Almost immediately after it was learned that Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords had been the victim of an assassination attempt by 22-year-old Jared Loughner last Saturday, some liberals and members of the media referenced the chilling fact that Giffords (along with 19 other Democrats) had been featured in a Facebook map as being targeted with crosshairs by Sarah Palin last fall. The former Alaskan Governor's Political Action Committee was exhorting Republican voters to vote out Giffords and the 19 other Democrats who supported the health care reform bill out of office.
While conservatives have been outraged of there been any causality between Loughner's act of madness (in which 6 people were killed and 14 others – including Giffords, wounded), and the rhetoric of Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or anybody from the Tea Party, pressure has built on Palin to respond in some fashion beyond that single Facebook note. As a potential Presidential nominee in 2012, the political commentariat (and not just from the left) has essentially demanded that the former Alaskan Governor needed to answer in a more dignified way than going the social media route. This morning she responded in a seven minute plus video, which you can view below:
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This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2011.
