INTO THE CROSS HAIRS

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

You fill up a powder keg and it is bound to explode. Sure, it will more than likely be an unstable person to eventually light the fuse, but it will explode. And explode it did.

Did Palin want someone to actually put Gabrielle Giffords "in the cross hairs?" Of course not. Say what you want about Palin (and us libs generally do), but she is in control of most of her faculties. However, some of her followers are not, and she should have realized this. Realized it when she posts a picture such as below, or says inflammatory, violent rhetoric such as "don't retreat...reload."

Gabrielle Giffords knew the potential, of course. Palin put her in the cross hairs. Giffords replied to the ad in this manner...."we're on Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time.

Giffords just won re-election by a very close margin, despite the popularity of the tea party, especially in the state of Arizona, where anti-illegal immigration sentiment screams loud and clear. "Take our country back!"

Jesse Kelly knew the sentiment. He tried to jump onto the Tea party bandwagon and take Giffords seat in the House of Representatives. One of his most popular fundraisers was a visit with the candidate to shoot his fully loaded M-16 rifle. The ad states "help remove Giffords from office....shoot a fully automatic M-16 with Jesse Kelly..."

It was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time. She was in the cross hairs.

Yesterday, Giffords held a meet and greet outside of a supermarket in her district. A young, 22 year old man came and asked a volunteer if he could meet her. The volunteer told him he would have to wait in line. Reports are that he left and came back with a gun. He didn't retreat, he reloaded. The death toll now stands at six, including a nine year old girl. Only six, because he was overpowered by two spectators as he was...you guessed it, reloading his gun with a fresh clip.

Was 22 year old Jarod Loughner a tea party follower? Unknown. Was he mentally unstable? Of course. Is this a direct result of the rhetoric from the tea party, or ex-Governor Palin? Probably not. But, as Michael Moore tweeted this morning, "If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web with cross hairs on 20 politicians, and then one got shot, where would he be sitting right now?

If you are looking for examples of the incoherent ramblings of Loughner on his Twitter account and My Space page, don't bother, they have been taken down. If you are looking for the cross hairs picture or rhetoric on Palin's web site, don't bother, they have been taken down.

I can only speculate that she didn't want to be criticized for her contribution to the violent, anti-Democratic rhetoric that is rife in the Tea Party movement. Ms. Palin....it was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time.