Palin responds to criticisms over violent rhetoric

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has responded to a wave of criticisms directed at her use of violent rhetoric in political debates. On Thursday, Palin released a video on Vimeo.

Palin’s rhetoric, along with that of other right wing pundits from Fox News to Rush Limbaugh, has been singled out as a possible source of motivation for 22-year-old Jared Loughner to take a 9 mm Glock pistol to a shopping center in Tucson Az, where he opened fire, killing six people and gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others.

“Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, 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 they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.”

She also took aim at Loughner, calling him deranged and placing the sole responsibility for his shooting spree on him:

“President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” 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, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.”

Palin also said that while campaigning in Giffords’ district last March, she said: “We know violence isn’t the answer. When we ‘take up our arms’, we’re talking about our vote.”