First Read: A new chance for civility?

First Read from NBC News
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First Read: A new chance for civility?

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg

FIRST THOUGHTS.
*** A new chance for civility? President Obama called to change the way American politics is practiced when he ran for president. So, too, did John Boehner and House Republican leaders when they campaigned to take control of Congress. But those calls were drowned out by the usual political shouting, yelling, and threats. Tragically, however, the shooting Saturday at a congressional event in Arizona -- killing six and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) -- now has the real ability to do what these elected officials haven't been able to do: usher in a more civil era in politics and, at a minimum, simply start a SERIOUS conversation about the awful tone. The Republican-led House has canceled all legislative activity this week, including the bill to repeal the health-care law. Obama, meanwhile, has called for a moment of silence today at 11:00 am ET and has postponed his Tuesday trip to Schenectady, NY. And at Boehner's direction, Congress will also observe that moment of silence.

*** But will it all last? Yet National Journal's Reinhard writes, "[W]hile the take-no-prisoners rhetoric may subside for a while, it's unclear whether any political truce would last longer than the temporary cooling-off periods after Oklahoma City and 9-11. There's not much interest in kumbaya in a 24/7 media culture that thrives on the latest conflict. 'I'm hoping that people would reflect on some of the language that they use and realize that honorable people can disagree, but I'm not optimistic,'' said John Weaver, a Republican advisor to former presidential nominee John McCain. 'We don't reflect on much of anything in this society.'" http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DE7:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

*** Everyone needs to look in the mirror: In fact, the finger-pointing has already begun. Liberals have blamed the overheated Tea Party/conservative rhetoric for contributing today's vitriolic political climate (and there's little question that the past two years have been worse than at any time since the 1960s). Conservatives, meanwhile, have started to aggressively push back against that critique (and it's clear that the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was so disturbed and outside the mainstream of either political party). But everyone -- combative conservatives, vociferous liberals and, yes, the media -- needs to take a hard look in the mirror, because we've all contributed to a political environment where opponents just don't disagree, they de-humanize each other; they just don't question those in power, they de-legitimize them; and we in the media just play along, giving attention -- not condemnation -- to the extremes. And what's happening in the new media (blogosphere and Twitterverse), where each side is trying to find a high horse to climb or find anything to grasp to prove their own point, is awful. Instead of trying to prove that one person's form of toxic political rhetoric is more damaging than another's doesn't lead us in the direction of cleaning up this cesspool of hateful political speech that's become more mainstream.

*** The spotlight on Palin: Of course, this all brings us to Sarah Palin. What took place on Saturday in Arizona could end up haunting her, if she decides to run for higher office. More than any other public actor, Palin -- the 2008 GOP VP nominee -- has embodied today's combative political rhetoric ("Don't retreat, instead reload), and her "target" list to defeat Democratic members who voted for the health-care bill (including Giffords) has received a considerable amount of attention since Saturday. As Politico's Martin writes, "Whether she defends, explains or even responds at all to the intense criticism of her brand of confrontational politics could well determine her trajectory on the national scene—and it's likely to reveal the scope of her ambitions as well." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DE8:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

*** Condoning violent imagery or language isn't responsible: Here's a final point we want to make about Saturday's shooting: No responsible leader condones violence, but simply saying you don't condone violence and allowing your colleagues or allies to use violent imagery and language without speaking out against it isn't being responsible -- whether you are a Republican or a Democrat. We're going to make our own effort here at First Read to avoid gun and war images when talking about politics. To political professionals, the use of these images has no impact; the problem is when these images are digested by those who are already a bit unstable. No one is calling for censorship, only responsibility.

*** BCS politics: Saturday's tragic shooting isn't the only focus on Arizona. The state also is home to tonight's national championship game in college football. And the New York Times uses tonight's game as a peg to profile the political action committee pushing for playoffs in college football. "The committee, which was founded in 2009, has emerged as one of the few organized voices opposing the college bowl system… Critics say the B.C.S. is unfair to teams from outside the six most powerful and wealthiest conferences, whose champions are guaranteed a berth in the series, and they disagree with the national championship being determined by a complicated set of polls and computer rankings rather than on the field." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DE9:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

