Barack Obama: “Tonight, our nation is in debt to the people of Boston and the people of Massachusetts.”

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say.

People need to “rediscover what’s the story we tell about how we’re going to live together, and see each other, and recognise each other, and disagree, and yet, still care for each other”.

It is a decision about how do we face and embrace this finite amount of time we have on the planet.

The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.