THE DANGER – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:   I am reluctant to bring this up, but feel a responsbility to do so.

Amidst the wild charges by the political left and its interns in the media in the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, something terribly important is being forgotten.  Names are being used.  The leftist establishment is targeting, specifically, Sarah Palin, a woman who has never advocated violence against anyone.  She is being made into a pariah, no doubt to diminish her standing as a presidential candidate.

But this kind of hate speech against Sarah Palin can have horrible consequences, because it puts Sarah and her family at physical risk.

The same crackpots the left claims are out there on the right, are out there on the left.  Witness Lee Harvey Oswald.  Witness Sirhan Sirhan.  Does the left have no concern that its wild-eyed loathing of Sarah Palin might provoke some nut on the left to seek "revenge"?  I doubt if the leftists have even thought of it.

David Gergen, a sane voice on CNN, last night cautioned that this hot rhetoric directed at conservatives, especially Sarah Palin, is making matters worse.  He is correct.  A few sane people, like historian Douglas Brinkley, are echoing that cautionary note. 

But I worry about Sarah Palin.  It is actually rare for a political figure to be targeted, by name, in such a violent manner.  I hope my worries prove wrong.

January 10, 2011