Countdown to the RNC chair election: 4 days
Countdown Chicago's mayoral election: 43 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 302 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 392 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up
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TRAGEDY IN TUCSON.
The Boston Globe's front page top headline: "Agonizing aftermath." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DED:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The Washington Post: Federal authorities filed murder charges Sunday against 22-year-old Jared Loughner, as new evidence suggested the alleged gunman in Saturday's rampage had fixated on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) while his mental health deteriorated. Loughner appeared to have planned the shooting, according to court documents. In a safe at his parents' home, investigators found an envelope with the words 'I planned ahead' and 'my assassination' written on it, along with the name 'Giffords.' Loughner's signature is also believed to be on the envelope, the complaint says."
More: "In the same safe, authorities found a 2007 letter to Loughner from Giffords, using congressional stationery to thank him for attending a 'Congress on Your Corner' event in Tucson. Saturday's shooting took place at another such event, where Giffords was meeting constituents outside a supermarket." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DEE:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The AP says, "Recovering from a gunshot wound to the head depends largely on the bullet's path, and while doctors were optimistic yesterday about the prospects for Representative Gabrielle Giffords, they said it can take weeks or months to tell the damage. Doctors said the bullet traveled the length of the left side of the Arizona congresswoman's brain, entering the back of the skull and exiting the front. Fortunately, it stayed on one side of her brain, not hitting the so-called 'eloquent areas' in the brain's center where such wounds almost always prove fatal. Giffords was responding nonverbally to simple commands in the emergency room -- such as "squeeze my hand." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DEF:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The New York Post: "According to a Department of Homeland Security memo, the agency is trying to determine whether Loughner is linked to the fanatical group American Renaissance, Fox News reported The group promotes views that are 'anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), anti-Semitic,' the memo says. Giffords is 'the first Jewish female elected to such a high-position in the US government. She was also opposite the group's ideology when it came to immigration debate,' according the memo." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF0:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
Mother Jones' Corn: At 2:00 a.m. on Saturday—about eight hours before he allegedly killed six people and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), in Tucson—Jared Lee Loughner phoned an old and close friend with whom he had gone to high school and college. The friend, Bryce Tierney, was up late watching TV, but he didn't answer the call. When he later checked his voice mail, he heard a simple message from Loughner: 'Hey man, it's Jared. Me and you had good times. Peace out. Later.'" http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF1:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

THE POLITICS OF THE TRAGEDY.
"A day after the shooting of Ms. Giffords and 19 other people in Arizona focused the nation's attention on the heat of its political culture, Republicans and Democrats began the delicate task of navigating a tragedy that has the potential to alter the political landscape," the New York Times writes. "Leaders in both parties sought Sunday to project a nonpartisan civility, with President Obama, whose advisers were weighing the possibility of a national address, calling for a national moment of silence and the House speaker, John A. Boehner, replacing a contentious health care debate on Wednesday with a bipartisan security briefing for lawmakers."
"Yet beneath that public sense of comity was a subtle round of jockeying — on cable news, blogs, Twitter and even Ms. Palin's Facebook page — as both sides sought to gain the high ground and deal with the risks and challenges presented by the shootings." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF2:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The Boston Globe quotes Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff of Arizona's Pima County saying, "When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government -- the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," said Dupnik, noting that Arizona, roiled by the illegal immigration debate, has "become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
The Globe's editorial adds, "This may be true about Arizona, but the shootings could have happened almost anywhere in the United States, given how thoroughly both 'lock and load'-style gun metaphors and the demonization of opponents have saturated the nation's politics… [T]he red-meat rhetoric -- the declarations of revolution, the casual depictions of people as unpatriotic, the brandishing of guns as a symbol of political resistance -- should be renounced across the political spectrum… No political leader or movement should be held responsible for crimes that appear to be Loughner's alone, and all Americans would benefit from a culture less conducive to the fantasies of unstable minds. Liberals are justified in expressing alarm over the coarsening of the political dialogue. But those who have rushed to blame conservative causes or leaders for the killings should pause and consider whether they, too, are waving a bloody shirt and feeding a culture of denunciation. The responsibility for maintaining a civil dialogue starts in every home and with every individual." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF3:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The Hill: "Reaction on the blogosphere was swift Saturday to the mass shooting in Arizona that killed at least six and critically wounded Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But expressions of shock and sympathy for the victims of the shooting quickly gave way to a left-right battle over what may have motivated the gunman." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF4:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
Roll Call's Bellantoni: "The stunning Tucson, Ariz., ambush during the most basic act of democracy — a Congresswoman meeting with constituents back home — has illuminated an ugly breakdown in American political discourse." Here's former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE): "Sarah Palin needs to apologize for putting gun sights on her website," but added, "Wait a minute, I don't want to say that. Those of us who are appalled by it, those of us who are angered by it, we need to stop it." More: "The examples of inflammatory discourse abound, from gas lines being cut at the home of then-Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-Va.) brother when his address was posted on the Internet, to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) asking her supporters to get 'armed and dangerous.' Republican Sharron Angle referred to 'Second Amendment remedies' as she campaigned to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) in Nevada." And: Giffords' 2010 rival held an event offering supporters a chance to shoot an M16 and 'help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office.'"
And… Defeated Virginia Rep. Tom "Perriello told Roll Call he has less of a problem with Palin's target list (he was on it) than with the subtle "dehumanization" of political enemies that can spark violence. 'To a crazed mind or a mind that might be prone to violence,' name-calling can feed vitriol more than any campaign flier using cross hairs, he said." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF5:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

