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In the wake of the Scalise shooting, Fareed Zakaria hosted a segment on his CNN show this morning devoted to addressing how Republicans and Democrats can stop their "internecine struggle" and "reconcile." Two of the guests bought into the premise, discussing the challenges involved and possible approaches to reconciliation. But the third guest, Jill Abramson, who was fired in 2014 as executive editor of the New York Times, was having none of the kumbaya. To the contrary, she decried a supposed "false equivalency" between Democrats and Republicans. Abramson put the blame on Republicans for the divisive political climate and accused...

IT started as a face-saving exercise by Hillary Clinton to try to explain away her election loss to a vulgarian real estate billionaire from Queens. But the absurd Russia conspiracy has somehow snowballed into a crisis that threatens to bring down Donald Trump, has all but paralysed his administration, and unleashed the most unhinged attacks on a US president in living memory. Inevitably, last week the violent language and “Assassinate Trump” memes erupted in a burst of deadly gunfire at an early morning baseball practice for Republican congressmen near Washington, DC. The gunman was 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, a left-wing Bernie...

Conservative rocker Ted Nugent, who once told a concert crowd that Barack Obama should “suck on [his] machine gun,” has had a change of heart about violent rhetoric following Wednesday’s shooting attack on Republican members of Congress. “I have reevaluated my approach, even though I’m a street fighter,” Mr. Nugenttold WABC radio hosts Curtis Sliwa and Eboni Williams. “I’m from Detroit, we used language in the street. We used certain harsh terms. “But at the tender age of 69, my wife has convinced me that I just can’t use those harsh terms. I cannot and I will not,” he said....

Remember the outrage over feisty Trump supporters roughing up protesters during the campaign? How Trump was blamed for “inciting violence” and accused of egging on his followers?

Jun 17, 2017 - 2:56 pm cdt WASHINGTON — Three days after he was shot in the hip by a high-velocity rifle, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise has regained consciousness and is able to talk softly, having spoken with his wife Saturday morning, according to two sources close to the congressman's family. Medical staff also have removed a tube that had been inserted into Scalise's abdomen to prevent fluid from going into his lungs while he was sedated, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the congressman's medical status. Scalise's...

James T. Hodgkinson, the shooter who opened fire on dozens of Republican congressmen and staffers at a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday, had a list of Republican names in his pocket that was recovered by the FBI, The Daily Caller has learned. The news that the shooter had a list of names suggests the shooting was not a random outburst, but instead appears to be a premeditated political assassination. The list of names included Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan and Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, TheDC has confirmed. Fox News reported after this story that...

The chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party's Black Caucus is resisting pressure to resign after she called Republicans' reactions to the shooting of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) "so funny." Chelsey Gentry-Tipton of Omaha, Neb. also wrote on Facebook that she was "having a hard time feeling bad" for Republicans, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Both comments were made Wednesday, the day of the shooting in Alexandria, Va. that injured Scalise and four others. The chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, Jane Kleeb, has requested for Gentry-Tipton's resignation. Gentry-Tipton said "Y is this so funny tho?" in response to...

Longtime Union County Democratic operative James Devine has shown his true colors in response to the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise. Devine, unapologetic with his words, is calling for a "hunt" of Republicans under the hashtag #HuntRepublicanCongressmen. He also claims he was not advocating for violence, which might be believable to people who think law-abiding citizens protecting their Second Amendment rights are responsible for violence in America. In fact, he claims he was mirroring GOP Senator Rand Paul's comment that the Second Amendment is for "shooting at the government when it becomes tyrannical." His idea of a tyrannical...

The handwritten list was found in a van belonging to James Hodgkinson by the FBI, and the lawmakers named on the list are known to be conservative members associated with the Freedom Caucus: Reps. Scot DesJarlais (R-TN) (pronounced day-zharr-LAY), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA).

