While the Villagers try to erect their own narrative about the Arizona shootings, and as right-wingers try to deflect the fallout from the Giffords shootings, something important is finally penetrating into the minds of Americans: Right wing vitriolic rhetoric that has permeated our airwaves is dangerous to our society.

CNN: Blame Game in Arizona Shootings

48% of the country believe the use of a harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators caused the Arizona shooting
Only 32% believe they have no impact at all.

And:

54% believe the use of a harsh rhetoric and violent metaphors by politicians and commentators would cause a future incident similar to the shooting in Arizona.

That's much bigger than I thought it would be. David and I took no pleasure when we came up with our book Over the Cliff, because this kind of violence is exactly what we had forecast. It's not something we would wish on anyone, but we could not ignore what was happening to our country and we felt it had to be documented and discussed.