Free speech can't exist unchained. US politics needs the tonic of order | Simon Jenkins

If America is to speak in a way that heals, as Obama wishes, it needs the curbs and regulations that make freedom of expression real

The ugly American is back. Can the handsome one do anything about it? When Barack Obama addressed a shocked nation in Tuscon, Arizona, yesterday, he deployed the only weapon left to a crippled presidency: the power of rhetorical cliche. He deployed it brilliantly.

"Together we thrive," he cried meaninglessly. "For all our imperfections, we are full of decency and ...