What Is Time's Mark Halperin Smoking, and Palin Speaks Out **UPDATED**

There is no need to rehash the numerous assaults on Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, or those lumped together and labeled "Conservatives" (presumably, anyone who does not have a LD - Lefty Democrat - after their name), in the wake of the Tucson shooting. From the very first press conference with Sheriff Dupnik, rhetoric, presumably only conservative rhetoric, was blamed for this horrible tragedy. Many, many blogs, news organizations, and pundits, including the economist, Paul Krugman, jumped on the "Blame Palin!!!" bandwagon (though Mr. Krugman might do well to stick to his area of expertise). Yes, even as they claim, "we don't have any evidence to support this yet, BUT it is all Palin and Limbaugh and Beck's fault..."

Indeed, we have heard it all, from my ridiculous representative Jim Clyburn calling for the restoration of "The Fairness Doctrine," which isn't all that fair, to calls for limited Freedom of Speech (who gets to decide what can and cannot be said?), to insisting Palin used "Crosshairs!!!" on her map, akin to the bullseye used by the Democrats, but essentially meaningless in a culture that frequently uses military imagery ("war room," "marshal our forces," "hit the target," etc.) as common parlance, particularly in the political arena. We heard it over and over again: it is all the fault of Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Beck et.al, that this heinous act was committed in Tucson.

After all these blatantly false charges have been levied, what does Time Magazine's Mark Halperin think Palin and the Conservatives should do about these offensive comments being hurled their way? Turn the other cheek. That's right, he thinks they should do nothing about it, not stand up for themselves, not defend themselves, not retort, not say a peep. Ah, yes - that Freedom of Speech thing gets another gratuitous hit from those in the media.

Now I know people might think, me being a minister type and everything, that I would concur with Halperin's assessment. I do not. There is such a thing as disparaging another person's character, abusing them with words, bullying them, all of which has happened in the public arena, with the mindless assistance of the MSM. For someone to then expect that person, in this case, Palin, to just take it, remain silent, be mute, is an insult to the divine within the person who has been maligned. No victim of abuse, of lies, of rumor and innuendo, should be expected to take the abuse silently. No one. And that is just what he is asking Palin to do.

Thankfully, Palin refused to accept the silencing Halperin (and others) wanted to impose upon her. No. This morning, Governor Palin made a statement regarding the recent tragedy in Tucson, and the attempts to connect her to the actions of a madman:



Well said. And a very measured response, I might add. No wonder they are so afraid of her.

But of course, those on the Left are not happy with this statement, oh no. Piling on with Halperin is former Clinton/Gore advisor, Peter Mirijanian, who just this morning attacked this statement because Palin didn't APOLOGIZE for what happened in Tucson. Not only that, she waited too long to come out with a statement (I guess he missed that she said she took time to reflect on the tragedy that had occurred). Most importantly, though, she didn't grovel for forgiveness for the actions of someone who took matters into his own hands out of his own mental illness.

Again - there has been ZERO connection between what Loughner did in Tucson and ANY political rhetoric. None. Absolutely none. Yet that is not stopping some of these folks from continuing to demand Palin apologize.

But apologize for what? Seems to me, they are demanding that she apologize for her very existence. And once she has done that, she needs to be quiet, and just go away.

This is the same thing they did to Hillary Clinton, by people in her own party. This is the same thing too many women in this country endure: the powers-that-be wanting to silence us. If there is any correlation between what happened to Giffords and Sarah Palin, it is that they are both strong, outspoken women. And for that, Giffords has paid a horrendous price, though one from which we all hope and pray she recovers (thank HEAVENS doctors now think her survival is guaranteed).

Palin is paying a price, too, at the hands of those who claim they are now speaking out for civility. In their very claims, they are being uncivil, leveling false charges against a political opponent in an attempt to silence, demean, destroy her. But she will not be silenced. And for that, I salute her.

So, what do you think? Is Mark Halperin smoking something? What did you think of Palin's statement? Is it a leap to make this about women? Let's hear it!

UPDATE: So while those on the left are sanctimoniously calling for more "civility" in language, would you like to guess what the result has been of their followers toward Sarah Palin? If you guessed DEATH THREATS, you would be right. Below is a video compilation of some of the threats Palin has received. I warn you - this is NOT for the faint of heart:



Such "civil discourse," indeed. This is just frightening. Talk about "unhinged" (President Clinton) and ratcheting up political discourse. If something happens to Sarah Palin, will Markos be apologetic? Arianna Huffington? Sheriff Dupnik?? Yeah, I didn't think so, either...