A View From Middle England - Conservative with a slight libertarian touch - For Christian charity and traditional belief - Free Enterprise NOT Covert Corporatism

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wild rhetoric and vitriolic rantings tend to lead to disaster

People are saying that the massacre in Tucson was in some part triggered by a response to Sarah Palin's cry to "reload". I've suggested it myself. Not to be nasty to Mrs Palin, but to suggest that she tones down her rhetoric. As it happens, she's gone awfully quiet. Perhaps this was her personal wake-up call?

I see that Damian Thompson, in his Telegraph blog, has highlighted the hypocrisy of some Democrats. One such person is Paul Kanjorski. He got all mouthy about Governor Rick Scott of Florida, saying -

“That Scott down there that’s running for governor of Florida. Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him. He stole billions of dollars from the United States government and he’s running for governor of Florida. He’s a millionaire and a billionaire. He’s no hero. He’s a damn crook. It’s just we don’t prosecute big crooks.”

The good folk of Florida didn't heed these remarks and voted Scott in. In the US the issue of money doesn't seem to unsettle a lot. Now if Kanjorski was talking about sex......well, that's a whole different ball game.

All throughout history those who shout the odds, using language likely to incite, tend to get results that they may not have foreseen. Bad consequences, you could say. Thomas Becket was described as a turbulent priest by his king. The king wondered aloud if anyone could get rid of the cleric. A number of ingratiating souls suitably obliged and knifed Becket right in front of the high altar in Canterbury Cathedral. A bloody business all round. What the difference between that remark and any of the present day political diatribes is difficult to see. I can't really think there is. Henry II is reputed to have regetted the action for the rest of his reign, remarking "in happier times he had been a friend".

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