The Leader and the Demagogue

The Leader and the Demagogue

What a contrast we saw yesterday between the healing and unifying words of President Obama and the divisive and self-serving words of Ms. Palin.

No one is accusing Palin of being criminally culpable for the shootings in Tucson. That would be ridiculous. All they’re asking is that she tone down the rhetoric and not add to the crazy atmosphere. She failed miserably. As CREDO reports her response to the 250,000 signatures asking her to tone it down: “She released a video in which, carefully reading from a teleprompter, she lashed out at all of us who dared to question her use of violent imagery, calling us ‘reprehensible.’ Rather than signaling a willingness to change her language going forward, Palin controversially labeled our calls to renounce violent eliminationist rhetoric as "blood libel" — a term which itself invokes a long and violent history of anti-Semitism.”

In his speech at the Tucson rally Wednesday evening, President Obama asked us to remember the victims, live up to their expectations of us, and not turn on one another. It was one of the finest moments of his Presidency. We indeed must live up to what is the best in America and reject the divisive and sometimes violent rhetoric that is poisoning our political debate.

Here are links to three of the best of the commentaries.

Sam Stein’s “Obama Re-introduces the Human Element to the Giffords Tragedy”

Jeremy Rifkin’s “Will we heed President Obama’s cal for a more empathic society?”

Mark Green’s “Her Candidacy is Over --- Palin’s "Brainwashing" and “Joe Welch” Moment”


Finally, here is the link to the Huffington Post’s full coverage and analysis.

And after we've reflected on the tragedy and prayed for the victims and their families, let's have a reasonable discussion as a nation on what measures we can and should take to prevent this from happening again.