Crossposted at DemocraticDiva.com
We don’t get the physical AZ Republic anymore so I missed yesterday’s editorial wherein the ed board wheezed itself into a paroxysm of umbrage over an ad that Gabby Giffords’ and Mark Kelly’s Responsible Solutions PAC are running in opposition to Tucson Congressional candidate Martha McSally (R). The ad depicts a mother who lost her husband and daughter to the daughter’s deranged ex-boyfriend who was easily able to get a gun thanks to decades of politicians caving in to the gun lobby in every way possible.
Actually the Republic op-ed came to my attention through this Politico piece in which Alex Isenstadt said the dumbest thing ever uttered on Politico.
On Friday, the Arizona Republic’s editorial page, which is typically liberal leaning, called the “Vicki” ad “base and vile.”
This is an impressive feat, considering it’s Politico. The gist of both the Politico and the Republic op-ed that inspired it is that Gabby Giffords is being terribly unladylike in the way that she is truthfully pointing out that certain Republican candidates have problematic stances on guns. It’s terribly uncouth to connect the dots between stalker ex-boyfriends easily getting guns and politicians who make that possible.
What’s even more precious about the AZ Republic op-ed is how it treats Giffords as if she’s an unwitting pawn.
So we ask again, Americans for Responsible Solutions, do you know what you’re doing?
Do the people who control your messaging know they are marring the legacy of a congresswoman known for her decency and good judgment, who practiced civility in office with such consistency she did not just reach across the aisle but found cherished friends there?…
…Perhaps the Tucson shooting changed Gabby Giffords. Perhaps she is the one who controls the message. But we doubt it.
That’s not who she is.
Do you know what’s really unseemly, AZ Republic ed board? Making assumptions about Gabby Giffords’ mental competence in the aftermath of her injury, because that’s exactly what you are doing here, you cretins.
But at least they’ll never forget the true hero in all this:
We have never forgotten the stricken face of Republican Jeff Flake after he raced down to Tucson in 2011 after a gunman shot his friend Giffords and 18 others.
Poor dear must have strained a brow muscle doing that.