Words Have Consequences

Sarah Palin said, “Don’t Retreat, Instead – Reload,” and included Representative Gabrielle Giffords among those politicians targeted on her SarahPAC site. I expect that Palin will claim that she bears no responsibility for the shooting of Giffords today.

Just like I’d bear no responsibility for the havoc that ensues when I shout “Fire!” in a theater.

Update: Palin hasn’t disclaimed responsibility, but she has cried some crocodile tears on Facebook over the shooting.

Update 2: Giffords’ recent opponent in the November election bears some responsibility, too, though I don’t expect him to be man enough to admit it.

Today in Journamalism™

I keep hearing journalists and correspondents from major media outlets (such as CBS and ABC) talk about the “Republican takeover of Congress.” According to my copy of the Constitution (the one that includes the bit about slavery that has been left out of the group reading staged in the House of Representatives), the Congress consists of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. And the Senate, as I recall, currently has a Democratic majority.

Holy Jeebus on a jet scooter! The stupid: it BURNS!

A short pantoum inspired by the opening line of “Gravity’s Rainbow”

A screaming comes across the sky.
A sound we haven’t heard before:
A distant wailing thin and high,
It drops into a dreadful roar.

A sound we haven’t heard before,
To freeze the blood within our veins
It drops into a dreadful roar:
The cries of countless fears and pains.

To freeze the blood within our veins,
A distant wailing thin and high—
The cries of countless fears and pains—
A-screaming, comes across the sky.