Three days later, I'm still shocked at the recent shooting in Arizona of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and several other people at a public meet-and-greet event. And I'm creeped out by the fact that Rep. Giffords was included on on Sarah ("RELOAD!") Palin's "rifle-sight" map which pinpointed - in crosshairs - the locations of Democrats labeled "the problem" for which a "solution" was sought.
Coincidence or not, the violent right-wing rhetoric that has been growing over the past two years needs to stop lest copycats be inspired.
I'm all for freedom of speech, but with freedom comes responsibility. And words can have serious consequences.
It's been reported that Palin quickly scrubbed the crosshairs map from her website after the shooting incident. In doing so, she missed a golden opportunity to admit that it was a mistake and call for an end to all the gun metaphors. That would have been true leadership as opposed to self-serving denial.
And I'm still waiting for former Senate candidate Sharron Angle of Nevada to use this opportunity to revoke her campaign calls for "Second Amendment remedies" to solve political problems. But I shall not hold my breath.
Nor shall I hold my breath waiting for Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and their cohorts to stop inciting the psychos via the right-wing airwaves. I guess there's just too much money to be made by spewing their extreme and dangerous hate talk. And that's the bottom line that they really care about.
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