As of yesterday, Palin's office is claiming these were just 'surveyors symbols'. Yea riggghhhhht. Rep. Giffords is number four on this list of surveyor symbols.
There must be something in the desert water down in Arizona which is ramping up the fears of white conservatives. It seems to have effected the neural functioning of Senator John McCain, Governor Jan Brewer, Maricopa County Sheriff Jo Arpaio, and lest I forget, Bishop Olmstead.
Then on Saturday, as I was writing yesterday's post, came the tragic news of the shooting in Tuscon. It was allegedly the work of a young white male with mental issues and strong beliefs in rightwing conspiracy theories. Huffington Post reports he had an active interest in at least one white supremacy group--a type of ethnic study group which is seemingly not banned in Arizona. My initial reaction was not shock that such an event happened, but that it didn't happen before now--especially in Arizona.
Here are the words of Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik about yesterday's tragedy:
After Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and a number of others were wounded or killed in a shooting in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said that the state has "become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.....
....."When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," said the sheriff. "And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
......."it's not unusual for all public officials to get threats." However, he said the sentiment doesn't come without consequences.
"And that's the sad thing of what's going on in America," he explained. "Pretty soon, we're not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office."
When I heard these words from Sheriff Dubnik during his press conference last night, I was actually shocked he said them and then just as shocked at my own reaction. I guess I had gone past the point of expecting to hear truth from anyone in governance of any sort in Arizona. I was expecting to hear the kind of stuff that is now coming out of Sarah Palin's headquarters. In reference to the map posted above, her Aides are now saying those aren't cross hairs from gun sights, those are 'surveyors symbols'. This in spite of the fact Sarah was telling her fan base to 'take aim' at those office holders of all those 'targeted' congressional districts--one of whom was Representative Giffords.
I dont' know precisely why Arizona has gone off the deep end, but I do know it was Arizona's own John McCain that legitimized the above mentioned Sarah Palin and it was that same John McCain who first attacked Palin for costing him the presidency and then crawled on his suddenly slimy knees to beg Palin to campaign for him so he could keep his Arizona Senate seat.
Maybe there's a sort of karmic balance thing going on in Arizona. In any event Americans are being given a real opportunity to take a long look at how our democracy is actually working and to determine if this is how we want it to look and sound in the future. The Sara Palin/Glen Beck/Tea Party/Fox News legacy may just be the end of our access to our elected representatives, and as Sheriff Dubnik points out "pretty soon we aren't going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office." For sure, who would want one of Palin's 'survey symbols' on their forehead.
