Analysis: Sarah Palin's use of 'blood libel' sparks new controversy
By Karen Tumulty
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 12, 2011; 11:23 AM
Sarah Palin's Facebook page essay and video in response to the Tucson shootings - a tragedy in which she found herself the centerpiece of a debate over civility in political discourse - was crafted as both a defense of her own actions as part of the grand tradition of "our exceptional nation," and a strike against her critics.
That she waited four days and then issued such a delicately calibrated and polished statement also displayed a trait not normally associated with the former Alaska governor: discipline.
In Palin's version of events, her controversial actions represented common cause with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who a few days before being critically wounded in the mass shooting had read the First Amendment on the House floor.
"Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own," Palin said in the statement. "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, not with those who proudly voted in the last election."
Palin's statement contained an instance of provocative religious imagery that might be missed by more secular voters who read her statement, but which likely will be recognized by the religious conservatives who constitute such an important part of her following.
"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 they purport to condemn," she wrote. "That is reprehensible."
"Blood libel" is a phrase that refers to a centuries-old anti-Semitic slander - the false charge that Jews use the blood of Christian children for rituals - that has been used as an excuse for persecution. The phrase was first used in connection with response to the Arizona shootings in an opinion piece in Monday's Wall Street Journal and has been picked up by others on the right.
Palin's defensiveness was apparent in the indirect reference to criticism of a map on Palin's Web site during the midterm elections that showed districts of congressional Democrats she had targeted for defeat marked with crosshairs.
Giffords, whose district was one of those 20, had publicly complained that this was an invitation to violence.
"She's her own best spokesperson and she wanted to talk about this," said Tim Crawford, the treasurer for Palin's political action committee. "The reason we did the video was we wanted the statement in total out there. We wanted the video to be seen in its entirety."
Palin's statement comes as President Obama is headed to Tucson to speak at a service for the victims, and guarantees that her perspective will be part of the storyline of the day.
In its careful timing and deliberate language, it also represents a departure from her previous attention-getting Facebook posts and tweets, many of which were reflexive spasms to even small criticisms.
On Thanksgiving, for instance, as most of the nation was still sleepily digesting turkey dinners, she issued an angry blast at Obama and the media, recalling a gaffe the president made during the 2008 campaign. It was an apparent reaction to the fact that she herself had been ridiculed for a slip of the tongue in which she referred to North Korea as South Korea.
"The one-word slip occurred yesterday during one of my seven back-to-back interviews wherein I was privileged to speak to the American public about the important, world-changing issues before us," Palin wrote. "If the media had bothered to actually listen to all of my remarks on Glenn Beck's radio show, they would have noticed that I refer to South Korea as our ally throughout, that I corrected myself seconds after my slip-of-the-tongue, and that I made it abundantly clear that pressure should be put on China to restrict energy exports to the North Korean regime."
Those kinds of outbursts could be fatal in a presidential campaign, and stand as a stark contrast to the statement that Palin released Wednesday.
The new level of political professionalism to her approach - if that indeed is what this represents - also might not be merely a coincidence in its timing.
Republican operatives report that Palin has been calling around in recent weeks to seek advice not only on whether but how she should run for president in 2012. This statement might suggest she is not only seeking that counsel, but taking it as well.
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