Responsibility is not uniquely linear, for one thing. Real world events are not billiard balls.

This means that although a syllogism such as you describe above seems correct on paper, it does not necessarily merit consideration in the real workings of the world.

Example: Mother is responsible for James, who is six. James, who is six, is responsible for the death of Muffins, a cat. Therefore Mother killed Muffins.

Holes big enough to drive a truck through -- for one thing, the word "responsible" has multiple meanings within the single syllogism.

A