Please listen to this segment from this evening's "All Things Consdered" on NPR.
http://public.npr.org/...
NPR's Robert Siegel interviews former US House member John Shadegg of Arizona. Shadegg denies the role of right-wing hate speech in inciting political violence, claiming that one could just as well suggest the shooter was incited by, oh, say voting for the 2010 health care bill.
That's making excuses for the actual hate speakers.
Around 1:45 in, Shadegg says, "I can make an argument that the frustration resulted from... [Congress's] passing very, very major legislation when a majority of Americans opposed it. So, are those who did that willing to take some blame for... the impact on an unbalanced person?" (Go check me. The quote is accurate, undistorted, and in fair context. I'm surmising that he's talking about the health care bill, but the specific legislation isn't relevant.)
Look, that's the point. The problem is exactly that irresponsible people like Shadegg go on the air and equate a "yea" vote on health care legislation to hate speech as an incitement to violence.
"She made me shoot her!" That is the logic of abusers, teabaggers, and bullies.