Really? Look, if I worked for Palin, the first thing I would do is distance myself from any heated political rhetoric that might appear as a sign of support for violence. Violence against elected officials is inexcusable and has no place in any democracy. That is pretty much a no-brainer. I don't think Palin had any intention of calling people to violence; I do think she was trying to allude to violent revolt as a way to empower her constituents and support a populist mistrust of centralized government. I also think she was reckless in disregarding the effect her words would have on susceptible people. But, and here is where I get to the important part, she said it, and she should own it. She used these terms, she is on TV showing off her hunting/survival skills, and she has preached a distrust of government for a long time. So I was shocked when I read this in the Ny Times:

"“I don’t understand how anybody can be held responsible for somebody who is completely mentally unstable like this,” an adviser to Ms. Palin, Rebecca Mansour, said in an interview with a conservative radio host, Tammy Bruce. Responding to accusatory messages on the Web, Ms. Mansour added: “People actually accuse Governor Palin of this. It’s appalling — appalling. I can’t actually express how disgusting that is.”

Ms. Mansour said that the cross hairs, in fact, were not meant to be an allusion to guns, and agreed with her interviewer’s reference to them as “surveyors symbols.” Aides to Ms. Palin did not respond to interview requests on Sunday."

Surveyor's symbols? What? Are you fucking kidding me?