Arizona Shootings

On Tuesday we published this piece by columnist Andrew Bolt. It criticised some on the left in the United States, and Australia, for blaming the rhetoric of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for the massacre in Tuscon Arizona that killed six people and left Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a critical condition.

The issue of whether right wing rhetoric played a part in the shootings generated considerable heated discussion on The Punch, as it has throughout the United States. Today Governor Palin has responded in a video (above), attacking her critics for attempting to manufacture a “blood libel” against her:

“Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies.”

“Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”

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