Violent Rhetoric Behind Gifford Attack?

Sometimes, rumors of violence beget actual violence. Saturday's mass shooting at a Safeway on North Oracle Road in Tucson, which left Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition and at least nine others wounded, may well be one of those occasions.

It's impossible to know this early what the motivations for the attack were. Was the alleged shooter — who, according to the AP, has been identified as man in his 20s named Jared Loughner — angry about immigration? Or perhaps another hot-button issue? Last March, at the height of the health care reform battle, Giffords' office was vandalized. She mentioned in an MSNBC interview that a Sarah Palin mailer had depicted her district in the crosshair of a gun sight. "They've got to realize there are consequences to that," she said. "The rhetoric is incredibly heated." The corner next to her office had also become, she said, a popular spot for Tea Party protests.