Howard Kurtz's Moronic Equivalence

Greasy-wigged Republican Howard Kurtz has finally found a victim in yesterday's massacre in Arizona. It's Sarah Palin.

I hate to say this [sic], but the blame game is already under way.

It began within hours of Saturday's horrifying shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and nearly 20 others, even before the gunman was identified.

Political Target Map as seen on Sarah Palin's website. Inset: Sarah Palin and Gabrielle Giffords (AP Photo)

One of the first to be dragged into this sickening ritual of guilt by association: Sarah Palin. Last March, the former Alaska governor posted a map on her Facebook page with crosshair targets representing 20 Democratic lawmakers she was singling out for defeat after they voted for President Obama's health care plan. One of them was Giffords. Palin, who touts her caribou-hunting heritage, also tweeted, "Don't retreat, RELOAD!"

This kind of rhetoric is highly unfortunate. The use of the crosshairs was dumb. But it's a long stretch from such excessive language and symbols to holding a public official [sic] accountable for a murderer who opens fire on a political gathering and kills a half-dozen people, including a 9-year-old girl.

It will not surprise you to read that "Howie" does not quote anyone who seeks to hold Sarah Palin (let alone a public official) accountable for the attempted assassination and multiple murders committed Saturday. Many have criticized Palin for her use of violent rhetoric, lies and pandering to the mentally unstable for financial reward. That sound criticism happened long before the events of Saturday morning, and continues today. But it's only the craven Kurtz who would use the slaughter of innocents for his own political goal, namely, the rehabiliation of Sarah Palin.