Palin: Clinic Bombers Not Terrorists

This is the person John McCain has chosen to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.




To be sure, this is an outrageous statement. Any decent American knows, whether they are opposed to abortion rights or not, that the acts of abortion clinic, gay club, and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph were terrorist acts.

It would be a mistake, however, to believe that Palin's remarks were motivated simply by her hostility towards abortion rights issues, or a desire to defend her false attacks on Barack Obama. The real outrage here is the narrowness of her definition of terrorism. "Anyone who would seek to campaign to destroy our American capital and our Pentagon, and would seek to destroy innocent Americans."

By Palin's definition, the White House is fair game, along with houses of worship, shopping malls, your front lawn, etc. You get the picture. She does say that she won't "condone" such attacks, and that they are "unacceptable." Kind of like talking during a movie, or using your cellphone in a restaurant.

A broader, more charitable interpretation of Palin's remarks is that terrorism is restricted to actions taken directly against the government. I'm happy to let people judge her readiness on that basis.

ter·ror·ism (t?r'?-r?z'?m) n.

The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Any questions?

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal",on BlogTalkRadio, Tues through Thurs at 10pm, and Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.