To be honest, I'm not sure I had heard the term until some reading I was doing in the last couple years, maybe something related to The Merchant of Venice? I have multiple humanities degrees and I don't think the term had ever come up before in anything I'd read, though nothing about the concept was surprising when I read about it.
I don't think someone's automatically an idiot for not knowing it, is what I'm saying. On the other hand, I wouldn't have just thrown it out in conversation either.
I don't think she's an idiot for not knowing it...but I think she's an idiot for using it in that way. Either she knew what it was and used it knowingly or she didn't know and used a term she didn't understand. Either way: dumbass.
I'd heard the term in passing, somewhere, and had the vague idea that it meant something specific, which made me go "bzuh?" when I saw Palin was throwing it around. Having looked it up, I went from "bzuh" to "WTF, Palin?"
In retrospect, I realize that "WTF, Palin?" should probably be the default thought to anything she says.
Possibly I have heard of it cos I did a history degree? In any case I was like "...whut? Why would she go there? Is she trying to say people are being racist at her somehow? WTF?"
The poll seems to be closed so I couldn't answer it, so I'll answer here: Yes, I'd heard the term "blood libel" and learned its origins long ago. But I'm kind of a history geek.
In another forum, a number of intelligent and well-read people have said they'd never heard it until the furor erupted over Palin's use of it.
My suspicion is that it was not ignorance, at least not on the speechwriter's part. Palin was specifically complaining about members of the media connecting her violent rhetoric with violent actions, and Certain People believe that "Jews control the media". Heckuva coincidence if it wasn't a deliberate (and particularly clumsy) dog whistle.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that whoever wrote it knew the term. And I'm aghast they could use it in such a way. I have to admit that this is lower than I thought they would go.
I can't decide whether I'm more aghast at the use of that horrible term (it's right down there with "nigger" on my list), or at Caribou Barbie making this tragedy all about her and her widdle feewings.
I watched just enough of her speech to see for myself what someone else mentioned in commentary about it: as she speaks, she shakes her head slightly. Which may be a "Mama Grizzly headshake of disappointment" or it may be negation of everything she says, i.e. her subconscious is admitting that every word she says is a lie, including "and" and "the".
Comments 17
I don't think someone's automatically an idiot for not knowing it, is what I'm saying. On the other hand, I wouldn't have just thrown it out in conversation either.
Reply
Reply
Reply
In retrospect, I realize that "WTF, Palin?" should probably be the default thought to anything she says.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
In another forum, a number of intelligent and well-read people have said they'd never heard it until the furor erupted over Palin's use of it.
My suspicion is that it was not ignorance, at least not on the speechwriter's part. Palin was specifically complaining about members of the media connecting her violent rhetoric with violent actions, and Certain People believe that "Jews control the media". Heckuva coincidence if it wasn't a deliberate (and particularly clumsy) dog whistle.
Reply
Reply
I watched just enough of her speech to see for myself what someone else mentioned in commentary about it: as she speaks, she shakes her head slightly. Which may be a "Mama Grizzly headshake of disappointment" or it may be negation of everything she says, i.e. her subconscious is admitting that every word she says is a lie, including "and" and "the".
Reply
Leave a comment