people to incite hatred and violence. She has not ever told her own supporters to “stand down” or cease and desist their death threats when they get wee wee’d up as she intended to aggress against others. Palin lives to destroy and eliminate her opponents and death is inconsequential to Palin. Yet God help people who are not supportive of falsifying votes so her daughter win a mirror ball for they will be demonized as “haters”.
By: Rene on January 9, 2011
at 5:58 am
Did Palin care about the taxi driver who was stabbed? No Did Palin care if the FBI had to step up protection of Obmama due to ehr spinning he is a terrorist or care if her words left Malia and Sasha without a father? No Palin instead ramps up her rhetoric and appears to enjoy it too.
By: Rene on January 9, 2011
at 6:05 am
In an avalanche, every snowflake claims innocence.
By: Dusty Rhodes on January 9, 2011
at 8:11 am
Brilliant!
By: Rick on January 9, 2011
at 12:25 pm
Two ways to use this aginst her. Print out pictures of the graphic to show conservatives, and e-mail the graphic to yourself then send it on to all those conservatives who have anoyed you since the last election.
sharon blackburn in colorado
By: sharonann on January 9, 2011
at 9:16 am
Palin used rifle imagery. Obama talked about using guns like Capone: (“They bring a knife, we bring a gun. I’m from Chicago….”) Since a gun was used, I guess Obama is the one with blood on his hands. Gee, making these ridiculous assignments of causation is so fun!
By: thekid on January 9, 2011
at 10:24 am
It’s a line from “The Untouchables.”
By: moles on January 23, 2011
at 7:53 pm
SarahPAC staffer Rebecca Mansour, who has been tweeting in defense of her boss since the tragedy took place, is stating that the crosshairs were never intended to be gun sights.
“We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights,” she said in an interview with talk radio host Tammy Bruce Saturday.
“It was simply crosshairs like you’d see on maps.”
Bruce suggested that they could, in fact, be seen as “surveyor’s symbols.”
Mansour added that “it never occurred to us that anybody would consider it violent” and called any attempts to politicize the Arizona tragedy “repulsive.”
“We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights,” she said in an interview with talk radio host Tammy Bruce Saturday. “It was simply crosshairs like you’d see on maps.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah Palin BRAGGED about her “bullseye tweet”, and what map on earth has “bullseye targets” or “crosshairs”?:
@SarahPalinUSA
Sarah Palin
Remember months ago “bullseye” icon used 2 target the 20 Obamacare-lovin’ incumbent seats? We won 18 out of 20 (90% success rate;T’aint bad)
4 Nov via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply
Retweeted by worsement and 100+ others
http://twitter.com/#!/SarahPalinUSA/status/29677744457
And what about the sitting family court judge in Alaska overseeing her daughter Bristol’s custody case?
Palin posted the judge’s name, work, and HOME addresses and phone numbers on her Facebook page with a list of grievances against the judge.
Consequently the judge had so many serious death threats that she was under guard 24/7, escorted to and from her home by Alaskan State Troopers, over a custody case !!
Sarah Palin is many things, but one thing she is NOT……. is innocent
By: Martha on January 9, 2011
at 11:54 am
Bravo Martha
By: Tobias on January 9, 2011
at 12:24 pm
From a Mudflats poster, it bears repeating:
90
Rachel says:
January 9, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Sarah still has not taken down her gun sights graphic off her FaceBook page. Please join in the efforts to put ‘a silencer’ on this dangerous woman by reporting her page to FaceBook. Report button is on the bottom left column.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/note.php?note_id=373854973434&id=24718773587
By: Martha on January 9, 2011
at 12:01 pm
This is so sad…
I think Sarah wanted the black guy to get shot; not this pretty white woman, who’s mega sympathetic, and loved by EVERYONE! And, apparently, if an unarmed & injured woman hadn’t attacked the shooter, another 20 would have been gunned down.
We all knew this could happen; or should have.
By: d.l.robinson on January 9, 2011
at 12:02 pm
Sarah Palin is a monster.
By: Earlene Albright on January 9, 2011
at 1:23 pm
Sarah and Todd Palin are BOTH evil . No conscience whatsoever and will try to destroy anyone who does not go along with them. As sick as Hitler and a few other crazies we know about. They need to be stopped.Todd is her bully henchman.
By: Di on January 9, 2011
at 1:51 pm
Sorry, you’ve relied too much on lamestream media.
Click to access LoughnerComplaint.pdf
Read that and in honor of the American Soldiers, quit making things up.
By: Mark Slim on January 9, 2011
at 5:26 pm
Well whattya know? Bristol’s Twitter page no longer has the “F#ck u, asshole!” comment. Even the Palin’s have shame, eh? No, just cowardly jerks retracting the unretractable.
By: terrydarc on January 9, 2011
at 5:37 pm
My question is why did Sarah Palin put anything about the shooting on her Facebook? She does not know Giffords. She is not an elected official. Was she pretending she was president of the United States?
She has spoken. She has had her chance to step up and show some spine. Anything from this point on will be contrived and dishonest. Her spokesperson, Rebecca, is just digging a deeper hole for her. Let’s hope she falls in it and is never heard from again. No, I am not advocating violence or death for this woman. I just think it is time for her to go away. How does she put it “spend some quantity time with her children”.
