The Consequence of Ignorance

This is the link to an MSNBC interview with Congresswoman Giffords nine months ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=9168027318437123372046bo92a4

More on Sarah Palin's target map:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/09-0

Before we get ahead of ourselves and start calling for her head, it is important to take a step back and recognize that there is no direct correlation between the Arizona shooting and the crosshairs place over Giffords' district. Palin did not pull a trigger and shoot a Congresswoman. No mention of violence is ever made in connection to the map and no one is told to commit acts of violence(or told not to).
However, Palin is a representation of the change in American political rhetoric, as mentioned in the first news clip. The political climate has become too hot, as members of both parties shoot hate speech instead of intelligently discuss the state of their union. Ms. Palin is at the forefront of this rhetorical metamorphosis.
Palin's camp released a response to the growing backlash over their map, just hours after removing it from their website; nine months after the windows of Congresswoman Giffords' office had been either shot or smashed.Her camp asserts no direct link between this man and her camp, and they're probably right. They also emphasize that there is no mention of physically attacking Congresspersons.
But having a "direct" link doesn't need to be emphasized when you are a public figure. We ALL have a link to Palin's pandering to the tea party,her attacks on wildlife, and to her target map. The first responsible party is the shooter. But as my wise friend Sam mentioned in a post today, "Freedom of Speech is NOT freedom from the consequences of your speech".
The consequence of Palin's rhetoric should not be the death of six innocent people, including a child. It should be the revocation of her pulpit. Email your news organizations and condemn their consistent reporting of Palin's every bowel movement, every insincere eye twitch or "You betcha". Palin's rhetorical shit show is only as powerful as the number of hits it gets, and the number of times it's mentioned and referenced. And do your best to convince your families and friends to cast their vote for ANYONE ELSE BUT HER (lots of them are Republicans, I know. I've heard your laments). Maybe holding up a picture of an innocent, murdered Arizona child while you plead your case will do the trick. It's worth a shot. No, not a gunshot.