If anyone wants to dispute the power of graphic glyphs, symbols and marks, just check out Sarah Palin’s Pac-site with the map of the U.S. and the cross-hair (or bullseye) sights used to pinpoint Democrat Congress persons targeted for defeat.
From the Huffington Post:
“Palin’s Facebook page now carries a map featuring 20 gun sights, one for each of the Democrats targeted this year by her political action committee SarahPAC. Three of the gun sights, those wh
ere incumbent Democrats have already announced their retirement, are colored red.”
This is not to imply that in the wake of the shooting and critical wounding of Rep Gabrielle Giffords in Tuscon, Arizona, yesterday, that Palin’s symbols were responsible. But it does imply that the visual and verbal language of polarization has severe consequences.