Today we present the award for most shameless attempt to use the Tucson shootings to advance an agenda. The runner-up is Mark McKinnon:
It's a real tragedy, but it's also a real opportunity," said Mark McKinnon, co-founder of No Labels, a nonpartisan group founded last month. The Republican consultant sees potential to change the hyper-partisan political environment, which he has described as "MoveOn.org on the Left and the Tea Party on the Right."
But how can anyone else be the winner when Fred Phelps is in the competition?
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed emergency legislation Tuesday establishing “funeral protection zones” to keep protesters away from the memorial services for the victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson.
Earlier in the day, the Arizona Legislature passed the bill unanimously.
The measure - aimed at the Rev. Fred Phelps and other members of the Westboro Baptist Church who announced plans to picket outside the Thursday funeral of 9-year-old victim Christina-Taylor Green - won bipartisan support. It will take effect immediately.
Phelps has an advantage, though. He's been in this spitting-on-the-grave business for quite some time, and a lot of the ghouls doing it in the last few days are sort of new at it. Oh, and an honorable mention should probably go to Mark Halperin of Time. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" yesterday, he seemed to acknowledge that attacks on conservatives might have been a tad unfair. But:
I just want to single out one thing. I think the media and the politicians have behaved pretty well so far. I'm worried about the anger of the right-wing commentariat,” Halperin said. “Fox and George Will and other conservatives are in some cases justifiably upset at liberals, but they're turning this back into the standard operating procedure of
