So what’s the big deal about Sarah Palin saying “reload” when someone has clearly educated Obama in the Chicago Way.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g0RLyxP13o[/youtube]
Say what you will, but I consider this progress in terms of bringing Obama around to the idea of gun rights.
I would say the biggest deal is context, for starters. Palin’s analogy on it’s own is not so terrible. Taken in context with the eliminationist rhetoric we’ve been hearing, and the death threats, and the gas line cutting and window breaking—all of which were already occurring when she posted that—I would say it’s more dangerous.
I’d also say it’s a bit different because her crosshairs were on specific individuals—each crosshair represented a specific representative.
And of course “knife to a gun fight” is a commonly-used idiom.
Oh, and one more thing: the phrase in the way that Obama used it, even if taken literally, would be describing a self-defense situation :)