01/09/11 12:18 PM ET A spokeswoman for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is defending the much maligned map of Democratic House districts that appeared on Palin's Facebook page.
It included what looks like the crosshairs of a gun over the district of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and another 19 Democratic members who voted in favor of healthcare.
Liberal bloggers and commentators attacked the map Saturday, with several suggesting that the visual, along with Palin's rhetoric, played a part in Saturday's mass shooting that killed at least six and left Giffords in critical condition after she was shot in the head.
Palin spokeswoman Rebecca Mansour told talk radio host Tammy Bruce in an interview that "We never, ever, ever intended it to be gun sights" and labeled comments from the left, which she said were aimed at politicizing the tragedy, "obscene."
Mansour told Bruce that the graphic was contracted out and that Palin staffers approved it without much thought saying, "it never occurred to us that anybody would consider it violent."
She said the symbols over the House districts were meant to be "crosshairs that you would see on a map," as opposed to the sights of a gun.
The liberal blog Daily Kos highlighted the "target list" on its blog and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas tweeted this early Saturday: "Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin."
The tweet included a link to Palin's target map.
Kos also recycled a clip of Giffords reacting to the map on MSNBC, where she warned Palin of potential consequences to such visuals.
"The way that she has it depicted, has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district," Giffords said. "When people do that, they've got to realize there are consequences to that action."
