Sarah, Sharon, & the Shooter

Remember, "Don't retreat, RELOAD:"



And who can forget:

"I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out."

or

"Well it's to defend ourselves. And you know, I'm hoping that we're not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems."

And if it's not, Sharon?

Those individuals--like noted Red State turd-in-chief Erick Erickson--who are now bristling at the the notion of teabagger rhetoric being discussed in the context of yesterday's atrocity in Tuscon or claiming progressives are "playing politics" are, as is so often the case, missing the point, entirely.

None of this is about "political advantage." It's frustration at the possibility that this tragedy was foreseeable and perhaps avoidable.

You tell people long enough, not that your ideas are better, but that your opponents hate America and are actively trying to destroy it, accuse them of "palling around with terrorists" and sympathizing with dictators and despots and lie about people wanting to take your rights and put grandma to death, it's going to have an effect. If you further stoke those fears with aggressive, militant rhetoric and talk of "second amendment remedies," it doesn't take a genius to see what can happen. Unequivocally, the responsibility lies with the shooter, but the hysterical climate is a contributing influence.

Pretending that one of the clear sources of this rage-filled, violent milieu is just some sort of inconsequential triviality transcends simple ignorance; it's a cowardly avoidance of accountability.

Jared Lee Loughner is clearly a nut who went around the bend. That said, how much easier is it to take that step when you have, not just other beady-eyed trolls on the internet reinforcing your paranoia, but mainstream political figures claiming that elected officials are conspiring to destroy the country, kill grandma, and planting the seeds for looking to bullets when you lose on the ballots?