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The National Rifle Organization (NRA) on Thursday used armed security to force mothers of victims of gun violence to leave the organization's headquarters.

The groups MomsRising.org and the Reston-Herndon Alliance to End Gun Violence traveled to NRA headquarters in Virginia on Thursday to deliver a petition with over 150,000 signatures calling for universal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, a ban on military-style assault rifles and new laws to crack down on gun trafficking.

Included in the group were mothers like Lori Haas, whose daughter was wounded in the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, and Louisa Davis, whose nephew was killed by a gun in North Carolina.

But in video captured by WUSA, a plainclothes security guard and an armed uniformed guard are seen refusing to accept the large stack of signatures and then shooing the gun safety advocates off NRA property.

"They're not willing to listen to all members," one NRA member who was in the group told WUSA. "We're in a democracy, we need to have a conversation. And the NRA likes to shut down conversation."

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From this Sunday's Meet the Press, despite all of his rhetoric attempting to help the Republican party with their so-called rebranding effort, Eric Cantor didn't do a very good job of hiding just who his party is looking out for, and it sure as hell isn't the average worker out there: Cantor: We Can’t Raise Taxes ‘Every Three Months’:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said Sunday that he does not support bringing in new revenue by closing tax loopholes in order to avoid sequestration, during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"We can't be raising taxes every three months in this town," Cantor said, referring to the tax increases that went into effect in early January.

Cantor added that he doesn't want the sequester to go into effect and said it's up to President Obama to make a move now on avoiding it.

Politicususa has more on Cantor's interview here: Eric Cantor Embarrasses Himself Playing Sequester Blame Game and here: Hypocrisy Alert: Eric Cantor Added $3.4 Trillion to Debt But Blames Obama for His Debt. NBC has the full transcript up here, but for this segment, I think I prefer the Bobblespeak version.

Meet The Press - February 10, 2012 :

Gregory: the sequester automatic
spending cuts could happen in a
few days and would cripple
Virginia's economy

Audience: yes Virginia there
is a Sequester Clause

Cantor: these are horrible
indiscriminate cuts I supported

Gregory: so why can't you make
a deal with Obama?

Cantor: because Obama wants to raise taxes

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Stories like this one aren't going to help the Republicans much with their so-called "rebranding' effort: Virginia is for lovers of their own currency:

Virginia sure has been a hotbed of activity on issues with national implications, hasn't it? Republicans in the commonwealth pushed a scheme to rig the electoral college (which failed soon after), launched an ugly redistricting scheme (which now appears doomed), and crafted absurd voter-ID bill (which seems likely to become law).

And while all of those are clearly important, this is the one that amazes me.

Virginia Del. Robert G. Marshall fears that a financial apocalypse is coming and only one thing can save the Commonwealth: its own currency.

The idea that Virginia should consider issuing its own money was dismissed as just another quixotic quest by one of the most conservative members of the state legislature when Marshall introduced it three years ago. But it has since gained traction not only in Virginia, but also in states across the country as Americans have grown increasingly suspicious of the institutions entrusted with safeguarding the economy.

Marshall's proposal sailed through the House of Delegates this week, passing by a two-to-one majority.

No, seriously.

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Lowell Field at Blue Virginia caught this interesting tidbit from Joe Scarborough this morning. It looks increasingly like we'll continue to see GOP battles between the extremist Tea Party and their followers and the pragmatists like Scarborough who want electoral wins.

Ken Cucchinelli is running against Democrat Terry McAuliffe for Governor of Virginia.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Cuccinelli, right, so here's a guy - Tea Party favorite in Virginia - the guy is certifiable when it comes to mainstream political thought. This is a guy who attacks Medicare, he attacks Medicaid, he attacks Social Security, this is a guy who said he was thinking about not having his children get Social Security numbers because, quote, "that's how they track you." This is a guy that has said more things that will offend the voters that swing elections than is humanly possible.

Here's what Blue Virginia had to say on the matter:

Thank you, Republican Joe Scarborough, for echoing what Democrats, progressives, liberals, environmentalists, etc. have been saying for years: Ken Kookinelli is straightjacket/men-in-white-coats-level loony tunes. The scary thing is, Scarborough's list was a short one for Cuckoo: add to it climate science denial, which in and of itself puts you into the tinfoil hat camp of flat earthers and "the moonshot was faked" folks; dabbling in "birtherism;" vicious anti-LGBT attitudes; support for a "personhood" amendment, which would make abortion providers murderers and also make several popular forms of contraception (as well as embryonic stem cell research) akin to murder as well. There's a lot more than that, too, but we'll just leave it there for now. The fact that the Republican Party could nominate a total nutjob like this, and that it's not an isolated incident - see Todd Akin, Christine O'Donnell, Richard Mourdoch, and many others the past few years - really says it all about that party. Why would anyone in their right mind vote Republican at this point is truly beyond me.

