IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Hans Bader busts the WaPo for Petula Dvorak’s Fake News:

A Post writer decried fake news even while peddling it. In her Dec. 6 Metro column, “When spreading fake news leads to real consequences,” Petula Dvorak baselessly blamed the shooting of former representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Sarah Palin supporters.

Ms. Giffords was shot by Jared Loughner in an attack that also took the life of Judge John Roll, a Republican appointee. There is no evidence that Mr. Loughner was a supporter of Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska and vice-presidential running mate of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential election, or that he saw the “map with crosshairs” put out by supporters of Ms. Palin. (That map “targeted the districts of 20 House Democrats,” including Ms. Giffords’s.)

Yet Ms. Dvorak strangely claims the map’s “consequences” were that “Jared Loughner showed up with a gun” and shot Ms. Giffords. But images of crosshairs do not cause violence. As one journalist noted, “crosshairs and bull’s-eyes have been an accepted part” of the political lexicon.

The Dvorak column was disgraceful, as I noted here. In retrospect, the column has a shake-n-bake feel to it. I wonder if it came from a Media Matters release. . . .