Gabrielle Gifford's Synagogue and Liberal Blood Libels

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Lost in the fevered imagination of the left, who blame the tea party and Sarah Palin for the atrocity on Saturday, is the simple fact that the murderer is obviously a crazy man, a 9-11 truther, a lone wolf killer who was, for years, obsessed with congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The headline of the New York Times is a sterling example of Orwellian newspeak: "Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics."

The article then goes on to insinuate that the Tea Party and Sarah Palin are responsible for this massacre.

Odd, this same newspaper, and the MSM, warned about drawing unfair conclusions about Islam in relation to Maj. Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood killer, who screamed Allah Akhbar as he pulled the trigger. Hassan was, to any casual observer, a proud and outspoken Islamist.

But no problem drawing conclusions about this mass murder and a delusional connection to Republicans, conservatives, talk radio, and the proposed repeal of Obamacare.

It is entirely predictable that the New York Times and the left in general--with some rare exceptions--are anxious to bring a blood libel against Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. Smear, innuendo and outright lies are coin of the realm in the political discourse of the New York Times and their liberal progressive fellow travelers.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, a Democrat operative counseled the White House to "deftly pin this on the tea partiers."

Contemptible.

(Even more contemptible is Hillary Clinton's remarks to the Arab world regarding the massacre. She should resign.)

And straight from Julius Streicher's propaganda playbook.

Never mind that murderer Jared Loughner's politics are an incoherent morass of Communism, Nazism and outright madness--he is convinced that the government is manipulating "American grammar."

As Jews are blamed for, well, everything--hence blood libels--Sarah Palin and the Tea Party have become scapegoats, the Jews, to the political discourse of the Democrats.

Ironic when you consider that congresswoman Giffords, one of 19 murdered or injured, belongs to a synagogue.

Ms. Giffords was the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona, a point of pride for many at Congregation Chaverim

She did not attend services every week, and she only rediscovered her Jewish faith about a decade ago. But she is described as a dedicated member of the temple whose work and compassion embodied the best of Jewish practice.

"My Jewish heritage has really instilled in me the importance of education and caring for the community," she said in a 2006 interview with The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. "I consider myself Jewish without any equivocation."

She called a 2001 visit to Israel a turning point in her life that sparked a fresh interest in Judaism. Her faith never became a major issue in her political campaigns, which, most recently, focused more on her opposition of Arizona's hard-line immigration law and her support of President Obama's health care overhaul.

She strongly backed Israel, writing in 2006 that "the United States must do everything possible to secure Israel's long-term security."

Full article here.

It should be noted that Gifford's father was Jewish but her mother was not. According to halacha, Jewish law, Judaism is passed on through matrilineal descent, hence Giffords is not Jewish. But Gabrielle Giffords identified herself as a Jew and made a public commitment to her Jewish heritage. Her choice should be respected, for being Jewish is an invitation to hatred and scorn.