Predictably, liberal politicians and the media overlooked personal responsibility in the case of Jared Loughner, the Arizona shooter.  Likewise, that the ne'er-do-well was a pot smoker, a Karl Marx fan and anti-God (any one of which would get member fees waived at the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Foundation or Southern Poverty Law Center), all seem to have escaped the media's notice in the rush to blame responsible religious capitalists of the tea-party sort.

As many have observed, the instantaneous and disgusting use of real tragedy and death for utilitarian political gain was disappointing.  Rep. Robert Brady's proposed legislation outlawing critical speech is more such exploitation.  To address the "vitriol," Rep. Brady plans to make it a crime to speak in a way that could incite violence against federal officials or congressmen:

"The president is a federal official," Brady told CNN in a telephone interview. "You can't do it to him; you should not be able to do it to a congressman, senator or federal judge."

Legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a citizen, federal official or member of Congress.  Such language, whether uttered by an elected official or an unelected citizen, would include, but not be limited to, the inciting of hatred based upon differences in race, wealth or status.