House Speaker John Boehner rightly denounced the attack on Giffords as an attack on all who serve in politics. Less bombast and more thought -- combined with true compassion for those wounded and killed -- might start the healing. (

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Arizona's gun laws in need of scrutiny after killing spree: "Today, {the governor} will step before the podium and open the 2011 session of the Arizona Legislature. A Legislature that has slashed funding for the seriously mentally ill. A Legislature that has loosened gun laws to the point that any nutball can legally walk around with a pistol in his pants." (

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Shooting from the lip in reaction to Gabrielle Giffords tragedy: "The sane and rational approach to such an event is to stop, take a deep breath, listen to the facts — and above all, to condemn violence in the harshest possible terms. That, however, was not the immediate reaction of many Americans . . ." (

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Politics and vitriol: We're dubious about the accusation — voiced often by TV's chattering class — that vitriol today plays an unprecedented, or even exceptional, role in the body politic. The notion that ours is an especially nasty era is self-centered. (

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Aftermath of Tucson shooting as dismaying as actual event: "If the incident itself was not political, there’s no question that the reaction to it became intensely political. What could have and should have been an opportunity to unite as Americans was instead quickly seized as an opportunity to divide ourselves further, to heighten rather than dampen the animosity and vitriol." (

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Gabby Giffords, a tragic prophet: "Liberals were rightly pressed in the 1960s to condemn violence on the left. Now, conservative leaders must take on their fringe when it uses language that intimates threats of bloodshed. That means more than just highly general statements praising civility." (

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Questions about mental illness, access to guns follow Arizona shooting: "Metaphors don't kill people - guns kill people. Politicians should choose their words with care and keep debate civil, but it seems an unsupported leap to blame either the political climate or any particular individual or group for inciting the gunman." (

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Climate of Hate: "When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?" (

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Bloodshed and Invective in Arizona: "It is facile and mistaken to attribute this particular madman’s act directly to Republicans or Tea Party members. But it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge." (

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The official language of U.S. political discourse. (

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The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists posted a

published on Monday Jan. 10, 2011. Most referenced the Arizona shootings.

The Washington Post

on the shootings.