To quote Charles Homans, associate editor of Foreign Policy:

Is something this dumb seriously happening?

Why yes, Charles, yes it is. Because a tragedy wouldn’t be a tragedy without legislators responding idiotically.

Representative Bob Brady of Pennsylvania told The Caucus he plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign crosshair map.

“You can’t threaten the president with a bullseye or a crosshair,” Mr. Brady, a Democrat, said, and his measure would make it a crime to do so to a member of Congress or federal employee, as well.

Asked if he believed the map incited the gunman in Tucson, he replied, “I don’t know what’s in that nut’s head. I would rather be safe than sorry.”

He continued, “This is not a wakeup call. This is a major alarm going off. We need to be more civil with each other. We need to tone down this rhetoric.”

You can’t legislate civility. Somehow I doubt it was a crosshair graphic that set off Jared Loughner, seeing as how the “Communist Manifesto” lover believed the American government was using mind tricks to control grammar. Something tells me the lack of crosshair graphic wouldn’t have stopped this tragedy.