She's B-a-a-a-a-ck!

One nice thing about the last several days was that we hadn't heard very much from Sarah Palin in Alaska.

But on days that were supposed to be reserved for honoring victims of the massacre, she has decided to remind people that, in her view, the real victim was her:

"Like many, I've spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance," Palin said. "After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event."

Palin strongly pushed back at the notion that overheated political speech helped give rise to a climate that placed lawmakers such as Giffords at risk.

"Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere," Palin said. "As I said while campaigning for others last March in Arizona during a very heated primary race, 'We know violence isn't the answer. When we "take up our arms," we're talking about our vote.' "

She saved her harshest words for "media and pundits," whom she said "should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

...Unlike some conservatives, Palin stayed away from trying to pin the accused gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, as a left-leaning anarchist, calling him instead a "deranged, apparently apolitical criminal."

No, Sarah, when we "take up our arms," we're talking about taking up arms. Assuming it means much more than that is part of the problem here.

And use of the term "blood label" is a big mistake. It means much more than a false accusation. It is fraught with the history of Jewish massacres, and mixing it up with a massacre resulting in severe injuries to Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman - this will just needlessly antagonize Jews in the U.S., and worldwide too.

Sarah Palin, at heart, is still the same communications major and sorority sister from Idaho that she was back in the 80's. She simply does not know enough about European history to be wading into this swamp with confidence.

I like what Congressman James Clyburn has to say:

"You know, Sarah Palin just can't seem to get it, on any front. I think she's an attractive person, she is articulate," Clyburn said on the Bill Press radio show, according to The Hill. "But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what's going on here."

Clyburn said that his experiences in the Civil Rights Era gives him a different understanding of the relationship between rhetoric and action, and says what he sees and hears today reminds him of what he heard back then.

"I have some experiences that maybe she does not have," he said. "When I see and hear things today that are reminiscent of that period of time, I am very, very concerned about it, because I know what it led to back then, and I know what it can lead to again."

Or maybe Sarah Palin has just decided it's time we did something about the problem of blood libel by killing the Jews. I mean, does she really want to confuse matters so much that some latter-day Jack Ruby becomes alarmed enough to fight back?