A very good friend of mine in Miami, with whom I’ve had several interesting and meaningful political discussions (he’s a liberal) asked me yesterday why I didn’t post my opinion of Sarah Palin’s speech on Facebook. (Before I initiated my blog I used to post things on my Facebook page, if you can believe that!) I thought I’d share my answer to him, and my reasoning, with you.
To answer this question I had to first refer to comments and rhetoric about Sarah Palin in the days before her speech. Within hours of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, some liberal pundits and media outlets were blaming Palin for the actions of Jared Loughner. There was no evidence Loughner had any connection to Palin, her website, her TV show, or any other form of information put out by the Republican former governor, (and still isn’t) yet the blame game was being played in full. And every article posted on the internet that blamed Palin also had numerous comments at the end by people vilifying Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and virtually every other conservative media figure. People said Loughner killed because of Palin’s remarks concerning guns, reloading, and her campaign strategy map that used crosshairs on the districts where her campaign efforts for various candidates would be concentrated. Since she “targeted” Tucson it was obviously her fault that Loughner shot Gaby Giffords and others. Some people were even demanding her arrest and prosecution even though there still is no evidence to support such a move.
This assault on Palin went on for several days before she responded to the allegations made. Her seven minute speech, which in my opinion was very eloquent, explained the reasons we need to be civil in our discourse and stop accusing each other of things that we know aren’t true. Before she released the videotaped speech those criticizing her were asking for her apology to the people of Tucson and to America for causing this great tragedy. After her speech hit the internet those same people were demanding she shut up and stop her political grandstanding. No matter what Sarah Palin says the liberals are going to try to use it against her in a negative way. It’s what they do.
I did post her speech on my Facebook page so my friends can see it, even though I know some of my friends do not agree with her. Some don’t even like her much. One friend consistently belittles Ms. Palin, calls her stupid and feels completely justified doing so. I figured I’d get at least one or two negative comments about the speech from my posting. I only got one and it wasn’t terrible. So I let it go.
I guess I’m getting soft in my old age. Only a year ago I would have pushed people to get some kind of response. But I really didn’t want the conflict on Facebook. I’ve had at least two people remove me from their Friends list because I disagree with their political views. It seems some friendships have certain boundaries and one of them is the line between liberalism and conservatism. Personally I enjoy political discussion and disagreement. It’s what makes America great. But some people just can’t handle it.
Anyway - I chose to sit out the Palin discussion, this time, simply because I think there is enough hatred being thrown around between people on opposing sides. The poor victims of the tragic shooting in Tucson have been used for political posturing enough and I refuse to be a part of it. Hatred for Sarah Palin is rampant even though most people I know who feel that way cannot give me a concrete reason why their feelings are as strong as they are. It’s quite odd, really. Interesting…. but odd.
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