The President, the Republicans and the Rhetoric

President Obama took the high road at last night's memorial service in Tucson, asking Americans not to use "tragedy to turn on one another." At a time, he said, when political discourse is "sharply polarized," we should talk "in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." Republicans are now on a closed-door retreat, talking about the business of trashing healthcare reform under heavy pressure from Tea Party supporters. Did Obama meet the challenge a president faces in troubled times? Will politicians and pundits tone down the rhetoric?