Breaking News

Rachel once again did separate 9:00 and 11:00 broadcasts as she tried to sort out Thursday’s tragic and baffling events at Fort Hood.

As of the first broadcast, almost all that was known was that the shooting suspect is U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hassan, a military psychiatrist, and for much of the first broadcast he was believed dead.

Rachel spoke with Danny Coulson, a former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI.

Murder in the Military

In trying to figure out how and why something like Fort Hood can happen, Rachel and Salon.com’s Mark Benjamin took a disturbing look at similar incidents in the past and the possible strain that can be involved in helping soldiers deal with the trauma of combat.

Fort Carson murders

Rachel continued with an unsettling piece on the extent to which proper mental health support is just not available to returning soldiers.

Lee Christopher Smith of Rolling Stone joined Rachel to talk about Fort Carson in Colorado, where 14 soldiers have been charged with murder in recent years.

Republican Option

In a story that was fun much earlier in the day, Representative Michele Bachmann led her “emergency house call” for the teabaggers on Thursday, and she continues to think it’s adorable to use violent rhetoric and imply that it’s time to overthrow the government.

Are we sure that Bachmann knows she’s a part of the government? I can’t tell if she’s really that loony or if she can just be induced to say absolutely anything when she thinks she’s on a roll.

Anyway, apparently it’s super-patriotic to encourage people to be belligerent toward their elected representatives and litter in the halls of the Capitol.

If you ever get invited over to Bachmann’s house for tea and crazy, make sure to tear up papers and throw them all over her foyer. She loves that.

I guess it’s a good thing that Bachmann is cute and thin enough for Levin’s political standards or the day could have been awkward, huh?