Conservative Media Used "Blood Libel" First
Talking Points Memo reports:
Before Sarah Palin posted her Facebook provocation this morning accusing the media of committing "blood libel" for connecting some of her statements to the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), that phrase was being batted around by the conservative media.
Andrew Brietbart used the phrase in a tweet last night (though it's likely Palin's video, posted in the early morning hours Wednesday, was filmed before that tweet).
"Blood libel" popped up in a Wall Street Journalop-ed by professor and Pajamas TV host Glenn Reynolds. "Where is the decency in blood libel?" he wrote on Monday, Jan. 10.
Adam Graham of Renew America was the first to use the phrase in reference to the Tucson shootings, according to a search of Google News.
But the very first reference to "blood libel" in the wake of the Tucson massacre came from political consultant Jon Henke, who used the phrase on Twitter the same day as the shootings, according to Google's realtime search.
Reaction to Palin's use of the phrase, which refers to the Middle Age anti-Semitic accusation that Jews killed Christian children and used their blood in ritual food for Passover, was -- like all things Palin -- mixed.
A Jewish Democratic political consultant told Politico it was "absolutely inappropriate."