As usual Shannyn – good article and right on the money. Good comments too! I had forgotten about the “incident” with the judge in the custody hearing.
By: suz1941 on January 9, 2011
at 8:36 pm
But it isn’t only Sarah. All of the FOX snake oil salesmen, MSNBC bubbleheads, and rage talk-radio blowhards have been whipping their audiences into mob fear and anger since the presidential race. Beck, all by himself, cries and quakes in outrage, claiming dire fear for our country, every time his show airs. Sarah uses gun symbolism and rhetoric, but she ain’t the lone ranger in inflaming fear and a sense of desperation, calling for immediate action against impending doom.
While it isn’t reasonable to believe any of these people are directly responsible for the shooter’s mental illness, they do create an atmosphere of despairing fear and rage. Their hysterical negative messages to the public day-in-and-day-out are depressing and will inevitably push some people into a darker place. They continually send the message that the situation is dangerous and a call to arms in some form, even if not literal, is warranted. That atmosphere for a mentally ill, paranoid, obsessive is like a a lighter to explosive powder.
The either/or, for us or against us rhetoric is also the language and thinking of cultists.
By: beemodern on January 11, 2011
at 2:04 am
Palin create’s her target “hit” list.
Bristol buys a home in Arizona.
A few weeks later, Gabby gets shot.
Posse rounding up their herd.
By: Leonardo Wassilie on January 11, 2011
at 7:49 am
I don’t see anyone posing this simple inverse rationale: can any sane person say that gun-referencing speech such as Palin’s—and the heated angry speech which is overwhelmingly the proud possession of right wing radio—helps to calm individuals prone to actual violent actions, such as schizophrenic or paranoid-delusional cases? It’s not remotely rational to say so, though I can almost hear straw-man rationalizations forming to figure out something, anything, to counter such a polemic.
Of course angry speech is meant to incite, no question. What if tomorrow all conservative radio hosts began demanding liberal blood, such as radio Hutu radio hosts did for Tutsi blood in Rwanda in 1994? Of course there would be blood, without doubt, that very day. Could conservative radio then still deny that the tone of their speech has no consequence?
Clearly, obviously, public speech has consequence, repercussions and a kindling effect. Conservative radio tries to push the limits of civil discourse off the cliff every day. What they’re really doing is trying to find the limits of deniability while still monetizing the polarizing effect of their trade.
By: Mrwatchy on January 11, 2011
at 3:19 pm
“Clearly, obviously, public speech has consequence, repercussions and a kindling effect. Conservative radio tries to push the limits of civil discourse off the cliff every day. What they’re really doing is trying to find the limits of deniability while still monetizing the polarizing effect of their trade.”
Brilliant summation Mrwatchy! That is what I have been saying on my radio show since this senseless awful event.
Can we clearly make a connection between the shooter and the tragedy in Tucson? Perhaps not. But does this kind of violent rhetoric HELP? Of course not!
We should absolutely NOT tolerate this kind of speech anymore. I wrote about Palin’s cross hairs last March and pointed out the incitement then.
Free Speech isn’t free…there is a responsibility and there are indeed consequences.
By: shannynmoore on January 11, 2011
at 10:17 pm
Worse yet were the comments(some about Giffords) from Palin’s devotees on her FaceBook page. Utterly despicable.
By: Margaret on January 14, 2011
at 6:42 pm
Lady MacPalin:
Out, damn’d spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
’tis time to do’t.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow’r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40
By: terrydarc on January 17, 2011
at 11:10 am
Words :: Anagram :: Sword
By: claire on January 18, 2011
at 4:01 pm
Here is what Shannyn Moore said on January 8th:
“Sarah Palin’s call to arms, “Don’t Retreat, Reload” finally results in a tragic shooting of an Arizona Congresswoman.”
Really Shannyn ? Don’t you think you should retract a slanderous statement such as this ? Laughner as we’ve all learned is mentally ill and the woman you spend your life obsessing about is NOT at fault.
If I were Palin I would consider a lawsuit if you do not remove these lies.
By: Dan on January 28, 2011
at 4:41 pm
Was Sarah Palin solely responsible for what happened in Tucson? Absolutely not.
Was she, in part, responsible? In my honest opinion, yes.
And, under our laws she can, and should, be tried for incitement before the fact, to commit a felony.
The law is very specific on this and goes so far to say that the person charged does not have to actually be at the scene of the crime when it is committed.
She should be arrested, arraigned, indicted, tried and face the court decision, whatever that may be.
We as a society can not allow people like Sarah Palin, and others, to use the venues they have available to them for the purpose of incitement, intentiional or not.
If not taken before a court, legally, then there will never be an end to this kind of illegal, covert action. Sarah Palin, and others, must be made examples of so that a tragedy like this can not happen again because a well person had the ability, and the venues, to incite another human being to commit a heinous act.
By: Mike Allen on January 29, 2011
at 4:16 pm
I have worried about Obama being assassinated ever since $arah the Enforcer opened her vile spewing mouth. The Republicans opened Pandora’s box when they put her in the national spotlight and she continues to stay in the spotlight because of her train wreck presence. It’s pretty bad when people talk about putting a moratorium on specking her name! I think she should tried for treasonable acts where her words will expose her for the ————— she is.
By: Mary McCrum on February 6, 2011
at 7:48 am