You've just got to love these Republicans. They attack teachers and their unions and their collective bargaining rights, and then turn around and expect them to do double duty as law enforcement. Here's what's becoming an all too common idea from the wingnuts out there who think more guns is the solution to everything: Oklahoma Republican’s bill would arm teachers and train them like law enforcement:

McCullough plans to introduce legislation that would give school teachers and administrators the right to carry firearms in school. Under current law in Oklahoma, it is a felony to possess a gun on school property.

“I’m going to err on the side of trusting my teachers if it comes down to it,” the lawmaker explained. “I am not going to trust a madman.”

And McCullough explained to KOKH’s Marisa Mendelson that parents shouldn’t worry because teachers would required to get the same type of Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) certification that police officers have.

“These teachers would be trained at the same level as our law enforcement are currently trained,” he said. “They would be trained in target acquisition, in marksmanship. They would be trained in all of the things that our current police officers are trained in.”

Oklahoma parent Tom Jones, however, wasn’t comforted by McCullough’s assurances.

“I don’t believe that’s the answer, I really don’t,” Jones insisted. “I’d have to ask, how are you going to screen the teachers? How do you know you don’t have a mentally ill person?”

Republican state Sen. Ralph Shortey is also on board with McCullough’s plan, but he said that he would allow any teacher with a concealed-carry permit to bring firearms into the school without additional training.

“When citizens have the liberty to protect themselves, they will do so, and they will do so responsibly,” Shortey told The Oklahoman.

These people aren't going to be happy until they take us back to the days of the wild, wild west. Virginia's Governor Ultra-Sound-McDonnell wants to do the same thing in his state as well: Virginia Governor McDonnell Wants More Guns In Schools.

And we heard the same from Texas wingnut Gov. Rick Perry: Rick Perry Tells Tea Party: Allow More Guns in Schools .

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Former Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says that his party lost the White House in 2012 because so many "urban" voters went to the polls, not because Americans rejected his Medicare and other budget policies.

"We were surprised with the outcome," the Wisconsin Republican told WISC-TV's Jessica Arp. "We knew this was going to be a close race. We thought we had a very good chance of winning it. I think that the surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which definitely gave President Obama the big margin to win this race."

"There's always an Electoral College strategy to winning these things, and you know what states you need to win to get to 270 electoral votes. When we watched Virginia and Ohio coming in, those as tight as they were, and looking like we were going to lose them, that's when it became clear we weren't going to win."

Ryan added that it was "disappointing" because "losing never feels good," but insisted that the race had not been a referendum on his budget plan, which would have slashed the size of government and turned Medicare into a voucher program.

"I don't think we lost it on those budget issues, especially on Medicare," the former nominee explained. "We clearly didn't lose it on those issues. I think what people want us to do is tackle the country's problems, and what I got out of this is they don't want only Republican ideas or only Democratic ideas, they want us to come together for common ground and to work this out."

Although exit polls showed that six in ten voters wanted tax rates to be raised, Ryan said he didn't believe that was what Americans really voted for.

"I don't know if I agree with that because we have divided government," he remarked. "They also voted for House Republicans to maintain their majority, which took a very clear stand against that."

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At a so-called "storm relief event" on Tuesday, GOP hopeful Mitt Romney repeatedly refused to answer questions about his promise to the federal agency responsible for responding to disasters like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated much of the east coast this week.

"TV pool asked Romney at least five times whether he would eliminate FEMA as president/what he would do with FEMA," according to a pool report. "He ignored the [questions] but they are audible on cam. The music stopped at points and the [questions] would have been audible to him."

A subsequent pool report elaborated on some of the specific questions the Republican presidential nominee refused to answer:

"Gov are you going to eliminate FEMA?" a print pooler shouted, receiving no response.
Wires reporters asked more questions about FEMA that were ignored.

Romney kept coming over near pool to pick up more water. He ignored these questions:

"Gov are you going to see some storm damage?"

"Gov has [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie invited you to come survey storm damage?"

"Gov you've been asked 14 times, why are you refusing to answer the question?"

As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm noted on Sunday, Romney had pledged to "absolutely" abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency when asked about it by CNN's John King during a Republican primary debate earlier this year.

"Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction," the former Massachusetts governor said, adding that it would be "even better" to "send it back to the private sector."

At the time, King even pressed Romney on whether he would completely eliminate federal disaster relief.

"We cannot -- we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids," the candidate insisted."It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all."

Campaign spokesperson Amanda Henneberg on Monday reiterated that Romney still believed that disaster relief should be left up to the states.

"Governor Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions," Henneberg said. "As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA."

The Grio managing editor Joy Reid told MSNBC's Alex Wagner on Tuesday that Romney might have a good reason for wanting to avoid questions about FEMA less than a week before the election.

"Do you know who likes FEMA? Florida," Reid explained. "Florida loves FEMA and Florida is a very close state and Florida has had to rely on FEMA a lot because a lot of hurricanes have hit there. And you know who else is about to like FEMA? West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. I mean, there are a lot of states where people say, 'I don't like the government, I don't want the government in my life.' But when something like this happens, you know who you want in your life? The government."

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Although former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is gaining in the polls and is expected to be on the ballot in all 50 states as third-party presidential candidate, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus insisted on Sunday that the libertarian was a "non-factor."

During an interview with Priebus on CNN, host Candy Crowley noted that 4 percent of Colorado voters recently said they planned to vote for a third-party candidate.

"The conventional wisdom is that he's going to draw from Mitt Romney," Crowley explained. "And it makes a difference in Colorado, it makes a difference in Virginia, it will make a difference in North Carolina."

"It doesn't worry me," Priebus replied. "I think people understand that they're not going to throw their vote away when we have an election here that's about the future of America."

"We don't have a third-party candidate that's anywhere near the popularity of Ross Perot or John Anderson," he added. "I just don't see that happening. In fact, I see that it's almost a non-factor. And so, I'm not worried about it."

A recent Gravis Marketing/Capitol Correspondent poll found Johnson had support from over 10 percent of voters in Ohio, reducing Romney's support by over 6 percent.

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Republicans love to complain about voter fraud, but it seems when there are real problems with rigged elections, actual voter fraud or voter suppression, it's almost always their side that's doing it -- RNC Cuts Off Firm Over Voter Registration Fraud Allegations:

The Republican National Committee has ended its relationship with Strategic Allied Consulting, a firm it paid at least $2.9 million to register voters in several states this year, after investigators launched a probe into potentially fraudulent registration forms submitted by the company.

NBC reported on Thursday that the RNC dropped the firm after a Florida elections official referred more than 100 questionable voter registration forms to investigators.

“We’ve made it clear we’re not doing business with these guys anymore,” RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told NBC’s Michael Isikoff. “We’ve come out pretty strong against this kind of stuff — and we have zero tolerance for this.”

The firm, NBC reports, is run by GOP consultant Nathan Sproul, who has not responded to TPM’s requests for comment. Sproul’s other firm, Lincoln Strategy Group, has been paid by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

And here's more from Isikoff's report at NBC -- RNC cuts ties with firm over voter fraud allegations:

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Lawrence O'Donnell skewered Mitt Romney for his time writing love letters in the sand to Ann on the beach in France during the Vietnam war, and for being one of the few people out there to actually protest in favor of that war, while simultaneously getting draft deferments.

And he wrapped things up with Sen. Jim Webb who while introducing President Obama at a campaign event in Virginia, reminded Mitt Romney of just who that 47 percent he was talking about that fundraiser includes and what they're owed -- Webb to Romney: A ‘thanks’ would have been nice:

Introducing President Obama in Virginia Beach, retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), condemned Mitt Romney for failing to mention veterans or the military in his GOP convention speech.

The omission was all the more damning, Webb suggested, because Romney is of an age where he might have served in Vietnam but did not.

“If nothing else, at least mention some word of thanks and respect when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech,” said Webb, a former Navy secretary and decorated Marine who served in Vietnam. Romney was exempted from the draft, first as a student and then as a missionary.

“This was a time when every American male was eligible to be drafted. People made choices,” Webb said. “Those among us who stepped forward to face the harsh unknowns did so with the belief that their service would be honored.”

Webb also tied in Romney’s much criticized remark that 47 percent of Americans believe they are “victims” who feel entitled to federal handouts, saying some of those benefits go to veterans.

“Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. All gave some. Some gave all. That’s not a culture of dependency,” he said. ”They paid. Some with their lives, some with their wounds, disabilities. Some with emotional scars. Some with lost opportunities. Not only did they pay, they are owed. They are owed.”