Sarah Palin did not shoot Rep. Gabriella Giffords. Neither did Glenn Beck. Or Rush Limbaugh. Or even Giffords\’ opponent in the 2010 campaign, Jesse Kelly. Giffords was shot by a mentally unstable terrorist, who after attempting to assassinate Giffords, kept shooting into the crowd that had gathered outside a supermarket in Tuscon, Ariz. Americans reacted with shock and horror, which should tell us something about our expectations. In a world rife with political carnage, in a country whose history is laden with ideological bloodshed, it matters greatly that in 21st century America, political violence is rejected wholesale. Now we have to start rejecting rhetorical violence.