NYT editorial makes sense

Gun Control Is Not Proper Reaction to Arizona Tragedy
The wake of a violent tragedy is an appropriate time for reflection, investigation, prayer, and the promotion of healing.  It is a particularly inappropriate time for political opportunism.  After last weekend’s tragedy in Arizona, Congress should put the breaks on any desire to ram through gun-control Legislation that will neither solve the perceived problems in federal law nor prevent any future assaults on public officials.  Observation teaches us that in the wake of crisis, politi

To Sarah Palin, the Arizona Shooting Is All About ... Sarah Palin
A nine-year-old girl who just wanted to meet her congresswoman is dead. Democracy itself is under assault with the shooting death of a Federal Judge and a congressional aide, and the Attempted Murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The accused shooter has a troubling history that raises questions about how we care for the mentally ill and whom we allow to have a gun. Heroes emerged, including citizens who threw themselves atop the shooter to stop further bloodshed, and the congressional intern who...

Inappropriate
I watched the so-called memorial for the Victims of the deranged man last night. It was an embarrassing and shameful spectacle. For starters, no memorial or commemoration of a tragedy is the occasion to hand out t-shirts. What is wrong with a simple, non-denominational prayer? There are thousands of those. However, no one could be bothered to find one; instead we had an invocation. The invocation was downright bizarre, with mumbo-jumbo about female and male energy. Paul Mirengoff calls it ...

Joe Wilson Glad That SC Armory Is No Longer Selling 'You Lie' Gun Part
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), whose famous "You Lie" words were engraved on a gun part being sold by a South Carolina armory, is glad to hear the company has suspended the product. In a letter to Palmetto State Armory President Jamin McCallum, Wilson wrote, "I thank you for quickly suspending sales of the product that uses my words." The debate over the use of violent political Rhetoric has heated up in the wake of the Mass Shooting in Arizona that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in...

No Legislation Needed in Response to Tucson Shooting, says Rep. Campbell
'I don’t think we need nor do I want' additional security outside of Capitol. Thursday, January 13, 2011 By Nicholas Ballasy Rep. John Campbell (CNSNews.com) - Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) told CNSNews.com that he is “not supportive” of any proposals he has seen from members of Congress in response to the shooting in Tuscon this past Saturday. Campbell suggested that some local and country Law Enforcement be present at events similar to the one Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.)

Fight for the Filibuster
Thursday, January 13, 2011 By Ed Feulner “Filibuster” is not a dirty word. This may seem an obvious point. But it’s worth noting, given the campaign now underway on Capitol Hill to severely curtail a practice designed to ensure that Legislation goes through a process of calm, reasoned debate. In the Founders’ vision, the Senate was the “cooling saucer” that would temper Legislation developed in the high-temperature House of Representatives. The filibuster grew out of

Media Point Fingers at a Favorite Enemy -- The Second Amendment
It was inevitable. After spending several days following the Tucson massacre working to curtail the 1st Amendment, the left and the media are now targeting the 2nd. As always, they have help from either those legitimately concerned for their safety or others trying to scavenge political points from the dead and wounded. Following the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is planning to push a bill “to ban the carrying of any firearm within 1,000 feet of what he describe...

Former Congressman follows inflammatory comments with calls for changed rhetoric
(CNN) - Former Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski is one of many public officials calling for civilized political discussion following the shootings in Arizona, but his own past remarks invoked violent language. In an op-ed in The New York Times Monday, the 13-term representative who lost Reelection in November described his experience as a member of Congress when Puerto Rican nationalists shot five members of Congress assembled on the House floor in 1954 as an example of how eas...

No, Boehner didnt snub memorial rally
This obnoxious meme began last night when word got out that House Speaker John Boehner didn’t travel with Barack Obama to Arizona for last night’s memorial in Tucson.  Boehner snubbed Obama!  He snubbed Giffords! As Brian Beutler points out at TPM, a look at the schedule makes it clear that Boehner had little choice but to stay in DC (via Radley Balko at Reason): House Speaker John Boehner is catching a lot of flack for missing last night’s memorial service in Tucson, repo

Premeditated Spin?
I understand that the spin coming out of the Right this morning is that the Tucson memorial was too much like a pep rally or even a campaign rally. Some are comparing it to Paul Wellstone’s Funeral, which righties ripped for being a political rally. Like someone made them the funeral police. I only watched a bit of the memorial, and did find the cheering a bit jarring. But, y’know, I wasn’t there. Experiences are much more intense for people who are really experiencing them a...

It's Time For Congress to Get Back to Work
The Mainstream Media, as evidenced by this LA Times article, is trying to force the GOP to cancel their plans to Repeal ObamaCare by asserting that a new emphasis on civility would require such a move. As lawmakers promise a new era of comity after the Arizona shooting attack that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition, Republican leaders grappled with how and when to return to an issue that brought political discourse to a boiling point. A House vote to repe...

Gabrielle Giffords office is open, helping constituents and providing solace
Troy Wine puts up a peace sign at a makeshift memorial outside the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Wednesday, Jan. 12, in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords was shot on Saturday and remains in critical condition. Tucson, Ariz. Around the corner from an expanding shrine of flowers, balloons, and candles, the office of US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is open for business. Just two days after the Mass Shooting left the Democratic congresswoman critically injured, her community outreach director dead, ...

