One of my most frequent complaints involves the tendency ((of activists, usually) to blame people who did not do something for the actions -- often criminal in nature -- of people who did. The blame game usually takes the form of a communitarian political argument. A favorite target of left wing political activists is Rush Limbaugh, and while I've complained about that before (and defended him even though I'm no Rush fan), if a story I saw today is any indication, law enforcement officials at the highest levels are now thinking like left wing activists. I think that's a dangerous development, because they have real power.

Experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama, especially as the debate over health care intensifies and a pattern of threats emerges.

[...]

"It's certainly a scary time," said former FBI agent Brad Garrett, now an ABC News consultant. Garrett said the Secret Service "cannot afford to pass on anyone," and he believes "they really do fear that something could happen to [Obama]."

Garrett said statements like one recently made by controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh comparing a logo for the White House plan to a Nazi symbol "legitimizes people who are on the edge to go do something or say something."

"And if you go and take a look at this, you will find that the Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo," Limbaugh said.

Later, someone painted a swastika outside the office of Congressman David Scott of Georgia, one of Obama's supporters.

In the case of the logo, I listened to a recording of what Limbaugh said, and he was talking about this logo:

And his argument is that it generally resembles this:

The resemblance is very superficial, for the double eagle wings are quite obviously lifted from the medical caduceus, and really don't look like the Nazi eagle wings.

He'd have a better case suggesting that the NSA logo --

-- resembles this Nazi logo:

Or that the Obamacare logo is shaped too much like the United States Marine Corps logo:

But it's just my opinion that Limbaugh is wrong with his comparison. Others may disagree and see creeping Nazi symbology surreptitiously being insinuated into national health care.

My question is, how on earth does this "legitimize people who are on the edge to go do something or say something"?

Can anyone tell me what I am missing? If we assume there are nutjobs out there listening to Rush Limbaugh, how can he be responsible for how they might feel? Such people are by their nature unpredictable and irrational. Anything might in theory make them feel legitimized -- including even the voicing of a disagreement with someone they didn't like. For example, if some deluded maniac believes that all witches should be burned at the stake, and Rush Limbaugh calls Hillary Clinton a witch, is it Limbaugh's fault if the nutjob sees it as his duty to go find Hillary and attempt to lead her to the stake?

I don't think so -- any more than it would be the fault of the left-wing Mother Jones magazine if the same nutjob felt that his views were "legitimized" by this:

Sigh.

Isn't it high time to end these cycles of witchcraft?

MORE: I should add that if the above logo is in fact intended to be the logo of the proposed national health care system, I am appalled by the idea, because it is obviously derived from the Obama campaign logo, and it's use by a government agency would constitute political advocacy at taxpayers' expense.

So if it is to be the logo, that's another reason to oppose Obamacare.