The wife of a gunman who shot and wounded a top Republican congressman and several others says her husband went to Washington, D.C. because he wanted to work on tax policy. Sue Hodgkinson spoke to reporters Thursday outside her Illinois home. She says she didn't know a lot about what her husband, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, did between January and March because she was busy with her job at a tax firm. But he sold items from his businesses and told her he was going to Washington. She learned about the shootings while at work Wednesday during a telephone call from...

“I feel a lot more confident and a lot more optimistic than I did two, three days ago,” Dr. Sava said at a press conference. “When he arrived he was in critical condition with an imminent risk of death.” ....But Mr. Scalise is expected to recover. “I think we fully expect him to be able to walk, and hopefully run,” said the trauma surgeon.

Via Legal Insurrection, I’m bothered less by the underlying point about Trump’s crankish tendencies and winking at political violence than by the naked opportunism in trying to score that particular political point today. It’s little different from hyperventilating about the Palin “crosshairs” map after the Giffords shooting. Thinking that it’s crass and incendiary to use a crosshairs to signal that a politician should be “targeted” for defeat on Election Day is defensible. Focusing on that in the aftermath of a shooting with no evidence that it had anything to do with the incident isn’t. It’s an attempt to shift blame...

A gunman believed to be a supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sprayed a hail of bullets at a GOP baseball practice Wednesday morning, critically wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and injuring four others before U.S. Capitol Police took down the rifle-wielding assailant. Scalise was in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, MedStar Washington Hospital tweeted. He had surgery after being shot in the hip and was initially said to be stable.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise went into surgery for the third time Thursday morning after he was wounded in a shooting at the Republican baseball team's practice in Alexandria, Va. Doctors at MedStar Washington Hospital Center said the Louisiana Republican remained in critical condition, and they began a third operation, according to Politico. Scalise was transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center after a gunman, identified as James Hodgkinson, opened fire on a group of Republican lawmakers practicing for the annual congressional baseball game

Capitol Police officer David Bailey -- one of the heroes who took out shooter James T. Hodgkinson -- opened the Congressional Baseball game with an emotional ceremony. Officer Bailey came out on crutches at Nationals Park, yet still managed to throw out the first pitch. Bailey was injured while responding to the shooting Wednesday morning, and eventually helped take down Hodgkinson. Before the game began, both teams -- Republicans and Democrats -- huddled up for a group prayer for the victims of the shooting. Rep. Steve Scalise was supposed to be playing in the annual event, but is still recovering...

In addition to visits from the president and first lady, U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, has had his local parish priest praying by his bedside. Fr. Timothy Hedrick, parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Metairie, was in Washington taking a summer course at Catholic University when Scalise was shot by a lone gunman Wednesday during a baseball practice with other Republican congressmen. When news broke of the mass shooting, Hedrick rushed to MedStar Washington Hospital Center in northeast Washington to attend to Scalise and pray with his wife, Jennifer. Hedrick has also served as a...

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CNN’s Jim Acosta Tweeted fake news tonight and has not apologized for his hoaxing. Acosta Tweeted, “WH official on hospital visit: “President Trump did not meet with Scalise and did not go into the room where Scalise is being treated.” This was proven to be fake. Acosta deleted the Tweet after it received nearly 2,000 RTs. He did not apologize for his error. Ironically, Acosta’s pinned Tweet says, “We are real news Mr. President. #realnews.” Jim Acosta is fake news. CNN is fake news. Acosta tried doing damage control, blaming his fake news Tweet on an unnamed “poll reporter.” His...

Rep. Steve Scalise, the third ranking member of House Republican leadership as the majority whip, along with at least five other people, including a member of the Capitol police force, were shot Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia. This occurred during the Republicans’ early-morning practice ahead of a charity baseball game. A congressional staffer, Zach Barth, was also shot in the leg and has since been released from the hospital. Matt Mika, a lobbyist for Tyson Foods and former congressional staffer, was also identified as one of those shot. “One of our greatest American values is our strong belief in the inherent...