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PHOENIX (AP) -- An Arizona judge has ordered the suspect in Tucson's shooting rampage to undergo a mental evaluation at a specialized facility in Springfield, Mo., as soon as possible. In a ruling late Monday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns says that the evaluation will be videotaped and provided to prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Just a couple of months ago, in the wake of Jared Loughner's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, simple talk of "targeting" a political opponent for defeat was treated as beyond the pale. But let's look at some more recent language -- and conduct -- that our bien-pensant punditry can't be bothered to notice, let alone condemn. In Michigan, protesters opposed to Gov. Rick Snyder's austerity budget broke a window to get into the capitol building. One faces felony charges after assaulting police with an edged weapon; 14 were arrested. In Washington, DC, the windows at GOP headquarters were shot out,...

A friend of mine recently wrote to the senior senator from Arizona regarding his anticipated "reaching out" to the other side on gun control. The senator's response is clearly a form letter, so I am not revealing privileged information by reproducing it here. My response follows. Thank you for contacting me regarding the Tucson shooting tragedy and its impact on federal gun control legislation. I appreciate hearing from you on this vital issue. On January 8, 2011, a gunman committed a senseless atrocity by murdering six people and wounding many others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, outside of a grocery store...

The combination of high oil and gasoline prices, rising food costs, higher health insurance premiums and the likelihood of future inflation has jarred consumer confidence, creating a major crisis for the Obama administration. The collapse has been sudden and dramatic. In December, the consumer confidence scale in the Rasmussen Poll stood at 81.7 percent. But in January, euphoria set in. Obama compromised on the George W. Bush tax cuts, the nation seemed to be coming together after the Giffords shooting and a Republican House sat poised to stop any new spending or social experimentation. On Jan. 11, the Rasmussen confidence...

TELLS PRESIDENT: IF YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS; LOSE THE “LIP SERVICE” AND DEMONSTRATE IT Following the Tucson shooting, Barrack Obama called on us to put aside “stale political debates” and begin a “a new discussion” on ways to better enforce and “strengthen” America’s gun laws. Pardon my skepticism, but when I hear words like “stale political debates” and “strengthen (existing) laws” from this president, it gets my attention; Obama has demonstrated his disdain for “stale” American values and principles so many times, I don’t trust anything that sounds remotely like “hope and change” any more. When Justice Department...

In an op-ed to the Arizona Daily Star President Barack Obama once again lived up to the mantra of "never let a crisis go to waste" by calling for new gun control measures. Seeking to capitalize off the shooting that killed six people and wounded 19, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Obama decided to blame society for the acts of a a lone whackjob lunatic. His op-ed is very slick, seeking to acknowledge no desire to take away guns or to repeal the 2nd Amendment: "Now, like the majority of Americans, I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual...

Racketeering: Over a dozen Wisconsin state senators have received death threats after voting to remove public union collective bargaining powers. Funny we haven't heard President Obama call for civility lately. When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and 18 others were shot, and a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl and four others murdered, the president traveled to a Tucson sports arena to call for "more civility in our public discourse." It is doubtful that speech saved a single life from any of the other psychopaths roaming free in America. If President Obama were serious about preventing violence, he would by now have...

.... “When I talk to lawmakers in D.C., they’re always polite,” says New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an outspoken gun-control advocate. “But they always say the same thing: ‘Well, guns are important, but I can’t really get into that now.’ ” President Obama is no exception: He’s spent the two months since Tucson paying lip service to the issue. Shortly after the shooting, three of his heaviest hitters—David Plouffe, Robert Gibbs, and David Axelrod—began to drop hints about the president’s intentions. Axelrod said there’s “no doubt” Obama “will engage in… that debate.” Plouffe went further, noting his boss’s support for...

Actually I’m paraphrasing. Here’s the original sentence: Scruggs said that because the word "protest" was used, she reported the situation to the Police Department. “Scruggs” is Mayor Elaine Scruggs of Glendale, AZ.  The word “protest” was in an email from a local Tea Party activist, Annette McHugh. The Tea Party opposes plans for a taxpayer-subsidized $197 million stadium deal.  But that mundane issue quickly turned into something else: [McHugh] emotionally told members that the mayor confronted them with an e-mail McHugh had sent to party members. The e-mail said the group might protest at Scruggs' community town hall Tuesday, although...

