So Byron York did some word searching in CNN's archives, and found that in the month before the Tucson shootings CNN hosts and guests used the term "crosshairs" no less than seven times. Two of those references were to Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. CNN described Palin as "in the crosshairs of big time Hollywood producer, Aaron Sorkin," while Bachmann was "in the crosshairs of Democrats."

If someone tries to shoot Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann, will it be CNN's fault for putting them in the crosshairs? Of course not. But it goes to show how silly the current talk about "rhetoric" is.