I am sure Maddow does not read these blogs and I am also sure my sarcasm borders on the absurd (or obnoxious), but here goes:

Yes Maddow you are correct. It is absolutely naive of you to assume that America, the greatest country in the world, can achieve something better than she already has. I mean let's face it America's best days are behind her. We landed a man on the moon, fought the World Wars, and now we're just a bunch of fat people obsessed with facebook and twitter. Noone should be so silly as to think our government can ever wrench itself out of gridlock; noone should ever be so silly as to believe that this country can actually face down challenges. America's government can never be effective, it never has been effective, and this whole belief that as a country we can meet our own challenges is just beyond insanity. I mean if we start idealizing a government that can respond to crises and work efficiently, what's next? Maybe you'll really stop eating so much fried cheese, Maddow? Puhleeze!

What's the matter with these two? When you poison the atmosphere we all have to breathe it in. There's a definite line between vigorous debate and instigation of violence. They have both crossed it.

Honestly, if someone came to me and said what I did or said may have contributed to harming/death of another no matter how indirectly or in what degree, honestly, I would die a thousand deaths, apologize profusely, be mortified and never do it again.

What's up with these two? Have they no feelings?? I did not see a single tear shed. I've been crying since this happened and all they can do is be affronted???? This doesn't seem normal to me.

And Eugene is too nice. Sarah Palin is not yet ready to be dog catcher let alone a leader of our country and never will be. She's been hoisted on her own petard!

There is no denying that progressive love to mock the idiocy of conservatives like Palin, Angle, et al. But we have to ask ourselves, outside of our mutual love for red meat, that conservatives love to feast upon, how does that change the debate?

How intelligent do we become when our favorite topic are idiots? I'm aware that if Rachel & gang there at msnbc went all Charlie Rose, Terry Gross, ratings would drop in their commercialized world of ratings, life, and livelyhood. I mean there is only so much market for high intellectual discourse, sadly. But still, if Bernie Sanders is right, that the narrative needs changing, is our preoccupation with idiots that road forward? I'm guilty as hell in loving to kick idiocy, but someone, some outlet, needs to lead start leading MORE by example. I'm sick of Palin, et al, fixation. I'm not blaming Rachel here, just sharing out loud... a thought.

I wonder if Palin even knew what the history behind "blood libel" was before her statement. I'd hate to think she fully understood the implications her words were hinting before it was too late to retract. It's something normal people just don't mention, sort of like the n-word. That's how I explained it to my teenage daughter yesterday, "the less said the better" because of the damage it's caused. Which is why it baffles me she would use the term.

How about we stop giving Sharon Angle a platform to spout her stupidity? And why do we still care about what what a half-term governor and failed VP candidate says in the first place?

they are magazines, not clips.  clips go in your hair.

they are magazines, not clips.  clips go in your hair.

Like "People" and "US" or like the end of "joints"?

oops "end of joints" sounds so apocalyptic, perhaps end of blunts would be a more appropriate phraseology of the question.

Dunno, if youse guys find it oddly disturbing or perhaps just a sign of our paper plate time, but last week's TIME cover had Mark Zuckerberg and this week the cover has, well, if you think, then you get my drify. Make billions, get Person of the Year. Kill, get a cover. Oh, how I sometimes wish for mor innocent days when Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show complained they kept on gettin richer, but they couldn't get their picher on the cover of The Rolling Stone.

Jus' sayin

Hey... There is bug in the posting software here, I think. Funny sudden disappearances of posts. Pages not coming up correctly. I posted... and poof... it never happened, or disappeared.

I blame myself. When I was a kid, I preferred dot-to-dot books to coloring books. Life was in pencil those days, and I sometimes erased a used up book just so I could do it over.

I still live to connect the dots. Those things that Angle said, and that Palin said, those are dots. There are others, like when Gabrielle Griffins' opponent held a campaign event that featured shooting an automatic weapon as entertainment, sure it's only my imagination that draws a line from that dot to the campaign graphic with the gun site bullseye. When SarahPAC removed the graphic immediately following the shooting, the line isn't in pencil any more, it's in wide Sharpee.

I don't know if all the political smack-talk and the prevalence of ballistic imagery contributed to the assassin's state of mind, but it sure has an impact on mine.

