The Way It Was

Here's a reminder of how they used to do politics in America. Today is the anniversary of the assassination in 1900 of Governor William Goebel of Kentucky - by, it seems, a seriously hacked-off political rival. His probable last words are rather fine - 'Doc, that was a damned bad oyster.'... It's hard to imagine Hill and Obama settling matters in quite such a robust manner - or indeed scoffing oysters to the end.