Sarah Palin resurfaces

Sarah Palin has resurfaced.

Four days after the murderous rampage in Tuscon, Palin finally issued a statement today on the carnage that claimed 6 lives and injured 14.

Did Palin make her statement before cameras, live microphones and journalists? Of course not.

Did she use calming words to comfort the victims and a nation reeling from a senseless act of violence? Of course not.

In her statement, which was videotaped and posted online, Palin seems to imply that she's the 21st victim of the shooting.

Sitting before an American flag and wearing an American flag lapel pin and trying her best to look presidential, Palin, at first expresses sympathy for the victims.

But a minute and a half into the 8 minute video she accuses journalists and others of inciting hatred.

From the New York Times:

Sarah Palin, who had been silent for days, issued a forceful denunciation of her critics on Wednesday in a video statement that accused pundits and journalists of “blood libel” in what she called their rush to blame heated political rhetoric for the shootings in Arizona.

“Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”

All this coming from someone who has built a national following, almost exclusively based on her use of incendiary rhetoric.

It's still early, but Palin is already facing criticism for use of the term "blood libel." From Politico.com:

“The blood libel is something anti-Semites have historically used in Europe as an excuse to murder Jews – the comparison is stupid. Jews and rational people will find it objectionable,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic political consultant and devout Jew. “This will forever link her to the events in Tucson. It deepens the hole she’s already dug for herself… It’s absolutely inappropriate.”

One New York Times reader weighed in this morning on the paper's website:

This woman gets nothing but bad advice on communications. She should have been in front of live TV cameras, within hours of the event, expressing her sympathy for the victims and making it clear that violence is not the answer to political debate.

Issuing canned video, days later, with largely self-justifying outrage at how SHE has been treated is just stupid.

Another reader wrote:

So let me get this straight; "Talk show hosts" like Palin and Beck get to brag about their large following when it serves them well. Then they get to distance themselves from the mob they created when things go sour. Sounds like a good deal to me.