Given the long history of Republican attacks on dissent since 9/11, it’s not encouraging to see Mitt Romney posing with an “Obama Osama” sign (via TPM):

The best part, though, is the Romney campaign’s claim that the sign was “an alliterative play on words” that wasn’t “equating or comparing anyone” (via Matthew Yglesias). Right.

(Note: This episode fits into the recent Romney campaign pattern of trying to stir up the base. Along the same lines, he recently compared Hillary Clinton to Karl Marx and accused Barack Obama of advocating sex education for children in kindergarten.)