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
Captain logic is not driving her tug boat.
I popped up my Goggle page and on the top of my news widget was the line "Palin Plays the Victim Card." Hey CBS, that's her entire deck, it isn't news.
Oy. There's a guy on a friend's FB link arguing that teachers always teach their beliefs a bit. As an example, he uses teaching To Kill A Mockingbird by saying, "When we teach To Kill a Mockingbird, we talk about how racism is wrong." To which I replied that I thought that wasn't really a belief, racism is just wrong.
He now says I'm quibbling over terms...Dude. I seriously hope he's not really a teacher.
In a way, it doesn't matter what Palin actually intended or what Loughner's motive turns out to be. Palin has used violent imagery. Including a cross-hairs aimed at Giffords (among others). And express firearm metaphors.
Maybe it's a coincidence that Giffords was targeted, maybe it isn't. But until we get clear answers, there's a legitimate question of whether the imagery -- and specifically, the cross-hairs -- influenced Loughner. And the very legitimacy of the question means that Palin has A Problem. Because the cause-and-effect issue is out there. And it'll be a long, hard road (if it's even possible) to put that issue back in.
And what's even more frightening is that Palin isn't the worst offender in terms of audience plus extremity of violent imagery. ("Tiller the Baby Killer" comes to mind.)
And in further symbolism, I'm listening to a (recorded) radio program featuring soul hits of 1968, a tense year in U.S. history if there ever was one. Playing -- "Little Green Apples." As gentle (albeit sexist, in its way) a love song as you could want.
Oy. There's a guy on a friend's FB link arguing that teachers always teach their beliefs a bit. As an example, he uses teaching To Kill A Mockingbird by saying, "When we teach To Kill a Mockingbird, we talk about how racism is wrong." To which I replied that I thought that wasn't really a belief, racism is just wrong.
It's a bad example, but I agree with what he is saying. History is not an objective set of facts. It's a story told with facts. There is always some level interpretation, even if its what you choose to emphasize given your research and what you leave out. Same thing with teaching. You can't teach everything, you have to filter. Ideally, you try to be as objective as possible, but, especially with literature, everything is open to interpretation.
But we can all agree that one of the lessons of To Kill A Mockingbird is that racism is unjust, right? And we can all agree that that's wrong, right? That can't be teaching your beliefs.
Teaching that the ghosts in "Turn of the Screw" can't possibly be real because the supernatural doesn't exist if you're an athiest-yeah, that would be teaching your beliefs, but I've never even heard of a teacher handling them that way.
