Palin Targeting More Than Moose

Just when it seems our elected officials have passed a bill that's aimed at improving the quality of life for all Americans, there's one former "Rogue" official aiming to take down those who voted in favor of the bill.

The Health Care Bill has created as much anger and division in our political community as the Civil War. Congressional representatives have been spit on, harassed with racial and gender slurs and threatened with violence due in part to their vote in favor of the Bill. I as an American citizen find these reactions to the passing of a Bill appalling and embarrassing.

So when I came across former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin's, blog post urging American citizens to take aim against those elected officials who voted for the Health Care Bill, I wasn't surprised, just hurt. Palin's plea for "taking back the 20" House of Representatives seats who voted for the bill wouldn't be so disturbing had it not been accompanied by a U.S.A. map showing 20 targets in the cross-hairs of a rifle scope. Below the map she names her targets, 20 congressional names, American names.

Its one thing to flub a Katie Couric interview and blame it on gotcha journalism, its quite another to use language and diagrams that can incite violent insurrections across the country. In the days of Abraham Lincoln this type of act was called "Treason." Today we call it remarks irresponsible and insensitive to the safety of fellow Americans.

Hopefully, Sarah Palin and those who support her will not take a ballistic approach to the Health Care law by use of arms. If a proclamation for the Emancipation of Slavery could set off a regional rebellion 150 years ago using percussion cap rifles (a step above flintlock rifles), imagine today's reaction from a national proclamation urging the taking up of arms against opposing party members. With today's destructive modern assault weaponry the result could be nothing short of a massacre. Beware Rogue Madness!

USNews Opinion Excerpt:

Sarah Palin, for one. She's got several Tea Party speeches coming up. Earlier this week, she posted on her Facebook page a list of lawmakers who voted for the healthcare bill--like Boehner, she's urging supporters to organize this fall in key re-election campaigns. It's great that she's encouraging people to get involved in elections, but then she marks the target districts on an accompanying map with cross hairs from a gun. As someone who was very recently an elected official herself, you'd think she'd be sensitive to the reasons not to use cross hairs as icons for elected officials. Rather than sending a subtle message to those audiences with a graphic like that, she might want to use her media platform to rise above the craziness, and to convince other grass-roots leaders to do the same. The rest of us can talk about taking things down a notch, but the most influential voices will be the ones coming from inside the movement.