"Steve, I'm not sure that outrage is the game to play in this one, despite the fact that there certainly is good cause for outrage. The gun promoters and the anti-abortion people and other right-wingers play that game all the time here in the U.S., to the point where "outrage" has lost its credibility. We get outrage all the time from FoxNews. We have no room for more.

Quiet, steady, rational wisdom - expressed consistently - would seem to be a more effective response. And we do that."

Well yes, but have you got any evidence that this works? Have you read the Guardian piece? The approach isn't working at all well in Colorado by the looks of it. I'm afraid that, from here, it looks like your nation takes a rather weak-kneed approach to powerful lobby groups, whether they be evangelists, gun fanciers, anti-abortionists, big corporations or Israel supporters. The upshot is almost half the country not believing in evolution, gun crime and mass killings out of control, vulnerable women and medical staff under siege in clinics, the most polluting nation on earth per capita and a constant running sore in the Middle East. Not saying that similar issues don't pop up elsewhere.   They do. But from here it's hard to see exactly who's running your country.