I follow what you're saying, but then there's the problem with figuring out how to limit free speech without throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to use a particularly poorly-chosen image.

Your posts read as though you feel O'Reilly's speechifyin' rises to the level of shouting fire in a crowded theater where there is no fire, but a logical extension of that argument quickly gets us far beyond where (I think) even you would want to go.

Do we go after Salinger, once we discover how many killers keep copies of his novel on their bedstands? Or The Beatles because of that whole crazed Manson Helter Skelter connection? I understand the differences between these things and O'Reilly's vile rantings, but the problem is there is a continuity between these disparate "speech acts" that makes the line very difficult to find.

The guy who shot Tiller was obviously a very disturbed person for quite some time. The history suggests he might have been reined in long ago, and Tiller would still be alive.

Herring405