Republicans have pulled off a neat trick with respect to Jared Loughner. They have worked very hard to characterize him as a “whacko” and a “nutjob” (inadvertently hurting the prospect of a successful prosecution, by the way), going so far as to use the shooting as an opportunity to revamp the nation’s mental health system. I’m all for that, but the ulterior motive from the right is to absolve themselves of blame and marginalize the voices talking about overheated political rhetoric.

When his campaign was still in its infancy last year, Rand Paul sat down with Alex Jones, the nutcase conspiracy monger radio personality based in Austin, Texas. There’s lots of crazy in here — equating police profiling with “thought crimes,” calling Obama supporters “brownshirts,” comparing getting treated for a heart attack with buying a cell phone, expressing skepticism about the swine flu vaccine — and of course, the obligatory Hitler fear-mongering.