Sheriff missed several chances to stop the murder

The same sheriff that accused right wing talk radio hosts of being responsible for the shootings in his jurisdiction missed several chances to stop Loughner from his department's being called to the house several times to stopping him just three hours before the shooting on a traffic stop. Of course, none of that matters. What matters is the "atmosphere" or the "context" that is creating by using words like "reload" or "target" or "If they bring a knife, we bring a gun." --whoops! Sorry. That was President Obama.

Krauthammer makes the case that there is no causal relationship even as a slight possibility between anything that Palin said and Loughner's actions. But even this is a step backwards in a way. If Loughner had listened to Palin and drew some insane implications from it would that make her responsible? If some nut case had cited President Obama's rhetoric about bringing a gun to a fight as a reason for murdering a Republican would President Obama be somehow responsible? Surely not. How is anyone to held responsible for the behavior of people who can't be held responsible for their own behavior? How long could robust speech survive if the standard were the inferences drawn from your speech?