Never one to publicly back down, America’s half-governor, Sarah Palin, quietly scrubbed her web presence of images of the now infamous “gun sight” ad. Team Sarah first tried to excuse the targets as “surveyor’s symbols,” but also deleted the ad from the website of SarahPAC. . . or so they thought.

A few commentators, including Rachel Maddow, have taken pessimists to task for suggesting that the chances of actual meaningful gun safety legislation in the wake of the Tucson assassination attempt are quite low. I think it’s more accurate to describe those pessimists as realists. And joining them is one of the most ardent gun safety supporters in the Congress, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL).

The efforts we’ve seen in recent years by Democrats to placate the other side, through weakening of that moral imperative, only serve to weaken the public policy goal.

The criticism Boehner is receiving is entirely self-inflicted. He had an opportunity to make a statement on behalf of his party about national unity in the face of unspeakable violence, and he punted. Clearly he should have known how that would look: petty and disrespectful. And that’s regardless of the extenuating circumstances.

Could it be that he was actually afraid of committing the House GOP to standing with the President, lest he get blowback from his political base?

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were in the room when Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes last night, less than a week after the tragic shooting that killed six and gravely wounded her. In the background of the commentary of this event, there has been this improbable success story, as Giffords’ condition continues to improve, beyond the expectations of even her doctors.

A new judge, from outside of Arizona, has been appointed to handle the Federal Criminal case against Jared Loughner, and he will have a substantial issue of jurisdiction on his hands when he first takes the bench on it.

This will call for some leadership. So far in the President’s two years, despite campaigning on renewing the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole, the only gun legislation he’s signed expanded concealed carry rights to national parks.

I think it’s a worthwhile exercise, instead of pointing fingers, to look inward, to ask ourselves what we could do better with the limited time we have on Earth, how we can do our part to build a better America. This call to service is a feature of Obama’s rhetoric.

One of the things that maybe surprised everyone after the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords is the fact that the United States has not had a confirmed director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for four and a half years. Potential directors nominated by George Bush and Barack Obama alike, both of whom seemed to have the proper credentials for the job, were immediately opposed by the NRA. They objected to unbelievably minor transgressions on the part of the nominees, like revoking gun licenses of sellers who broke the law, and opposing giant .50 caliber bullets. And they were quickly able to find a US Senator to take up their cause and block confirmation.

The President will speak sometime during the “Together We Thrive” event happening at the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, four days after the assassination attempt that wounded 15 people, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), and killed 6 others, including a Giffords staffer, a federal judge and four constituents. It is expected that he will speak for 20 minutes and focus mainly on the victims themselves