It has been a year and a month since the day the shots pierced the heart of Arizona on January 8, 2011. In all, 19 victims were shot. Six lives were taken and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords gravely wounded. Friends, families, a state and a nation were torn at their emotional seams.

The news crews came for their live shots, talking heads talked, pundits opined, quick clues to a deeper cause and meaning sought and catharsis stated to have been reached in a stirring memorial led by an eloquent President. Over time, the initial raw wounds seemed to merge into the amazing evolving story of strength, resilience and recovery of Gabby Giffords. And, to be sure, there are few parallels in public life to the resilience and recovery of Gabby, it has been stunning, heartwarming and inspirational.

The groups working to pass an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in North Carolina include the Christian Action League, Return American and the North Carolina Family Policy Council all citing religion as the reason for fomenting anti-gay bigotry in my state.

Republicans and other elite representatives of the One-Percenters running this country know that the facts are against them, in everything from economic dealings to the criminal-justice system to the environment. So, when confronted by the facts, they do everything they can to draw attention away from themselves, preferably through the use of inflammatory statements intended to bog people down in defending against them.

So simple a concept – but the numnut Republicans in my legislature fail to understand it because they are bathed in homophobia.

Kate and I celebrated the 7th anniversary of our legal marriage in 2011. Thank you, Vancouver, B.C. We flew back home to NC, where our union is not recognized by my state, and won’t be until the U.S. Supreme Court does away with this institutionalized bigotry.

Jennifer Rubin’s “we must keep building aircraft carriers to protect ourselves against homemade car bombs” post was close, but the winner is the most consistently stupid wingnut on the planet, none other than CNN’s Erick Erickson.

I’m pretty tired of the endless debt ceiling kabuki, so I wandered over to Clownhall, hoping to be entertained. Never fails.

Forget being drowned in a bathtub; America’s going to get stabbed to death in an alley.

Despite his best efforts, Willard the Morman still has an “Evangelical problem.”

Ever throw salt on a slug, or holy water on a vampire? The resulting reaction is pretty similar to the one achieved whenever someone mentions the inherent racism and bigotry of the modern Republican and conservative movements.

The certification process for final Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell repeal — the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, along with the President, must certify to Congress that the United States military is trained and ready for open service — was always subject to tinkering by subsequent Congresses. Duncan Hunter, R-CA52, has obliged — with more sand in the gears. He will introduce an amendment that will require additional military leaders’ certifications before open service is permitted.