Sometimes bad things just happen, and there’s little you can do to avoid them.

But in the predictable, at least for these times, rush by many to “do something” about every bad thing that happens, there’s again been a rush to judgment by some about what caused Jared Loughner to go on a shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six and wounded many others.

So far it appears the 22-year-old man has mental issues, not political ones, that led to this tragic incident.

The Christian Science Monitor reports, “… acquaintances and criminologists point to a convoluted worldview that appears largely incoherent …” and that “… at this early stage, no clear links have emerged between Loughner and the current political climate.”

But we’ve already seen calls that rhetoric on conservative talk radio and TV needs to be toned down, implying that it’s encouraging violent acts from some, presumably weak-minded persons like Loughner.

There have even been suggestions that while free speech has to be maintained, there needs to be congressional action to limit violent or hateful symbols — specifically the crosshair symbols used by Sarah Palin on her Web site to “target” 20 House districts for Republican takeovers — including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was seriously wounded in this recent incident.

But of course crosshair symbols have been used over many years to designate targets of attack for all sorts of purposes — including in past years by Democrats targeting Republicans — and yet no shootings or other violence was attributed to them.

Sometimes bad things just happen. Sometimes people do bad things that can’t be blamed on anything except themselves and some confused or odd way they see a situation.

The Monitor reported Loughner was forced out of Pima Community College for “erratic and threatening behavior during poetry classes.” A former teacher described him as “someone whose brains were scrambled.”           

At least thus far, this tragedy doesn’t seem to have much to do with Tea Parties, talk radio or crosshair symbols, but much to do about a young man with problems that needed to be identified and addressed, not by Congress taking action against free speech or symbols, but by friends, school officials and others  with whom he had contact who might have got him some help before he boiled over in this recent heinous act. 

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER