Shooting in Arizona - right to blame Palin?

[Sean]

It seems like we're pretty overdue for a new thread, so here we go.

I'm sure most folks have heard about the unstable gunman who killed 6 and injured 14 when he went on a shooting rampage a few days ago. And you've probably also heard that the congresswoman he was targeting, and who he shot through the head, was also one of the congresspeople that Sarah Palin included on her map of gun sights demarking politicians she wanted to see voted out in the 2010 elections. And she of course supplemented the gun sight map with the statement that her supporters shouldn't "retreat", they should "RELOAD!".

Now, of course, many political opponents of Palin are pointing to this and claiming that she bears at least some responsibility. What does the dirty community think?

Personally, I think this is the work of an unstable individual first and foremost - and by that I mean the shooter, not Palin. Trying to affiliate him with any popular political party's ideology is uncalled for. But I do think the overall tone of rhetoric, particularly over the past few years, needs to come down a couple notches. While I don't blame the rhetoric from Palin, or Angle (who spoke of "2nd amendment remedies"), or others like them for this shooting, I do believe that it unnecessarily exacerbates things.

Thoughts?