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Do you think that today's political climate is ripe for violence? Do you think that the vitriol created by the SarahPac map, certain political propaganda, etc. is a form of hate speech? Do you think that our first amendment rights mean that we get to incite violence even if it's in innuendo?
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I think that the climate is ripe for this kind of thing and I don't think that the 1st Amendment should allow. The USSC (US Supreme Court), IIRC (1919, Schneck vs US), has stated that falsely yelling "fire" in a theater isn't necessarily free speech. To that end, it suggests that we must be aware of the implications of our actions and the reactions that may happen as a result. It is one of the things that I miss in Canada and that is laws that doesn't allow for the promotion of hatred that could lead to violence (this is also tied with Holocaust denying being illegal).
Palin's target map isn't a first. The Democrats did something similar during the Bush era (I think this is from 2004 but could be wrong):
The young man who did fire the weapon in Arizona is known for ties to an anti-Semitic, anti-immigration organization. I would suspect that a lot of why he did what he did was over immigration since the Judge who died was a huge proponent of immigrant rights and I believe Gifford is as well.
Regardless, both the Democrats, Republicans and Tea Party types are doing their darnedest to create a truly polarized nation. The rhetoric has been ratcheted up to such a frenzied level I'm surprised it took this long for this kind of situation to happen. Hopefully, this might cause things to settle or lessen but I have my doubts.