Marian Ronan

Gabby in the Crosshairs

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been following pretty closely the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head by an assassin at close range Saturday. Thanks God she seems to be pulling through.

There’s been a lot of commentary about the incident. A good bit of it focuses on the extreme rhetoric of American politics. The New York Times in more than one article suggests that the Right and the Left are equally guilty of using violent, polarizing language.

However, I myself haven’t come across any progressive rhetoric that encourages shooting Tea Partiers, along the lines of the crosshairs image that appeared on Sarah Palin’s blog. Have you?

And in case you’re wondering what this has to do with American Catholicism: I am profoundly grateful that Sarah-baby left the Catholic Church for an independent Pentecostal church years ago. If only Christine O’Donnell would follow her.