So.

This is about the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. My knee jerked hard when I heard about the "surveyor's marks," of course, because those "surveyor's marks" were brought to you courtesy of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, aka "The Last Person I Want to See In National Office."

In case you don't know who Giffords was, or how Palin has been tied to the event, here's a quick rundown. Back when "Obamacare" was being voted on, Palin posted a graphic to her facebook site with what looked a lot like gun sights over various Congressional districts. These districts were key to the vote. Some mischief ensued - broken windows and such. This past Saturday, Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords (one of the people under those "They only LOOK like gunsights" icons,) was shot, along with several other people at an event she was hosting.

The gunman was apprehended at the scene. Congresswoman Giffords is, so far, alive.

And me and a lot of the Left reacted pretty strongly to that graphic.

But, as has been pointed out by a much smarter man than me (Jon Stewart, doing what he can to restore sanity,) conflating Palin and her incredibly irresponsible rhetoric with the Giffords attack is a lot like blaming the Columbine shootings on Marilyn Manson.

My reaction to the Columbine/Manson link is and always has been to call "Bullshit." Manson is and always has been an entertainer, and what he says and does is an effort to sell more of his product.

I do feel that Palin is in a very different position as a politician than Manson is as an entertainer. As a possible Presidential candidate, we actually do look to her for leadership and wisdom.

(Side Note: Using the term "wisdom" in reference to Sarah Palin hurts just as much as you'd think.)

Now, I don't think any reasonable person is actually looking to the former Governor for wisdom unless they're already looking to her for leadership. I don't feel like Sarah Palin is a good, responsible, or intelligent leader. Or person. But she does have the right to free speech. And because of who she is, her speech will be heard. She is an inescapable moose hunter, and she has fans. She is a regular on Fox News, one of the most-watched television networks in America. Two major bestsellers have been released under her name. She was a heartbeat from the Vice Presidency (which would have made her one missed heartbeat from President, and her running mate was looking pretty haggard on the campaign trail.)

To borrow from her spiritual grandfather, we're gonna have Sarah to kick around for a while. And whether she cleans up her act or she chooses to become even more inflammatory, people are going to be hearing her for a long while.

Just like Manson, though, her words and acts are calculated to sell. She is buying sponsorships (from whatever lobbyists and politicians she has) by selling a point of view. The more people that buy her books, that show up at her rallies, the more she has a base, and the bigger her base, the better as far as getting into office. Obviously. It isn't necessarily about the money - in fewer than five years in the national spotlight, she almost certainly could live comfortably, supporting her large family nicely, and never be on my TV again. And it isn't necessarily about power. It may be that she earnestly believes she is doing good and that the personal benefits to her and her family are an unnecessary bonus but that gets into circular arguments about authenticity.

I guess my full and final point is twofold: I would rather our political rhetoric was less violent, on all sides (but I'm not naive enough to think it will go away. Might settle down for a couple of years, though.) And it's true: I'm all for freedom of speech, as long as I agree with that speech. But I'm working on it.

By the way, I'm starting a band called "Inescapable Moose Hunter." The covers will all be images of Sarah Palin's head 'shopped onto embarrassing photos of Britney Spears. Mostly the upskirts.