It really doesn't help if we do anything remotely like the far right is doing because they will just use it to justify their behavior.

However, I will state that this has been a long and intense election and it has been very nasty. This creates a need for everyone to vent. There has been a lot to endure and it is harder for some than others. Healthy venting and mocking is a good idea...

I highly recommend creating a vent blog now and then but with a please don't rec title and let people spew the stuff out as needed. Somehow just having someone hear our anger can set us free...or at least let off some steam and we might not have to resort to hanging in effigy.

There may be those that disagree with you -- but that group sure doesn't include me.

This is really reprehensible. Just vile.

Atreideshawk: I am not sure whether you meant to say who should set the firm boundaries you refer to when you write:

"Considering the history of actual violence against political figures in our country I think it very reasonable to set firm boundaries on the depiction of fictional violence against them and the concept of double standards simply shouldn't play any role in that determination at all."

If you are suggesting that free speech law should prohibit such acts, that's very different from saying this act should be condemned in the court of public opinion, including especially by Obama supporters.

You're right. It was a vile, reprehensible act. I hearby condemn it. Now where are the remaining McCain/Palin supporters with a bullhorn who are publicly condemning similarly vile acts on the part of McCain/Palin supporters? Most of all, of course, where does McCain himself stand on this matter? If he does lose but waits until after the election to deliver some sort of perfunctory healing remarks he will have displayed one more reason why he and his irresponsible run for the presidency deserve a place in the Hall of Campaign Shame.

Dumbfucks. What a dispicable and bizzare way to make a statement. I'll not take a look either

So someone's a dumbass. And we all condemn and call shame. Good for us.

But I'm just going out on a limb here and guessing that there is a huge disparity in the overall number of lynchings in this country between those of white women and uppity black men.

So, yes, it's terrible, tut tut, for shame, but not the same in terms of the meanings loaded into the symbolism as hanging Obama in effigy.

I can't stand Sarah Palin but I don't wish her any harm.

The most I wish is that she would go back to Alaska and not be re-elected Governor.

This effigy is barbaric.

Why is there an automatic assumption (presumption?) that such a despicable act would be attributable to Democrats or liberals? I know of several Republicans who have as visceral a reaction to Palin as do most Democrats. Why should Democrats and/or liberals have to disavow any shit someone decides is an example of legitimate free speech? By contrast, I don't see our resident Republican(s) fall over himself to gain distance from the people who shout "Obama's a n1993r" at McCain rallies.

Self righteousness isn't always an admirable trait.

I don't get the uproar here. Have we become so sensitive that such effigies shake us to our core?

While I get the similar effigy of BHO would have racial undertones (to put it lightly) and might constitute a hate crime, it seems we so quickly forget our roots. The burning/hanging effigy is one of the oldest forms of [American] political protest. Did you (or your teacher) stand up and decry the burning effigies of King George III when learning of colonial response to the Intolerable Acts?

Is this Palin effigy in bad taste? Sure. A big deal? Only if we make it one - the Secret Service will presumably do their due diligence. If this becomes an illegal act well I say we give this country to the puritanical, moral authorities most of us so fear, the so called "real Americans."

All sorts of things can incite violence from the effigy of a VP Candidate to the Queen of Hearts. I am by no means defending the action on "taste" but I am defending the First Amendment. In this era where the Constitution is a fading memory. I am fearful of the mob and censorship.

I liken the display to the famous quote:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
-Voltaire (arguably anyway)