Once upon a time in America, civility inspired citizens to pause from partisanship long enough to acknowledge horrific tragedies like the Tucson Arizona massacre for what they are rather than use the tragedy as an opportunity to twist, spin, distort, pervert and misrepresent facts and hurl unfounded accusations in a feeble attempt to gain political ground.
For the progressive pundit “journalists,” civility is a faint memory — if it ever existed at all — as they relentlessly hold Sarah Palin in their crosshairs and justify the politicization of the Tucson massacre by drawing an imaginary line between Palin and conservatives to the bloodshed.
Dismissing intelligent discourse that the suspect is allegedly a nonpartisan psychopath who was booted out of college and rejected from the military due to mental issues and drug addiction, the left strapped their saddle to their tired one-trick pony called “Blame Conservatives.”
The left seems to be grappling to hold on to their fading utopian dream and will do anything, hell or high water, to keep people in their column next election and to keep their delusion alive.  
The hollow attempt to pin the shooter’s inspiration on Sarah Palin’s now famous “target map” fell short and exposed the nastiness and desperation of the progressive “Do As I Say, Not As I Do” movement. 
In reality, “target” maps have been used by both sides — including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — for a long time.
Writing about the massacre in his oxymoronically titled column, “The Conscience of a Liberal,” columnist Paul Krugman flushed any semblance of credibility when he wrote, “We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was….And yes, she [Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford] was on Sarah Palin’s infamous “crosshairs” list…But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.”
Certainly this is a time to stand against hate mongering, but knowingly casting false blame is a cold political maneuver that fails to consider the victims and their families, including a precious 9-year-old girl whose life was snuffed out. 
Slaughtered. 
Is it not time for the left to take a stand, Mr. Krugman? Palin haters have made statements like, “Let’s stone her, old school.”  
Madonna’s YouTube Palin-rant promised to “kick her ass,” and “comedian” Sandra Bernhard vowed Palin would be “gang-raped by my big black brothers.” 
Where was the conscience of progressives, when people adorned themselves with “Kill Bush” t-shirts and donned “Bush the only dope worth shooting” signs? 
Why did they not stand against violence when the Obama supporter destroyed GOP signs while shouting obscenities?
In his recent letter to Fox News CEO Rupert Murdock, Media Matters CEO David Brock wrote, “Beck and Palin are two of Fox’s most recognizable figures. Before this heartbreaking tragedy in Arizona, you were unwilling or unable to rein in their violent rhetoric. But now, in the wake of the killings, your network must take a stand.” 
Taking a stand against violence is admirable, but it is unconscionable to bend reality in an attempt to politicize violence and disingenuously connect conservatives to a crime committed by an alleged mentally unstable drug addict.  
Like the Virginia Tech massacre, Tucson will be evermore scarred by the horrific act of a deranged madman. It is time for this nation to respectfully pause and return to civility.
(Susan Stamper Brown’s column is distributed exclusively by: Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Reach her at her Web site www.susanstamberbrown.com.)