What is "Blood Libel?"

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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January 12, 2011

What is "Blood Libel?"

One particular line in Sarah Palin's statement on the Arizona shootings has created an uproar:

"But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

The term "blood libel" usually refers to the false accusation that Jews use the blood of Christian children in some of their religious rituals.

While it's not entirely clear what Palin intended, it's possible she was trying to use dog whistle politics to speak to her religious base who often feel they're an oppressed minority.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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January 12, 2011