I don't know if my habit of thinking is usual, or how usual, but pols who're tempted to speak in those terms might want to think about what kind of dots they're laying down.

My comment got lost in cyber space which is probably an indication that I've been on the computer tooooo long.

At any rate. when you poison the atmosphere we all have to breathe it in. We are all affected. There is a big difference between vigorous debate and inciting violence. These two have crossed that line. We have been breathing in guns, violence, and hatred too long. It will and has taken its toll.

If anyone came to me and told me that something I did or said may have contributed to the harming or death of another even indirectly, I would die a thousand deaths. I would apologize, be mortified, and never do it again. Wouldn't you??? Isn't that the normal thing to do?

I see no tears, no remorse from these two and I just don't get it. Have they no feelings? No sense of responsibility? Eugene is too nice. Sarah Palin is not yet ready to be dog catcher let alone a leader of our country and she never will be.

that cussedness is why I like you.

Has the tea bagger "tree of liberty" been watered enough with the blood of a 9 year old child? Time and again, the Palins, Limbaughs, teabaggers, and Republicans (PLTR) were publically warned not to associate the election with displays of guns and second amendment "remedies". As far as I know, not one of them was willing to forgo such images that hinted of violence. Now, after this tragedy, we hear about all their (PLTR) false "prayers" for the dead and wounded. These closet terrorists goaded the lunatic fringe into doing their dirty work for them. Now the Republicans cancel Congress for a week to lie low and hope some other tragedy will happen to occupy the news. Palin drops her rifle target post, slithers back into the shadows, and reemerges with an offensive video. Anyone that does not publically repudiate the concept of bringing weapons to political events is equally responsible for this and future tragedies.

No man is an island unto himself. The shooter did not live in a soundless vacuum for the last year. He was surrounded 24/7 with political invective during the past campaign. He didn’t just shoot anybody any ol’ place in Tucson. He purposefully went to a shopping mall where a Congresswoman was to speak. His very first shot was aimed at the Congresswoman. This was a political act as surely as the sunrise is the beginning of the morning.

Much has been made of the reading matter found in his home. It is interesting that both Mein Kampf and Das Kapital were found. Neither book tells us much about his ideology, but both books deal with totalitarian “solutions” to political problems. It is commonplace for teenagers and young adults to seek role models and easy answers to life’s problems. As they mature and gain experience, most young people are able to choose socially acceptable forms of behavior in order to handle life’s problems. Some mentally ill people are not able to do this successfully. They become easy prey for unscrupulous politicians who are willing to run the risk of injury to others as a price for gaining the automatic votes of a large block of people (gun loving tea baggers).

Republicans deny connectivity with this tragedy. They were and are connected by their words and refusal to publically renounce any connection between guns and politics. They know they should do this, but they don’t. So I’m going to call them what they are …a bunch of sick baby killers who don’t mind killing again.

There are a few things that should be kept in mind about the “high-capacity” magazine ban that expired, along with the rest of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban, in 2004:

1. The ban only applied to new production. Magazines manufactured prior to the enactment of the ban could still be owned and sold and were readily available.
2. Many of the magazines described as “high-capacity” were actually the standard magazines that had always been distributed with certain firearms (i.e., the standard 15-round magazines that came with many semiautomatic pistols). Therefore, gun manufactures were forced to start manufacturing and selling magazines that could be only partially filled.
3. The Virginia Tech Review Panel—the state-appointed panel tasked with reviewing the Virginia Tech massacre—concluded that the higher capacity magazines used by the killer had little to do with the high death toll of that shooting. Their official report stated, "10-round magazines that [used to be] legal would have not made much difference in the incident. Even [revolvers] with rapid loaders could have been about as deadly in this situation."
4. It typically takes an experienced person less than two seconds to change the magazine in a semiautomatic handgun. Survivors of both the 1991 Luby’s massacre and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre testified that the time it took the shooter to reload wasn’t enough time for someone to jump up and rush him.
5. It’s very possible that the Tucson gunman was slower to reload BECAUSE the 30-round magazines he was using were so large and unwieldy. Such large pistol magazines are also notoriously unreliable, which may have lead to the “failure to feed” (the rounds didn’t properly load from the replaced magazine) reported by several witnesses.
6. If the Tucson shooter had used 10-round magazines, instead of the 30-round magazine he used, it would have taken him only an additional four seconds (assuming he was proficient in reloading) to fire off the 31 rounds he fired from one magazine. Had the Virginia Tech gunman used 10-round magazines, instead of the 15-round magazines he used, his 10- to 12-minute massacre would have lasted an additional 20 seconds.
7. Though the 30-round magazine used by the Tucson shooter has little practical application (because of its unwieldy size and the fact that it protrudes far beneath the grip of the pistol), many magazines considered “high-capacity” by gun control advocates are extremely practical and useful.
8. Though the time it takes a person to reload a semiautomatic handgun is seldom enough time for someone to jump up from a hiding place and rush an assailant, it is enough time for someone to stand up, take aim, and fire. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense that the same gun control activists who advocate banning “high capacity” magazines typically oppose allowing licensed concealed carry (of handguns).

