Blood Libel: How The Meme Spread
Earlier today, I wrote about Sarah Palin's use of "blood libel" in her statement on the murderous rampage in Tucson, AZ on Saturday. This is my tracking of the phrase through cyberspace and traditional media.
Sarah Palin and “Blood Libel” | The Moderate VoiceWhat does Sarah Palin mean when she uses the religious phrase, blood libel, in her commentary on the shooting of Rep. Giffords? After this shocking- When I wrote this piece, I tracked the phrase to Glenn Reynolds, who wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal; it is datelined Monday and it is not clear from the website if it ran in the paper or if it was an online-only column. Lexis-Nexis reports it ran in the paper: Monday, Section A; Column 2; Pg. 17.
Glenn Reynolds: The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel - WSJ.comIn The Wall Street Journal, University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds says the left's attempt to blame Sarah Palin and the tea party for the shootings in Arizona on Saturday are irresponsible.- However, I was wrong. Reynolds was not the first conservative or political commentator to use the phrase in conjunction with the Arizona tragedy. Before that, there was a Twitter exchange as well as another conservative column.Saturday, the day of the tragedy, Republican political consultant Jon Henke accused Dave Karpf, assistant professor at Rutgers School of Communication, of blood libel in this exchange:
- Notice that Sarah Palin's name is not mentioned.Using Twitter advanced search, I found 10 tweets using the phrase "blood libel" posted on Saturday (GMT).And Henke asserts that being accused of ritual murder -- and being put to death because of that accusation -- is the same as accusing American protestors of hating troops.Four of those tweets originated with Henke (@JonHenke); two (@Paul_in_NJ and @davidamaclean) reference the Glenn Reynolds op-ed; and one is a retweet (@RoadProServices) of a Henke tweet.Of the other three:(1) John McGuirk (@JohnMcGuirk, Dublin) accuses a master's student, Daragh McDowell (@DaraghMcDowell) of "blood libel"(2) A Frenchman (@billcpu) describes media coverage as "blood libel"(3) Jim Lakely (@jlakely), Director of Communications and tech expert for The Heartland Institute, pats Henke on the back.See the screengrab of all 10 at Flickr.
- Although the Reynolds op-ed was the first mainstream media piece to tie blood libel to the Arizona tragedy, it was not the first conservative column to do so. That honor seems to lie with Adam Graham, who was the Montana State Coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign in 2000 and a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Idaho State House in 2004. He and his wife live in Boise, Idaho.He published his essay on January 9, Sunday, the day after the tragedy.
- The next major voice to use the phrase was Sarah Palin, in her video statement on the Arizona tragedy.
America's Enduring Strength | FacebookSarah Palin wrote a note titled America's Enduring Strength. Read the full text here.- As I write this, blood libel is a trending topic on Twitter.But what of the source of the accusations made by Graham, Reynolds and Palin? That's part two.
