Don't retreat reload.

We can only hope that some good emerges from this tragedy and that Palin stops being quite as astonishingly insensitive in her choice of language.

The BNP use equally inflammatory language. Check out Nick Griffin's post-count speech at the last election. Sarah Palin is just more mainstream.

Maybe we aren't so used to it over here, but the right to free speech is taken very seriously over the pond. Also, on inspection, the cross hairs cover a state, not a picture of the unfortunate politician. I think this is a case of unfortunate co-incidence for Palin, as opposed to her being the cause of it. Accusations of her being the cause of it will strengthen her own position; the blindest simpleton could figure out that this catastrophe wasn't her fault, and will subsequently see the wave of criticism flying towards her from the left as herself, and free-speech, being unfairly and unduly assaulted.

Let the crazy bitch speak, I say. The more she does, the more she'll discredit herself. And asking her to tone down her opinions is silly, as she realises that their "revolutionary" essence is key to her own popularity. As this is the case, who can blame her for what she says? The onus is on politicians of a different persuasion to discredit her views. They're failing at this miserably.

Wasn't there meant to be a "sea change" in political discourse in this country after the death of John Smith?

Does anyone think there has been? It it is then it's been well hidden.

See here for the Washington Post's analysis of the issue.

Palin officials confirmed a report by ABC News that Palin has received an unprecedented number of death threats since Saturday's shootings

There really seems little hope for America at the moment. (And this isn't simply a case of a "taste of her own medicine").

Wasn't there meant to be a "sea change" in political discourse in this country after the death of John Smith?

Does anyone think there has been? It it is then it's been well hidden.

I suppose the difference is that Smith's death, while undoubtedly a personal tragedy, wasn't a massacre on the scale of Oklahoma or the Tucson shooting.

No it wasn't but there were many platitudes spoken at the time about how (for example) the bear-pit that was PMQs was going to be toned down. I wonder if politicians have short memories? Surely not.

Mention of the Prime Minister reminds me of a clip from Armando Iannucci's superb Time Trumpet

Mention of the Prime Minister reminds me of a clip from Armando Iannucci's superb Time Trumpet

Not to denigrate Mr Ianucci's wit which is up there with the best it's not all that surprising what you can do with a £million editing machine, 6 researchers and 347 person-hours of archive trawling is it? I'm sure if you ran the same exercise between Blair and Thatcher you'd get pretty much the same result.

To be honest, with those resources you could even make John Major look like Winston Churchill. Or Harold Wilson look like a statesman.