This is a really awful idea:
In the wake of the tragic Arizona shooting, Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA) says he plans to introduce a bill criminalizing the use of certain forms of threatening imagery against lawmakers and judges.
"You can't threaten the president with a bullseye or a crosshair," Brady told the New York Times. He explained to CNN that his bill would also ban symbols or language that threaten "a congressman, senator or federal judge."
Actually, you can. It's unwise, and we should hope for norms that discourage that kind of rhetoric. But violent rhetoric is as much a part of free speech as civility is. Banning particular kinds of graphic design is really not a precedent we want to set.
-- Jamelle Bouie
