Christian terrorists nabbed

What does it take for the newspapers to call people who plot to assassinate random police officers ‘terrorists’? Would it help if they had been skeery urban black guys rather than Midwestern crackers with bad skin?

The mealy-mouthed use of the alternative, ‘Christian militia’, to describe the Hutaree sect, whose members were seized before they could blow anyone away, is almost apologetic in its echo of the Second Amendment and our country’s hallowed worship of weaponry.

The Hutaree conspirators are pathetic as well as clearly deranged, but that hasn’t stopped many dangerous people and organizations throughout history from causing a lot of harm. But just when prudence would suggest a little care with the inflammatory rhetoric so as to not aggravate the ever-present psychos and nut jobs, here’s the Palin woman winking and chortling as if it were all just a big laugh.

After taking criticism for placing cross-hairs over the congressional districts of her enemies, Palin mocked the threat of violence on her Facebook page:

‘The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons—your Big Guns—to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win’.

Ha ha, isn’t that cute? Palin scoffed that her satire would now be ‘subject to new politically correct language police censorship’.

Such sophomoric posturing in a world where actual human beings are being blown up on a regular basis is obscene, but typical. Her moral guide, George W. Bush, had the same attitude: who cares how many thousands die as long as I get to dress up in a cool uniform and strut around on a flight deck?

But Palin doesn’t have to worry about the consequences of her acts or her words because she’s just milking the spotlight for everything it’s worth (plenty, in her case). Her self-promotion is boundless, and all human suffering is mere grist for her profit mills. That’s the advantage of being an entertainment politician like a Palin or a Beck—you just whip up the crowds, enjoy the fan-worship and let others deal with the consequences.