After the mass shooting in Tucson of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge, and other bystanders, President Obama gave one of those unite-the-divide speeches that give journalists leg thrills. We need to “sharpen our instincts for empathy,” he said.

He lamented political finger-pointing: “It's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” The initial speculation was that conservatives were responsible for the Tucson horror. Even after this proved to be false, the attacks were relentless, with a barrage of media reports on the alleged excesses and mean-spiritedness of the Tea Party and all things right of center.

On Friday I noted an AP report about some trouble within the Democratic Party coalition as some labor unions have threatened to boycott the 2012 nominating convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I wondered if the major mainstream media outlets would report the news. Unfortunately it appears many haven't. A search of major newspapers published between August 12 and 15 and featuring the words "labor" and "Charlotte" failed to turn up any hits in either the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, or Washington Post.

There is a notable double standard that exists between what Republicans and Democrats are allowed to say. The same words can be construed as racist or sexist when coming from a Republican, but entirely admissible when coming from a Democrat.

Rep. Allen West recently wrote a strongly-worded letter targeting Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for berating him behind his back on the House floor. He received a number of complaints calling him sexist, while Wasserman Schultz, who has made a number of similar, potentially offensive comments, received none of the same flak. Do you think the overt push for political correctness has led to this double standard? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

CBS's Erica Hill hounded newly-announced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday's Early Show about his 2008 proposal to allow the Big Three auto companies to go into bankruptcy proceedings instead of bailing them out: "Based on what we've seen in the auto industry, weren't you wrong in this case?" By contrast, her co-anchor, Chris Wragge, went easier on DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Hill interviewed Romney just after the top of the 8 am Eastern hour. After an initial question about his 2008 Republican primary loss to Senator John McCain, the CBS anchor raised the former Massachusetts governor's two-plus-year-old proposal and, like her colleague Dean Reynolds did earlier in the broadcast, touted the apparent success of the Obama administration's bailout of Detroit:

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denounced Republicans last week for believing illegal immigration “should in fact be a crime.” “I think the president was clearly articulating that his position – the Democratic position – is that we need comprehensive immigration reform,” said Wasserman Schultz, a U.S. House member from Florida at a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast on May 26.

“We have 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country that are part of the backbone of our economy and this is not only a reality but a necessity. And that it would be harmful – the Republican solution that I’ve seen in the last three years is that we should just pack them all up and ship them back to their own countries and that in fact it should be a crime and we should arrested them all.”

The comment has drawn attention among conservative commentators and bloggers. During the comments, the chairwoman referred to legislation in 2006 by then Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Mich.) that would increase border enforcement and make illegal immigration a criminal offense instead of a civil matter.