Stewart & Colbert Weigh In On Palin

Rrrruhh?!

Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain issued high praise for President Obama's Wednesday address that honored victims of the Arizona shootings.

..."Our political discourse should be more civil than it currently is, and we all, myself included, bear some responsibility for it not being so," McCain writes. "It probably asks too much of human nature to expect any of us to be restrained at all times by persistent modesty and empathy from committing rhetorical excesses that exaggerate our differences and ignore our similarities."

In all seriousness, I am glad that someone in a leadership position* in the Republican party actually came out to praise President Obama's address in Tucson. After hearing some positive response from the right regarding memorial service speech, most of them immediately went into their usual tones, completely missing the message.

While that was expected, it's good to see not only a prominent Republican, but the one man who has seemed the most bitter and contrarian after his 2008 presidential defeat, be the one to openly join the President in his message of civility.

(* When I say leadership position, I mean someone of seniority and stature, not an official position. Especially after seeing the newly elected Speaker of the House reject the notion that he can tell Birthers within his party occupying House seats to knock off the nonsense.)

President Obama's Weekly Address - January 15, 2011

Before We are Democrats or Republicans, We are Americans

President Obama's Arizona Memorial Speech

In case you missed it.

“Together We Thrive: Tucson and America.”

Arizona Rep. Giffords Shot

NY Times: A congresswoman from Arizona was shot on Saturday along with several others during at public event at a grocery store in Tucson, according to her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin. The Tucson Citizen reported that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, had been shot at close range in the head.

This is horrific. And be honest: what was your first reaction upon hearing the news that a Democratic member of Congress was shot in the head during what amounts to a town hall meeting in Arizona?

UPDATE: Although shot in the head, Giffords is expected to pull through. According to a sheriff's official, there were 18 other injured parties, including a Federal Judge who at this point was mentioned as having died.

The shooter's name is Jared Loughner, a 22 year old male.  And after reading some comments on Sarah Palin's Facebook page, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm relieved the perpetrator is not of hispanic origin, since there are some who were already blaming border security and assuming the shooter was an illegal alien. Those same people were aghast that anyone would mention that Giffords was a "target" on Sarah Palin's SarahPAC "Don't Retreat, Reload" map.