Why is he surprised?'

Rep. Paul Broun (D-GA) was holding a town hall meeting in Oglethorpe County. The first questioner asked, "Who is going to shoot Obama?" which reportedly drew a big laugh from the audience, including an apparent chuckle from Braun as well.

Broun's response, as reported in the Athens Banner-Herald?

"The thing is, I know there's a lot of frustration with this president. We're going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we'll elect somebody that's going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare."

Broun later released a statement, saying:

Tuesday night at a town hall meeting in Oglethorpe County, Georgia an elderly man asked the abhorrent question, "Who's going to shoot Obama?" I was stunned by the question and chose not to dignify it with a response; therefore, at that moment I moved on to the next person with a question. After the event, my office took action with the appropriate authorities. I deeply regret that this incident happened at all. Furthermore, I condemn all statements--made in sincerity or jest--that threaten or suggest the use of violence against the President of the United States or any other public official. Such rhetoric cannot and will not be tolerated.

OK. The prepared statement is a good response -- just way too late. It came only after it had reached the internet and was becoming viral. Watch for it on Jon Stewart or "The Colbert Report."

Comments from the paper's web site by Mark Farmer, a resident of Braun's district:

I was there last evening. . . . Nearly everyone in the room, including U.S. Congressman Broun, laughed.

Since when is a threat against the life of the President, even one made to score political points, a laughing matter? . . . Instead of chastising the man and taking the opportunity to point how we should behave as citizens, Paul Broun laughed and moved on to the next question. Never was I more ashamed of our representative to the U.S. Congress. . . .

"Broun’s press secretary, Jessica Morris, confirmed that the question was indeed, who is going to shoot Obama? “Obviously, the question was inappropriate, ..."

INAPPROPRIATE? It is a federal crime! . . . I would have thought that a United States Congressman would have known this and done a little bit more than "move on."

Another commenter pointed out that even John McCain corrected a woman on the spot at a 2008 rally when she referred to Obama as a Muslim.

A Secret Service spokesman says that the agency was aware of the Braun rally incident, had taken appropriate steps in interviewing the man, who now regrets having made a bad joke; and they consider the incident closed. OK. I don't for a minute think that this 71 year old man was actually advocating assassinating the president.

But where is Braun coming from?

Has Tucson faded from his memory so fast?

Gabrielle Giffords and Paul Braun are colleagues in the House of Representatives. True, they sit on opposite sides of the chamber, but wouldn't you think there would be some solidarity when it comes to political figures getting shot? Or does all decency go out the window when it's the right-wing's hatred of Obama?

I think this is indicative of Braun's political and moral sensibilities, to say nothing of the astonishingly anti-scientific stances of this Congressman, who was a practicing physician before he was elected to Congress. I will detail more of his positions and past statements in a subsequent post.

Ralph