We don't yet know whether it was violence-tinged rhetoric that precipitated today's bloodbath...

[Bicoastal]

...but I'd like to hope that, after today, such rhetoric will no longer be excused, tolerated, laughed off, or encouraged by higher-ups the way it has been over the last two years.

That's just about the only slightly positive thing I think could come out of this day.

[Lucinda]

1. Agreed.

[spanone]

2. the sheriff just referred to the radio talk show hosts...

there is currently a press conference going on

[Raine]

3. The sheriff that made a statement just shown on MSNBC

said this country needs to do some soul searching and start thinking about the rhetoric that keeps being spewed ... I agree.

[elocs]

4. The key words to all of this are: We Don't Know.

The speculation is unfettered though.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. Yes we do know. And the Tucson sheriff just confirmed it.

I hope that this will be a lesson learned!!! The hateful rhetoric needs to end!

[tblue37]

6. There was some attempt after McVeigh to tone the rhetoric down,

but after Dr. Tiller was murdered, the RW denied any connection and the rhetoric continued to be ratcheted up.

I doubt Rush, Beck, O'Reilley, Palin, or any of the others will accept any responsibility or make any attempt to dial it back, even a bit.

All you have to do is read the posts by the RWers on Palin's site or on any of the news reports to see that they are getting nastier, not more conciliatory.

My only hope is that the Americans who have not been paying enough attention to really understand how hateful the Tea Party and the RW mouthpieces are will now begin to recoil from them in genuine horror.

[golddigger]

7. You need to listen to the sheriff. He is telling it like it is,

[jberryhill]

8. The point of such rhetoric is to ensure such uncertainty