memeorandum: The Loss of the Innocents — NEWTOWN, Conn., is about 20 miles … (Ross Douthat/New York Times)

4:35 PM ET, December 16, 2012

Top Items:

The media should be ashamed of its Connecticut coverage — What journalistic rationale could compel a reporter to interview young children at a mass-murder scene? — I — t's time to have a national conversation... about the media. — But first, let's recount how they've blown …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP lawmaker wishes Sandy Hook principal was armed with assault rifle — Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, says he wishes Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was armed with an M-4 assault rifle when she confronted Adam Lanza, the shooter who killed 20 children.

Discussion: Politico and Prairie Weather

People.com:

Connecticut Shooting: Hero Teacher Died Saving Students — Out of the chaos and horror emerged an incredible act of selflessness and bravery by one teacher who spent her final moments trying to protect her young students from harm. — Victoria Soto, 27, a first-grade teacher …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', ABCNEWS and Israel Matzav

Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:

GOP Rep Suggests Teachers Should Be Armed With Assault Rifles — A Republican Congressman suggested that had the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary been armed with assault rifles, they could have prevented Friday's massacre and saved lives. — Appearing on a special Fox News Sunday dedicated …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Hinterland Gazette and PoliticusUSA

Chris Wallace / Fox News:

Connecticut school shooting reignites gun control debate — Special Guests: Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas — This is a rush transcript from “Fox News Sunday,” December 16, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Discussion: Althouse and Right Turn

Garry Wills / New York Review of Books:

Our Moloch — Few crimes are more harshly forbidden in the Old Testament than sacrifice to the god Moloch (for which see Leviticus 18.21, 20.1-5). The sacrifice referred to was of living children consumed in the fires of offering to Moloch. Ever since then, worship of Moloch has been the sign of a deeply degraded culture.

Discussion: Firedoglake, New York Times, Connecting.the.Dots, Wonkblog, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, News Desk, WorldViews and CNN

Dave Jamieson / The Huffington Post:
Louie Gohmert Says More Guns Are Answer To Preventing Mass Killings

Discussion: msnbc.com, Truthdig, AMERICAblog and The Fix

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Durbin: Assault weapons ban more likely in wake of Newtown school shootings

Discussion: Politico

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Democratic Senator Will Introduce New Assault Weapons Ban In January

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Texas congressman: Principal should have been armed for self-defense

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:
Newtown school shooter's mother collected guns, was loath to let people inside home

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

James Poniewozik / TIME:
Kids at Tragedies: Turn Off the Cameras

Discussion: Mediaite

Politico:
Schumer, Feinstein push changes on gun laws

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:
Killer's Mother, His First Victim, Was a Gun Enthusiast, Friends Say

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gothamist, Mediaite, U.S. News, New Jersey Online, Capital New York, American Power, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Guardian, Telegraph, The Democratic Daily, New York Post, The Other McCain, Associated Press, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Daily Caller

Hartford Courant:
Mourners Flood Sandy Hook; Obama To Meet With Victims' Families

Discussion: Examiner, Wake up America, Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, WUTC, Poynter and TheBlaze.com, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
The Sandy Hook Murders: What To Do?

Discussion: TBogg, Little Green Footballs and No More Mister Nice Blog

The Anarchist Soccer Mom:

Thinking the Unthinkable — In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it's easy to talk about guns. But it's time to talk about mental illness. — Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners …

Discussion: Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, The Agonist and FIRST DRAFT

Liza Long / Gawker:
I Am Adam Lanza's Mother

Discussion: Mashable! and Feministe

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

Every Single Pro-Gun Rights Senator Declined To Appear On Meet The Press Today — In the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting, all of the Sunday shows are dominated by gun control politics. — Meet The Press producer Betsy Fischer Martin tweets the following... Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Hinterland Gazette

Associated Press:

IND. MAN WITH 47 GUNS ARRESTED AFTER SCHOOL THREAT — CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana man who allegedly threatened to “kill as many people as he could” at an elementary school near his home was arrested by officers who later found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice, Gawker and The Raw Story

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Three lessons from the near-final popular vote — Here's what the near-final tally reveals: — The election really wasn't close. — On election night, President Obama's victory margin seemed fairly narrow - just slightly more than 2 percentage points.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and Taegan Goddard's …

Garrett Epps / The Atlantic Online:

To Judge Richard Posner, Gun Control Is a Joke — Days before Newtown, the Seventh Circuit extended the Second Amendment beyond even the Supreme Court's decisions. — Cody Miller, 9, fires a machine gun with help from a range worker in West Point, Kentucky. (Aaron Bernstein/Reuters)

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

After Connecticut school shooting, Washington quiet on gun control — They've watched mass shootings of college kids and schoolchildren, issued countless statements of sympathy, and lived through a colleague taking a bullet to the brain, but Friday's rampage in Newtown, Conn. …

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice and Reuters

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Connecticut governor wants tougher federal laws

Discussion: This Just In and Business Insider

James Barron / New York Times:
Children at School Were All Shot Multiple Times

Discussion: IHT Rendezvous, Xinhua News Agency, Daily Kos, The Reaction, U.S. News, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press and Balloon Juice

Mike Benner / KGW-TV:

Clackamas man, armed, confronts mall shooter — PORTLAND — Nick Meli is emotionally drained. The 22-year-old was at Clackamas Town Center with a friend and her baby when a masked man opened fire. — “I heard three shots and turned and looked at Casey and said, ‘are you serious?,’” he said.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Atlas Shrugs, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Lonely Conservative and The Gateway Pundit

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

MSNBC Guest: If CT Mass Shooter Was Not White, Public Debate Would Be ‘Much Uglier’ — David Sirota, a columnist for Salon.com, appeared on Up with Chris Hayes on Sunday for a discussion about the possible policy recommendations that could be adopted in the wake of the mass shooting …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Politico:

Fiscal cliff talks: Speaker John Boehner pitches millionaire tax hike — Speaker John Boehner has proposed allowing tax rates to rise for the wealthiest Americans if President Barack Obama agrees to major entitlement cuts, according to several sources close to the talks.