Palin learns the price of constantly being on the attack

I think that Sarah Palin is getting a lot of undeserved criticism.

But I don't feel sorry for her.

Palin's dilemma reminds me of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a show renowned for its twist endings. In particular,  the episode with the criminal who gets away with the crimes he did commit but is jailed for the one crime that he had nothing to do with.

Palin's popularity relied on her reputation for pushing the envelope, being gung-ho, and constantly on the attack. From her speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention to her tour around the country for the Tea Party Movement, Palin and her supporters enjoyed her "take no prisoners" style and reaped off of the criticism of said style.

But now things have turned. Palin is learning what happens when you throw out words like "revolution" and "don't retreat, reload." To her, words pushing imagery of violent overthrow were supposed to be taken as figurative descriptions, reflecting how people should vote.

To the man who caused the Arizona massacre, Jared Loughner, words like that are meant to be taken literally with much collateral damage.

In the confusion of the aftermath, very few - , whether they were people who were eager to attack Palin or those simply trying to find solutions in the wake of the tragedy - were interested in sorting out just who was figurative and who was literal.

So while I think we should all take this lesson in - especially the media and public figures - regarding the words we use, this should especially be a lesson for Palin.

Sometimes it's not good to be perceived as always being on the hunt. It's not good to constantly want to dig elbow deep in red meat.

Not because some maniac might take you seriously, but simply because those who are assessing the actions of the maniac may group you with him, even if he wasn't listening to you in the first place.