Politics means never having to say you're sorry.

Yesterday's post was written to be non-partisan. I hope I succeeded. Today, not so non-partisan.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik criticized vitriolic political rhetoric during a press conference about the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He in turn was criticized by Sen. Jon Kyl and vitriolic right wing bloggers for having the temerity to suggest that perhaps the tone of  political conversation might have contributed to the attack. Some have even called Sheriff Dupnik's comments an attack on the 1st Amendment.

Have you ever walked into a room full of children to find family heirloom in pieces on the floor and ask "What happened?" The 1st one that says "I didn't do it" is the culprit. Perhaps if the Sheriff's criticism didn't hit the target, the response wouldn't be as vociferous? More importantly, in Brandenberg v. Ohio the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found that speech likely to incite imminent lawless action is not protected by the 1st Amendment.  I believe an attempt to kill a U.S. Representative qualifies as imminent lawless action. Also, Sheriff Dupnik never suggested abridging anyone's 1st Amendment rights. He merely suggested exercising restraint in rhetoric,a nuance obviously lost to right wing hate mongers. Finally, Sheriff Dupnik did not ascribe the counterproductive caustic rhetoric to either (any) political philosophy. The offense taken by the right wing blogosphere proclaims "the lady doth protest too much, methink."

Instead I suggest the offended angry right go learn the lesson of Sue Lowden.  Ms. Lowden was the front runner for Nevada Republican nomination to challenge Harry Reid for Senate. Polls showed Lowden way ahead of Reid in a general election. (Un)fortunately Ms. Lowden, while attempting to criticize Pres. Obama's health care reform initiative, made a remark about bartering chickens for health care. When asked about her non-21st century approach to affordable health care, Lowden chose to reiterate rather than retract the statement. Both Harry Reid and Sharron Engle capitalized on this gaffe. Engle won the Republican nomination and Harry Reid won the Senate race. A simple "I chose my words poorly" and Sue Lowden would likely be Senator Lowden and the Republicans might control the Senate. That's the power of "I'm sorry."

The responsibility for the high volume discord pervasive in today's political climate does not rest solely with any party. Still if one (either) party is unwilling to consider they're portion of the mess jointly created, the mess can't be cleaned, not even for the memory of a nine year old girl.

Thanks and thoughts

Some follow-up to yesterday's post. Please email Ed Schultz at his radio or TV show to say thank you, he's approaching this crisis as though it was his own family seeking help. You can also tweet him at @wegoted, @edshow.

I had a chance to review Rep. Alan Grayson from two nights ago. I hoped the 99ers would get an advocate on their behalf similar to Alan Grayson for health care reform. Sure enough someone claimed that mantel: Rep. Alan Grayson. Why can't anyone else be Grayson? Is he the only Democratic in the house with heart, soul and guts?

A friend suggests that Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Jim McDermott are amongst the most likely to champion additional unemployment extensions. Please contact either or both (especially if you are a constituent) to urge their vigorous participation. For anyone without benefits for months, patience is poison and action is everything.

Please participate in the "Send a Shoe to Washington" Campaign. There are so many in danger of losing everything. A coordinated campaign makes us newsworthy, which generates press. News coverage guarantees the 99ers will not be ignored.

Finally, thanks to Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Olympia Snowe. It takes strength and courage to buck your party. Still, part of me has to ask, $25? It took $25 per family per week to get this going? Is that what it takes to get this going? $25? Now my family has to go to Martha's Vineyard for just a week in August. $25? I'll have to suffer with domestic caviar. $25 is $108.33 a month. $108.33 is bread, eggs, milk, peanut butter, jelly, ground beef, noodles, tomato sauce and canned vegetables. Don't worry. We will all figure it out. Sen. Collins, Sen. Snowe and any Democratic Senators that hid behind Sen. Collins and Sen. Snowe, don't consider me ungrateful. I am grateful checks will be out soon. I am grateful to pay my bills. If $25/week was what it took to get these extensions funded, I am grateful it wasn't more. So I am grateful. I am so grateful I could puke.