Yes, and I'm sure some of the animal rights fringe that blew up/rescued lab animals counts as lefty fringe...but again, one part of the party being so fractured is that wasn't exactly a huge platform and endorsed.

Gud, I have a hard time understanding how using gun metaphors in politics is not automatically violent rhetoric.

From an article in 2009 discussing the Tea Party and calls for armed insurrection. (This is following a section on a Tea Party anti-healthcare rally that had signs reading "Bury Healthcare with Kennedy.")

Where Can This Ugliness Lead?

The mean scene recalled another Kennedy. When JFK traveled to Dallas in November of 1963, the atmosphere was just as charged. "In that third year of the Kennedy presidency," William Manchester wrote in Death of A President, "a kind of fever lay over Dallas country. Mad things happened. Huge billboards screamed, 'Impeach Earl Warren.' Jewish stores were smeared with crude swastikas...Radical Right polemics were distributed in public schools; Kennedy's name was booed in classrooms; corporate junior executives were required to attend radical seminars."²

A retired major general ran the American flag upside down, deriding it as "the Democrat flag." A wanted poster with JFK's face on it was circulated, announcing "this man is Wanted" for--among other things--"turning the sovereignty of the US over to the Communist controlled United Nations" and appointing "anti-Christians...aliens and known Communists" to federal offices. And a full page advertisement had appeared the day of the assassination in The Dallas Morning News accusing Kennedy of making a secret deal with the Communist Party; when it was shown to the president, he was appalled. He turned to Jackie, who was visibly upset, and said, "Oh, you know, we're heading into nut country today."

Sounds pretty familiar... (Seriously, those editorials/letters to the editor from the DMN are nearly identical to the ones about Obama/Democrats today)

I dunno, saying that you're targeting a particular race doesn't seem violent even though targeting is a kind of gun metaphor. Saying you're reloading, in the sense of preparing for a second try at something, doesn't seem especially violent to me even though it comes from the idea of reloading a gun. That one comes up in sports quite a bit, "X's team doesn't rebuild, it reloads".

No, it doesn't. Because she stays strictly metaphorical.

She is in the company, however, of many people who do not.

This is all very well crafted.

I've worked places that wouldn't use language like targeting, much less reloading, for that reason.

In other news, how am I bored and want to get out of the house?? I love sitting at home! And it's still (or again) snowing across my windows. Maybe I'll take a shower and then do my nails.

Maybe if that were happening in a vacuum, but it's not. It's happening in an atmosphere of actual death threats, murders & "liberal hunting licenses." That's not really happening with sports gun metaphors, and if someone had made such a slip of the tongue, say after an athlete had received a death threat, there would be apologies all around if not firings.

I dunno, saying that you're targeting a particular race doesn't seem violent even though targeting is a kind of gun metaphor. Saying you're reloading, in the sense of preparing for a second try at something, doesn't seem especially violent to me even though it comes from the idea of reloading a gun. That one comes up in sports quite a bit, "X's team doesn't rebuild, it reloads".

No, it doesn't. Because Palin stays strictly metaphorical.

She is in the company, however, of many people who do not.

This is all very well crafted. The men who created and fund this little "grass roots" movement are smart and wily as their followers are ignorant and obedient.

I'm taking a PTO day on Friday--yay! That makes it yet another week in which I don't work a full five days; the last time I did that was the week before Thanksgiving week.

I have a good excuse, which is that I have to drop off stuff at the local food pantry, only open 9-4:30 M-F, and I do have to run some other errands, best done during the day, so I'll be busy. But at least I get to sleep in some.

She says right-wing violent rhetoric does not incite people to violence. But accusing someone of inciting violence can incite violence.

Words Sarah Palin does not know:

• repudiate
• blood libel
• rhetoric