CONGRESS: Discussing security
"The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus said Sunday that lawmakers will meet for a special joint conference on Wednesday to discuss security measures and concerns in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in her home district Saturday," The Hill writes. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF6:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
"Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress," The Hill writes. Brady said referring to Sarah Palin's map, "You can't put bull's-eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official," he said, adding, ""The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF7:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
But "Freshman Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who was elected to office with significant Tea Party backing, said it would be 'disrespectful' to use the recent shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) for political gain," The Hill writes. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF8:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

OBAMA AGENDA: Speaking of the rhetoric…
An Ultimate Fighting Champion fighter, Jacob Volkmann, got a visit from the Secret Service after he said he next wanted to fight President Obama. "Someone's got to knock some sense into that idiot," he said. "I just don't like what Barack is doing....I know the health care situation is not good, but he's making it worse." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF9:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
Politico: [T]he shootings in Tucson on Saturday, which [Obama] has decried as a "national tragedy," present a critical opportunity to a president at a crossroads, a chance for Obama to elevate the debased tenor of politics, much as President Bill Clinton attempted in the aftermath of the 1995 terrorist attack in Oklahoma City." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFA:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
The New York Times adds, "Mr. Obama was considering delivering a speech about the greater context surrounding the shooting, but advisers said it was premature to do so until Ms. Giffords's condition stabilized and more became known about the gunman's motives. The shooting could also become a theme of the State of the Union address." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DF2:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

2012: Palin on defense
GIULIANI: "Unless the dominant issue in the 2012 Republican primaries is blizzard management, then -- an area in which Mr. Giuliani excelled and which might win him a few votes in New York and Minnesota -- it is hard to see how a presidential bid in 2012 would amount to much more than a vanity candidacy, if Mr. Giuliani chooses to mount one at all," the New York Times writes. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFB:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

HUCKABEE: A new Gallup poll finds that Mike Huckabee "has the highest net favorable score among Republicans nationwide in a field of potential GOP candidates for 2012, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the most recognized. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are also widely recognized by Republicans, and have favorability numbers similar to Palin's." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFC:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

Huckabee will appear in Tennessee to "speak at a fundraising dinner for the anti-abortion movement on college campuses at the Knoxville Convention Center on Feb. 14," Knox News writes. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFD:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

PALIN: "An aide to Sarah Palin is defending the former Alaska governor's controversial campaign target map, saying the circles over certain districts were never meant to be gun sights. However, Palin herself described the symbol as a 'bullseye,'" the Washington Post writes. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFE:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
"Sarah Palin is charging that President Barack Obama is 'hell-bent on weakening America' by pushing to raise the national debt ceiling,' Politico writes. Appearing Friday on Laura Ingraham's radio show, Palin "accused the president of 'purposefully' trying to harm the country and acknowledged that her stinging comments might 'get some people all wee-weed up again.'" http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28DFF:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

PAWLENTY: "In what's a tricky issue right now, Tim Pawlenty tells the National Review if the debt ceiling has to be raised, it has to be raised, but only if it has to be raised," GOP 12 writes. "I think they should exhaust the possibility of cuts before raising the debt ceiling again," Pawlenty said in the interview. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E00:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

The former governor writes in his new book that he watches hockey fights to relax, Politico notes. "Pawlenty has often used hockey metaphors during his tenure as governor. He says in the book that there are 'unwritten rules and traditions at play in those fistfights on ice.'" http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E01:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
ROMNEY: "Former Governor Mitt Romney is on a weeklong trip to the Middle East for a series of high-level meetings, a trip that could help bolster his foreign policy credentials as he weighs a presidential run," the Boston Globe reports. "Romney left on Friday for Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, according to senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom. He is planning to meet with President Karzai of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, and King Abdullah II of Jordan." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E02:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&
SANTORUM: "Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's eighth exploratory trip to the state will include Tuesday night as the first guest at the home of Republican Senate candidate Ovide and Bettie Lamontagne starting a series of meet-and-greets with GOP wannabes," the Nashua Telegraph reports. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E03:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168& a
IOWA: "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are in a close contest for the hearts and minds of likely Iowa caucus-goers, according to a new poll of Iowa Republicans conducted by the GOP firm Neighborhood Research," Politico reports. http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E04:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&

NEW HAMPSHIRE: "New Hampshire may have to dig in its heels a bit to protect its first-in-the-nation primary status," the Laconia Citizen writes. "But with a set date from the DNC and no specific mandate from the RNC, Nevada's Republican and Democratic caucuses have both been scheduled for Feb. 18, just four days after New Hampshire's Primary and, thusly, in conflict with New Hampshire state law. That law states that New Hampshire's primary must fall at least seven days before another state's." http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?ctl=28E05:B2CA5A050EF65E329EF5F259ABE72168&