Well, looks like the efforts to restrict political speech are already underway.

Here is perhaps the most shocking.

Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.

Got that -- this idiot wants to ban not just actual threats, but language or symbols that could be PERCEIVED as threatening or inciting violence. In other words, banning any speech that they don't like. After all, we've seen efforts over the last two years to convert almost ANY criticism of the president into an implicit threat to his safety.

My response to Brady's proposed legislation? The same as it was when the Left attempted to delegitimize speech against Obama as threatening.

Let's assume that Maher is correct -- the dissenting words of certain conservatives increase the chance of some unspecified "horrible action" against Barack Obama.

So what?

After all, the alternative is government speech regulation, and the evisceration of the First Amendment.

Barack Obama took an oath to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. He is the commander in chief of our armed forces. As much as any of the soldiers at his command, he should be prepared to lay down his life to defend our nation's charter of liberty. If he isn't, he needs to admit as much and resign.

Every word I wrote in March, 2009 is applicable today -- and every word I wrote regarding Barack Obama applies as well to every member of Congress.

And if the cost of the preservation of our liberty to speak freely is the occasional act of violence against a public official, then that is a price that we -- and they -- must be willing to bear in order to keep America a free society.

After all, our Constitution contains the following words.

Congresswoman Giffords read those words on the floor of the House of Representatives only a few days ago. I have no doubt that she asked to read them because she is a believer in them. For opportunistic enemies of the First Amendment to use the actions of a madman to limit the freedoms guaranteed by that amendment constitutes a betrayal not just of their oaths to uphold the Constitution, but also of Giffords and her commitment to the values of embodied by the First Amendment.

Patriotic Americans need to take a stand and declare that come the next election they will pin a target on any politician who exploits this tragedy to pin one on the First Amendment (or the Second Amendment, for that matter).

For two good analyses of the attempts to limit speech, check out Jack Shafer and Glenn Reynolds.

UPDATE: Looks like a Texas Congressman is pinning a target on himself by supporting the attack on the First Amendment rights of Americans. We need to be mobilized to run Rep. Rubén Hinojosa out of office in 2012 -- his stance here indicates that our liberties are unsafe so long as he remains in office.