House Expected to Resume Health Care Repeal Next Week
ABC News’ John R. Parkinson reports: After delaying a vote in the House of Representatives to Repeal the Health Care reform law this week in the wake of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona last weekend, a top Republican leadership aide says that the attempt to overturn the Controversial law is expected to resume next week. “As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the Health Care bill nex...

Giffords Is 'Starting To Become Aware Of Her Surroundings,' Doctor Says
What is this? Along with opening her eyes and following commands, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is "starting to become Aware of her surroundings," Dr. G. Michael Lemole, section chief of Neurosurgery at University Medical Center in Tucson, just told reporters. The congresswoman has made "a major move forward," Lemole added, as she continues to cope with injuries received when she was shot in the head Saturday during a rampage that left 12 other people injured from gunshots and six peo...

Rep. Peter King To Propose Law Making It A Crime To Come Within 1000 Feet Of Federal Officials With A Gun
As Democratic and Republican members rush to line up with new bills to restrict Speech or guns after the Tucson massacre, Rep. Peter King once again will not be outdone in criminalizing conduct. He is reportedly planning to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to knowingly carry a gun within 1,000 feet of the President, Vice President, Members of Congress or judges of the Federal Judiciary. This, of course, raises the problem with politicians being mobile. In states allowing concealed wea...

Boehner rejects new gun regulation
Image by Getty Images via @daylife The Hill: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is rejecting gun-control Legislation offered by the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in response to the weekend shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Arizona. Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) announced plans Tuesday to introduce Legislation prohibiting people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of members of Congress. ...How are you going to enforce a moving 1,000 feet exclusion zone again...

GOP watch: Previewing Friday's RNC chair contest
The New York Times: "As Republican officials from across the country gather for their winter meeting, five Candidates are competing for those votes. The arm-twisting that has been under way for weeks has given way to last-ditch persuasion, with the voting by secret ballot to begin on Friday." Roll Call’s table-setter: “When the Republican National Committee met in Washington, D.C., two years ago, the party was coming off two brutal election cycles and looking for a road map out of th...

Peter King Unlikely to Get His Gun-Free Bubbles
Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Republican congressman Peter King's proposed Legislation creating 1,000-foot no-gun zones around congressmen and other high-ranking federal officials doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Speaker John Boehner is flatly against it, and gun-control advocates don't expect any gun-control Legislation to be able to get through this Congress, much less one that, despite King's good intentions, would seemingly be impossible to implement. [Hill] ...

GOP Leaders: We oppose Rep. King's new gun control idea
The Republicans may just have to agree to disagree. House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are against a new gun-control proposal put forth by a fellow GOPer in response to the Tucson shootings. Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday that he'd introduce a new bill that bars anyone from carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a federal official. He believes the Legislation could have prevented the Jan. 8 Arizona shooting...

Orange Julius Doesn't Disappoint
As expected, House Speaker Boehner won't even allow any Gun Control Legislation up for a vote, including Republican Peter King's bill. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is rejecting gun-control Legislation offered by the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in response to the weekend shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Arizona. Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) announced plans Tuesday to introduce Legislation prohibiting people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of members...

Creating Enmity With Words
No, this is not about the shootings in Tucson — at least, not in any direct sense. This is about Rep. Peter King (R-NY) accusing Muslim-Americans (all Muslim-Americans) of being uncooperative with anti-terrorism efforts, of being disloyal Americans and, in fact, of not being real Americans at all when it comes to defending the United States: Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, has promised to launch a series of investigations of Muslim Americans be...

Barack Obama Asks America to Please Turn Down the Volume Please!
Last night, President Obama spoke before an audience of mournful Arizonians, and a few hundred TV cameras, and urged the country to be a little less Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! and a little more Meeehhh… The New York Times gives a feel for what it was like in the room… In a widely anticipated address, a somber Mr. Obama told more than 14,000 people in a gymnasium at the University of Arizona — and millions watching on their television sets — that it was time to “pause for a

Giffords Update
With the caveat that brain injuries are tricky and recovery is not necessarily linear, I want to pass on the very hopeful and joyful news that Rep. Gabby Giffords is, at the moment, doing very well: Shot in the head less than a week ago, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes briefly for the first time Wednesday, with her husband, her parents and other members of Congress in the room. "It was extraordinary," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, who was holding Giffords' hand at the ti...

Why Gun Control (Still) Won't Work
It has been a dismal decade for Gun Control advocates. They lost the federal so-called assault weapons ban when it expired in 2004. The Supreme Court made history by proclaiming an individual right to own Firearms for self-defense. A Democratic president came into office vowing not to take away anyone's guns. So it's no surprise that anti-gun forces would take the Mass Shooting in Tucson as a rare opportunity to reverse their fortunes. It's also no surprise that their proposals are models of fut...

The Problem With the Militarization of Rhetoric
Washington—The slaughter in Tucson hasn’t shaken us out of bad political habits. Instead of promoting a sober conversation about the dangers of violent political talk, it has reinforced divisions between left and right. Even responsible Conservatives have dismissed any suggestion that Saturday’s attack is reason enough to condemn the threats of violence that have become standard to the discourse at the extremes of their side of politics. More importantly: We have not focused a...