Cornflower,

It's interesting that you find my comments provocative and incendiary. On tonight's 7:30 Report, I watched a file video of Gabrielle Giffords raising the same concerns about the crosshair imagery and the shoot-em-up rhetoric employed by Palin.
Giffords said: "The way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district, when people do that, they have got to realise there are consequences to that."
In the wake of this tragedy it seems both sides of Congress are doing a little soul searching about the turn political discussion in the U.S. has taken of late.
I stand by my original point, which is that in a civilised democracy, high profile public figures have a responsibility to avoid the delivery of inflammatory imagery and rhetoric in the public domain.

Well Deep Blue, I am glad I have made you laugh...and am also glad to see you really do have some sensible remarks on this scary issue :)

Yes, I was joking a little about cavemen and evolution- see, you don't have the mandate on sarcasm/untruths on this forum :)

It can certainly be difficult to spot sarcasm or jokes at times when communicating only in the written form though can't it?

I am with Poirot though with the comments about inflammatory political sparring that may be seen by some disturbed and/or aggressive citizens as the red light to start shooting at everyone who they feel disagrees with them - and not caring who else gets shot in their haste to 'get' their human prey.

The gun laws in Australia are not in need of further reform.
Americas problem is surely only its own making.
Sorry yabby but normal blokes do become sporting shooters, I know many.
Ferrel pigs are mostly hunted by them, in good growing years farmers ring and invite them to help.
More on the seat of this problem, growing hate filled rhetoric.
both sides are at it here and in America this morning, over this issue, right blaming the left for, mentioning it.
Do not believe me prove it for your self, dreadful thing to say,, but here goes, watch FOX for, please help me, 4 hours, gee I under stand it is water torture but give it ago.
American Christian right/tea party/and some Afro American groups are,well you will see be brave try it.
OH done it again! true left will agree with my first two but call me racist for highlighting some racist views American minority's hold .

I found another listing which gives rates of murder with firearms by capita for a number of countries. An expansion of the point Yabby made.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir_percap-crime-murders-firearms-per-capita

Anybody want to move to South Africa?

R0bert

""..with the Greens saying they'll now target inner city Melbourne and Sydney seats"

but you do not see Mr. Brown or other Greens posing for pictures with big, powerful and fancy guns with a look of pleasure on their faces as you do of Ms. Palin.

Good to see Palin in the cross hairs at last but there's millions more drongos just like her in the USA.

Whatever happened to the 27th Amendment, 'it is the right of every American male to shoot the President'?

Cornflower, you are an apologist for bitterness, stupidity and ignorance.