Please excuse the break from my normal attempts at humor or sales advice as the events in Arizona and Representative Giffords command my attention.
The word-smiths amongst us; and you know who you are, will argue that the spoken or written word can't be held accountable for the actions others take. And while there is a grain of truth in that comment reality tells us that words are what insight most into action and others into committing acts of violence. Words are the way in which we communicate and express ourselves. Whether it be for joyous reasons or others, to mitigate the value of the word is simply inexcusable.
Having spent the majority of my career in some form of direct marketing or another, the idea that the selection of actionable words is somehow not by design is simply naive. Words and phrases like target, lock and load, attack accompanied by images that depict gun sites and other aggressive elements are bound to have a lasting impact on the recipients of those messages. Marketers and speech writers spend countless hours going through iterations of their message and what its intended goal is. Those with leadership positions know all too well the awesome impact their words can have on the few or the many depending on how they are positioned.
As a parent would consider the use of bad language in front of their children tacit permission to speak in the same manner; how is it that those with bully pulpits don't want to assume the same accountability. Happy to make their dollars based on the sales of coffee mugs, books and DVD's', those same masters of the spoken word (how ironic that they earn their way via words) are also so happy to distance themselves from any call to action that is negative; yet will take credit for any action they deem positive.
We the people are in the end responsible for who it is that we determine can occupy those towers of influence. We have to remain diligent in the use of that power and remand anyone who violates our individual sense of right and wrong. If not us then who? If not you then who? Allowing ourselves to be manipulated into actions of any sort without our own thought processes driving those decisions is a failure of us.
In the end; whether or not Sarah Palin's words were part of the violent acts against fellow members of our society matter little; but the debate it has started matters a lot. I hope that in those moments when those that are given the precious and awesome ability to influence have to be with themselves they remember the idiom most of our parents taught us when we were little:
"Think before you speak."
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