Well said E.J.Dionne

[malaise]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110110/OPINION04/301100033/1016/rss06
<snip>
There is one commentator whose words should enlighten us on the meaning of Saturday's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the savage murders that took the lives of, among others, a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. The person is Giffords herself.

In an interview last March, the Arizona Democrat anticipated almost everything being said now and explained why what happened on Saturday is a violation of our national self-image as “a beacon.” Our pride, she said, is that “we effect change at the ballot box” and not through “outbursts of violence.”

"You know, I can't say, I'm not Sarah Palin,” Giffords replied evenly. “But what I can say is that in the years that some of my colleagues have served — 20, 30 years — they've never seen it like this. We have to work out our problems by negotiating, working together, hopefully Democrats and Republicans.

“I understand that this health care bill is incredibly personal,” she continued, “probably the most significant vote cast here for decades, frankly. But the reality is that we've got to focus on the policy, focus on the process, but leaders — community leaders, not just political leaders — have to stand back when things get too fired up and say, ‘Whoa, let's take a step back here.' ”
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Any word from Lady Blah Blah yet?

[Supersedeas]

1. It was the healthcare debate, and the astroturfing of anti-reform that led directly to Saturday

Follow the money behind the Tea Party

[malaise]

2. That's why people like Kristol are on CSpin

this morning. They all know who promotes this violent rhetoric.