Analysis: Palin Plays the Victim Card

[cali]

Posted by Dan Farber

(Credit: CBS/AP)

It's becoming increasingly clear that Jared Lee Loughner is mentally unstable. Sarah Palin's bullseye on Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords did not direct Loughner to shoot Giffords point-blank in the head on January 8, 2011.

Did the vitriol in political discourse, crosshairs and phrases like "Don't retreat, reload" (by Sarah Palin) or "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun" (by President Obama) influence Loughner's state of mind?

Perhaps in an idiosyncratic way, according to Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University. "Political rhetoric provided some of the context for his thinking, the pretext for his actions, but the core reasons for his actions were his psychosis," Lieberman told National Journal.

Regardless of what motivated Loughner to pull the trigger, the tragedy in Tucson has put the tone of political discourse, and those who tend to inflame more than inform, in the spotlight.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20028275-503544.html

[sadbear]

1. Question" When does Palin NOT play the victim card?

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. I thought we'd already determined the comparison he makes..

... is a false equivolancy?

Sorry, gotta run, my wife is going to KILL me if I don't get the trash out!

Seriously, we can't limit all our speech in all regards, so CONTEXT must be placed around 'short tidbits' to give the full meaning/impact of the exact words.

[gratuitous]

4. Yeah, the Obama "quote" got slipped in there very neatly, didn't it?

At this point, I just have to believe that folks at the popular media outlets just can't help themselves anymore. They have become so inured to being yelled at for alleged liberal bias, they're self-correcting even when there aren't any facts that need correcting.

[kestrel91316]

3. Loughner may be crazy, but he's neither blind nor deaf.

I find it unimaginable that he DIDN'T see and hear all the hate.