The polarizing nature of American politics at the moment has quickly shown itself as all sides seek to point fingers in the wake of the shooting of congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12148761

As usually follows a tragedy people try to find someone or something to blame other than those directly responsible ie the gunman in this case. Whether it is death metal music, video nasties or Tea Party rhetoric we need to find society's bogeyman to unearth the underlying cause of why the tragedy occurred. None of these factors specifically told the gunman to pull the trigger and as of the moment his motives are unknown but to blame politics in general is slightly disingenuous when one of the victims was a nine year old girl who had probably not thought too much about who she would vote for when she was old enough. Saying that music and film are merely forms of entertainment whereas the Tea Party are a political organization who have hopes of power and as such owe a certain responsibility as to how they conduct themselves. One consequence may be that they calm down a bit, although the vitriol is such that this may only be for a short time, and it is interesting that Sarah Palin must have felt slightly guilty by taking down some of the more controversial messages from her website / Twitter account. If the crosshairs over Giffords' seat were not intended as gun sights why worry about taking them down now. What may cause them to calm down is the American public angered by this tragedy and making a link that is not necessarily there. Sick of the mudslinging and wanting to see serious politicians in office rather than attack dogs who can concentrate on forming policy instead of abusing the opposition, the public may decide that they will vote for the politician who conducts themselves like a politician and takes a more measured stance. I'll not hold my breath just yet.