Update 1/30/11:  In the second-to-last paragraph of the below post I took the media to task as the biggest offenders of using violent metaphors to describe the political doings of the day.  As if made-to-order, several local NJ newspapers (commonly owned perhaps?) published an article titled  "Are police, fire unions next on Christie's hit list?" .  Not satisfied enough to use the Left's newly-deemed offensive (there's a pun in there somewhere) language in a headline, the article goes on to state that Chris Christie, the Republican Governor of New Jersey, has these unions in his "cross-hairs".   Now, pause and consider that this article, discussing union battles, hit lists and cross-hairs of police and fire unions, was published just 16 days after Lakewood NJ Police Officer Christopher Matlosz was assassinated in the line of duty by an alleged gang-banger on January 14th.  Those of you who follow this blog with any regularity know I am not a fan of political correctness.  If the left had not seized the shooting of a Congresswoman in Arizona in order to blame conservatives - particularly savaging Sarah Palin for her use of "cross-hairs" - in order to politicize the incident,  I wouldn't care.  But, here is monumental media hypocrisy in action, and not only hypocritical, but also crudely insensitive considering the recent murder of Officer Matlosz.......  
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So, I started off by promising myself I would not comment on the senseless murder and maiming perpetrated by an obviously mentally unbalanced person at an Arizona Congresswoman's public event - purely because, in seconds, it became one of those classic media feeding frenzies that I so despise.

Alas, quite obviously I have succumbed to temptation. Primarily due to the twisted direction the media frenzy took.

In the early hours of the aftermath of this tragedy, much of the leftist media began trying to paint the alleged perpetrator of this crime as a right-wingnut.  In fact, you could almost sense the orgasmic delight of a "journalist" who published a claim that said alleged killer was a member of the Tea Party.  A claim that was quickly disproved - a crushing blow to the left.  However, the point here is that clearly many, many members of the leftist press were thinking "We got one!" as the circumstances of the event unfolded.  On one level - how can you blame them?  After all, the only person who could possibly want to harm a Democrat would be a Tea toting right wing extremist, right?  Wrong.  As more details emerged of the suspect's background, all indicators so far suggest that at best one can say is that he was apolitical, and had a personal, demented grudge against his intended victim.  However, I do take note that one person who knew him described the guy as a "left-wing pot head".  Be that as it may, as far as I am concerned, a nutcase is a nutcase is a nutcase, and what political affiliations he may have had are of no real relevance to the harm, and crime committed. 

Even as hope faded for the leftist media and the leftist politicos, that did not stop them from trying to blame conservative fiery rhetoric as pushing a madman over the edge into violence - without a single solitary shred of evidence that the gunman had ever followed either Palin or Limbaugh, and had read or heard their respective musings.  In short, the shooting wound up being mostly Sarah Palin's fault, with more than a little Rush Limbaugh thrown in.  That the shooter didn't peg his unhingedness on either was of no consequence to the left. 

So why was this senseless tragedy Sarah's fault?  Because shortly after the horrendous healthcare law passed, Sarah Palin used her twitter account to encourage conservatives not to give up the 'fight' (my word and deliberately chosen) against nationalized health care by saying "Don't retreat, reload".  In addition to this apparently EVIL remark, Sarah Palin apparently also published a grid of sorts of liberals she wanted to see unseated in the last election by superimposing a scope-like cross-hair pattern on a picture of these candidates, one of which was the Congresswoman shot in the head by our local neighborhood nutcase.  Palin was obviously using metaphors, but the leftist now would have us believe that she was secretly transmitting subliminal messages trying to get people to take her literally.  Rubbish.  As has been pointed out elsewhere by many - the left wing Daily Kos published a similar graphic for the same Congresswoman, but I guess because that was done by leftists who felt the Congresswoman wasn't leftist enough, the vitriol gushing from the leftist media and leftist politicos against such a disagreeable graphic was far more tempered - more like non-existent. 

Once again, the leftist media and blogosphere had Sarah Palin squarely in their own sights, even if it is no longer politically correct to name it so - it's still accurate to say nonetheless.  The cyberworld exploded in vitriol against Palin and other conservatives as well, claiming that only fiery rhetoric from the right could have caused a mentally disturbed man to act on the impulses from within.   It couldn't be that leftist rhetoric can drive a madman to harm others - inconceivable - only the right has the power to do this.  Pure unmitigated bull, but a golden opportunity to try and intimidate their critics into silence.  And when Palin published a video condemning the attacks on her by all these rabid leftists - more attacks.  'How dare she defend herself!'.  Never mind that the President of the United States, and user of the fiery rhetoric of combat himself, held a campaign rally in Arizona using the tragedy to try and make himself look good politically - putrid.  Yeah there is nothing like "honoring" a nine year old girl's senseless murder by holding a campaign rally.  Uh huh.  This tragedy merely presented itself as another opportunity for the leftists to attack the most hated, and feared, woman in all of American politics.  That their hate-filled rhetoric drives the the death threats against Palin is just gravy for the cooked goose - right?  I have no doubt if the hate for Sarah Palin stirred by the leftist media compelled a nutcase to have a go at Palin, that the left would be hard-pressed to conceal their delight. 

Starting with the Obama election campaign, if you wander through the cyberworld looking for acts of violence perpetrated at political rallies, and town hall meetings and so forth, I think you will find that the majority of recent violent acts were not perpetrated by right-wing oriented people.  I think you will find that, starting off with left-wing extremists like the New Black Panther thugs threatening voters at the polls, to leftist Union thugs beating up protesters at town hall meetings, to a reporter being roughed up by a staff member of a Democrat candidate seeking Ted Kennedy's vacant seat, and so on - they are all leftists.  Without researching in-depth myself, and going purely by memory, the only incident of violence I can recall being actually perpetrated by a right-winger was the accusation that a Tea Party member "stomped" a left-wing protester at a rally.  And if you Google the video of the incident, clearly there is no "stomping" - the Tea Party guy held the protester down with his foot.  But was it fiery rhetoric that induced the so-called stomping, or the desire to stop a left-wing protester from continuing her attempts at disruption?  Was the left-wing woman stabbed or beaten senseless?  No.

And then there is the leftist media itself.  Of all those who use the lexicon of combat to describe the political doings in this country, the media itself is to blame most of all.  Busily characterizing political disputes and contests as "battles" and "victories" and "defeats" and so on, who does more to foment discord than the leftist media itself?  Where's the mea culpa?  Not holding my breath for that.

All this leads me back to a place I've been before:  In the renewed desire by the left to temper the free speech of conservatives either widely known or obscure, like myself,  the very name of this blog the left must consider a poisonous device.  I have discussed the naming of this blog before, and while I am very well aware that nobody particularly likes to be called stupid - if the stupid shoe fits, wear it.