Ms. Angle and Ms. Palin really miss the entire point. Fingers aren't being pointed in a, "This is all your fault!" blame-game, but rather, "Hey. This is something that just plain looks bad. It's an unfortunate implication that didn't need to happen in the first place."

We, as a country, are better than that, and unfortunately the Ms.s refuse to understand.

P.S. For a fun read, look up "unfortunate implications" on tvtropes.

Dear Rachel... how about a geek challenge?

Scrub through FOX MSNBC and PBS political show narrative and count the # of references to Guns, Shooting, Targeting, Reload, Take up Arms, etc... any metaphor/analogy that uses aggressive, violent, war and/or gun.... I submit that our entire culture is flooded with these.

BTW: US history is full of references to war and guns... it is in our Anthem, it is sad that we cannot recognize this and begin to think beyond agression... but then again, we are seemingly bound to it. How else can we defend our unbalanced influence in the world, our apetite for resources, our need to defend our "right" to use up this world while others starve!

No one is yet talking about how the events of last Saturday are affecting the rest of the unbalanced or unstable community. I actually include Angle, Palin and that ilk.

I got on my train today to come to work and a gentleman was screaming on the train that he did not get his money and he will be gunning us all down the next time he gets on the train. He went over the entire scenario of the recent shooting. He then said he was also going to kill the president next time he was in Los Angeles. All of this guy's ramblings were inspired by Saturdays unfortunate events. This guy looked me in the eye and told me he was going to kill us all. He was removed from the train on my stop and taken into custody.

Great way to start out my day...

Here's an email that the Tea Party Express sent out to supporters today:

"This morning we asked you to stand with the Tea Party Express, Rush Limbaugh and Gov. Sarah Palin as we all were attacked and smeared by liberals and the news media.

The liberals deceptively and dishonestly tried to say that the deranged shooter in Tucson, AZ was somehow acting based on motivation or inspiration from the tea party movement and some of its biggest supporters.

This was a bald face lie - and the media and liberal activists knew it. They didn't care, they were just trying to smear us, to defame us, and to silence us.

And now it's backfiring on them. The liberals attacks on us aren't hurting us, they are actually now HELPING us!!

We asked for your help - since we have to "pay" to get our message heard (since the media obviously won't fairly tell our side of the story) and said we wanted to make this the biggest day for contributions for the Tea Party Express.

And thanks to you we're on track to do just that.

We are on course to make this the largest fundraising day in the history of our organization but we need your help to reach this goal!"

Disgusting.

Hi family, Go see this, the truth is getting through!

Town Hall Attendee Confronts GOP Rep. Over Repealing Health Care: ‘Let’s Think About This Before We Jump’

it's not me, it's you.

One must first recognize it's about each of us taking responsibility, not accepting it.

Props aren't worth discussing at this time.

Sweet mother of pearl, does this site allow stuff like that immediately above (pollard) to stay up?

I believe that people in a position of influence, such as Sarah Palin (Vice Presidential Candidate), Machele Bachmann (R-Min.), and senate candidate Sharron Angle (R-Nv.), crossed the line in their campaigns. All three of these political figures insinuated using firearms against government officials that did not agree with them. Hearing these statements from persons of political influence, may have caused some deranged people to think it is O.K. to use their guns. I think all three of these persons should be charged with Wrongful Death Suits, just as O.J. Simpson was.