Sam Stein Sam Stein HuffPost Reporting stein@huffingtonpost.com GET UPDATES FROM Sam Like 983 Obama Administration To Hold Gun Policy Meetings With Goal Of Policy Changes Obama First Posted: 03/14/11 02:08 PM Updated: 03/14/11 02:08 PM Important Funny Typical Scary Outrageous Amazing Innovative Finally Read More: Arizona Shooting, Barack Obama, Gabrielle Giffords, Gabrielle Giffords Shooting, Gun Control, Obama Arizona Shooting, Obama Gun Debate, Obama Gun Policy, Obama Guns, Obama Tucson, Politics, Politics News, US News, Politics News share this story 112 90 10 1,711 Get Politics Alerts Sign Up Submit this story digg reddit stumble WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has...

Dead Man Walker?! Is that the kind of civility President Obama pretended to be in favor of? The call for a kinder, gentler political debate certainly did not last long as the democrat party’s Time magazine lashes out in this headline against Conservative American Governor Scott Walker. What do you think? Did this go too far?

It's been more than two months since the tragedy in Tucson stunned the nation. It was a moment when we came together as one people to mourn and to pray for those we lost. And in the attack's turbulent wake, Americans by and large rightly refrained from finger-pointing, assigning blame or playing politics with other people's pain. But one clear and terrible fact remains. A man our Army rejected as unfit for service; a man one of our colleges deemed too unstable for studies; a man apparently bent on violence, was able to walk into a store and buy a...

The right to carry a concealed weapon in California is mostly reserved for those at risk of violence — jewelers, bail bondsmen and criminal prosecutors among them. But some legislators say their job has become dangerous too. Despite objections from some law enforcement officials and even gun rights advocates, they want a law that would make it easier for them to tote firearms for protection. The lawmakers cite the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in Tucson and threats from constituents in California as cause for permits to carry weapons. "I've had guys physically come up to me

The Second Amendment and court precedent guarantee an individual's right to bear arms, but improved and expanded background checks are needed to prevent gun violence like the shocking attack in Tucson in January, President Obama wrote in an op-ed Sunday. Writing in the Arizona Daily Star more than two months after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others, six of whom died, Obama said he's "willing to bet" that responsible gun owners would support laws to "keep an irresponsible, law-breaking few -- dangerous criminals and fugitives, for example -- from getting their hands on" guns. "Most gun owners...

President Obama on Sunday called for gun-rights advocates and proponents of gun control to find common ground two months after the shooting which killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). The Arizona Daily Star published an op-ed by Obama on Sunday calling for stronger restrictions on gun sales to buyers suspected of mental instability. “A man our Army rejected as unfit for service; a man one of our colleges deemed too unstable for studies; a man apparently bent on violence, was able to walk into a store and buy a gun,” Obama wrote of Jared...

<p>Before Sarah Palin posted her infamous “Blood Libel” video on Facebook on January 12, she placed a call to Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. In the wake of the Tucson massacre, Palin was fuming that the media was blaming her heated rhetoric for the actions of a madman that left six people dead and thirteen others injured, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.</p>

Discussing the issue in the context of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, President Obama penned an opinion column on guns that was published Sunday in the Arizona Daily Star, a Tucson newspaper. The president acknowledged that gun control is one of the most sensitive of all hot-button issues: "I know some aren't interested in participating. Some will say that anything short of the most sweeping anti-gun legislation is a capitulation to the gun lobby. Others will predictably cast any discussion as the opening salvo in a wild-eyed scheme to take away everybody's guns. And such hyperbole will become the fodder for...

After Jared Loughner shot and killed six people in his attempt to assassinate Rep. Gabby Gifford, D-AZ, President Obama spoke eloquently and forcefully against violent political rhetoric and the need for political opponents to remember they are opponents, not enemies. With that in mind, we're sure the chief executive will soon condemn the multiple death threats that have been delivered to Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican majorities in the Wisconsin state senate and house. Doug Ross has a selection of the most disturbing threats that have been made public.

MADISON - The State Department of Justice confirms that it is investigating several death threats against a number of lawmakers in response to the legislature's move to strip employees of many collective bargaining rights. Among the threats the Justice Department is investigationg is one that was emailed to Republican Senators Wednesday night.  Newsradio 620 WTMJ has obtained that email.The following is the unedited email:Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your famileswill also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks. Please explainto them that this is because if we get rid...

On the morning of Saturday, Jan. 8, Chief Judge John M. Roll attended Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Tucson, Ariz., before heading to the grocery store where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding an event for constituents. When a gunman opened fire on the crowd moments later, Roll shielded a friend from attack and took a fatal bullet in his own back. In the weeks that followed this devastating attack, much has been written and said about the victims. Although Judge Roll is now known as a hero, the Catholic community may not fully appreciate the loss it...