Sarah Palin's Grin

I cannot keep it in any longer.

I am so pissed off at Sara Palin, Rush Limburger, Glenn Dick and the rest of the right wing nut balls out there who think that the venom they spout on a daily basis cannot set off some deranged person.

Now, before you jump all over me, let me say up front that I cannot prove that this guy in Arizona (whose name I will not reprint for fear of giving him the attention that he is looking for) was inspired by something on Palin’s website or by a particular incendiary comment by a talk show host.  I get that piece.  However, don’t tell me that a mentally unbalanced person does not slowly absorb all of the hateful, personal crap that is being spread out there.  I am not a psychologist but I am so sick and tired of the political right poo-pooing the “power” that they have in creating such a negative climate in this country.

What really got my attention was how Sara Palin’s crew immediately took down

Glen Back Wants You to Hate

that part of her website that had the targets on the congressional districts, including Congresswoman Gifford’s.  If they think it had no effect on anyone, if they felt it had absolutely nothing to do with the shooting, then why did they take it down?  Huh?  Huh?  Geez, I just want to take that woman in my two arthritic hands and shake her head back and forth and try to knock that shit-eating grin off of her face.  Okay, okay, I know I’m doing the same thing that I just accused them of doing, but cut me a little slack here.

The reason why I am so sensitive about this issue is that I’ve seen this pattern before.  I’ve seen Bill O’Reilly night after night refer to my friend, Doctor George Tiller, as “Tiller the Killer.”  Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Bill.  Hey, look!  My ratings went up!  Now let’s charge our advertisers more money and I’ll get my cut.

But then, as we all know, after his (and other’s) incessant harassment of Doctor Tiller, some deranged psycho (whose name I also will not mention) grabbed a gun and killed Doctor Tiller in his church.  Again, I cannot prove that there is a connection to the assassin and Bill O’Reilly’s rants but the murderer had clearly been exposed to all of the hatred and vile that was being spread by O’Reilly and others.  What they don’t understand is that hatred has legs, that when you start peddling it you never know whose mind it will reach.

Bill O'Reilly

Indeed, I remember Paul Hill, the murderer of Doctor Baird Britton, once told me that a number of his colleagues in the pro-life movement were “harassing” him, saying things like “Well, if you suggest that it’s okay to kill a doctor, then why haven’t you done it?”  I can’t prove that that pressure got to Paul, but you can connect the dots.     The point is words can have an effect on people.

So, are you against abortion?  Fine, just explain to me why and vote for your candidate and, as much as I don’t like it, go out and stand in front of an abortion clinic if you are in need of some attention.  But when you start spewing vile, when you start getting personal, when you start putting names of doctors on a website with x’s across their picture, when you call someone a “murderer” or a “baby killer,” don’t express shock when someone who heard your words goes out and takes action.  Don’t give me your crap about how sorry you are, how you do not condone violence, how you are praying for the family of the slain doctor.

You can’t spread hate and not expect someone to respond.