Sarah Palin Swings at Media's 'Blood Libel'

Sarah Palin called it "incomprehensible why a single, evil man took the lives of peaceful citizens that day" in her first extended statement about the Arizona shootings—and then moved from addressing the tragedy to addressing the blame game surrounding it. "Within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible," she says in the 8-minute video. More highlights:

• Don't blame political rhetoric: When was political debate ever less heated, she asks. "Back in those ‘calm days’ when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols?"
• Don't blame the crosshairs: "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them. Not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle."
• Enough with the blame: "We are better than the mindless finger-pointing we endured in the wake of the tragedy. We will come out of this stronger and more united."

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