Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, delivered a fiery address to the Conservative Political Action Conference today, saying that guns are not to blame for the shooting rampage in Tuscon — rather, the government is. LaPierre criticized “gun-free zones and anti-self defense laws that protected the safety of no one except the killers,” and said that “by its lies and laws and lack of enforcement, government polices are getting us killed, and imprisoning us in a society of terrifying violence.”

LaPierre also criticized legislation aimed at banning high-capacity magazines like the type used by Tuscon shooter Jared Loughner, saying, “These clowns want to ban magazines. Are you kidding me? But that’s their response to the blizzard of violence and mayhem affecting our nation. One more gun law on top of all of the laws already on the books.” Watch it:

LaPierre’s narrative is absurd on its face. The Safeway parking lot where the shootings occurred was not a gun-free zone, and in fact, one bystander was armed and almost shot the wrong person as he attempted to intervene. Arizona already has some of the most lax gun laws in the nation, and it’s unclear how even more guns would have saved any lives. A much more plausible remedy would be eliminating the magazines Loughner used to fire over 30 shots before reloading.

One of the “clowns” calling for a ban on these magazines is Kelly O’Brien, the fiancee of Gabe Zimmerman, a staffer to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who died in the attack. “The man who killed Gabe and five other people fired 31 shots in 15 seconds. That’s two shots every second,” O’Brien said yesterday. “Ten bullets are more than enough for self-defense, which is why most people own handguns.”

Last year, the U.S. federal government filed a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s new immigration law, SB-1070, on the grounds that it “usurps federal authority.” In late July, a federal district court judge enjoined several major provisions of Arizona’s immigration law, arguing that “the United States is likely to succeed on the merits in showing that…[they] are preempted by federal law” and the “United States is likely to suffer irreparable harm” in the absence of an injunction.

Today, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) announced that she is filing a countersuit against the federal government on behalf of the state of Arizona. The countersuit names several counts, including a “failure to protect Arizona from invasion.” KPHO reports:

Brewer and state Attorney General Tom Horne outlined five counts in a counterclaim filed in the government’s lawsuit against Arizona:

The Department of Homeland Security has failed to achieve and maintain operational control for the Arizona/Mexico border as required under the Secure Fence Act of 2006

The federal government has failed to live up to its Constitutional duty to protect Arizona against invasion and domestic violence

The federal government has failed to enforce and follow immigration laws

The federal government has failed to compensate states for the substantial economic burdens suffered as a result of the failure to incarcerate or deport criminal aliens

The federal government has prevented Arizona from enforcing its own laws for illegal immigration. The state is seeking an injunction under this count

Brewer reportedly claimed that the federal government has failed to protect the “citizens of Arizona.” “We did not ask for this fight. We did not start this fight,” Brewer said at today’s news conference announcing the lawsuit. “We will not rest until our border is secure and the laws are enforced,” she said.

Usually, referring to the high levels of illegal immigration the country has been experiencing as an “invasion” has been relegated to right-wing chat boards and other xenophobic forums. The term itself suggests conquest and plunder by a foreign enemy. Of course, no rational person would claim that the U.S. or the state of Arizona is currently confronting that scenario — unless they happen to have a problem with the population of poor, brown immigrants who came to the U.S. to build a better future for their families.

The suit comes just a few short weeks after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano urged politicians to stop exaggerating the levels of violence occurring on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. She also recently noted the significant strides the Obama administration has made in securing the border, stating, “the additional manpower, technology and resources represent the most serious and sustained action to secure our border in our nation’s history…it is clear from every key measure that this approach is working.” Last year, the U.S. deported a record breaking number of undocumented immigrants. The country’s border cities are among the safest in the nation and DHS has been prioritizing going after undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to public safety.

Brewer claims that taxpayer money will not be used to fund the suit. Apparently, money from a private fund will pay the costs. Yet taxpayers will have to pay for it because the taxpayer-funded federal government will have to defend itself against this ridiculously unnecessary lawsuit.

The Wonk Room filed this report from Herzliya, Israel.

Speaking on the closing night of Israel’s annual Herzliya Conference, Mississippi governor and presumed presidential candidate Haley Barbour, after joking in his thick Southern drawl that he “was flattered to learn that a lot of people here asked for my speech to be interpreted in to English,” declared that he “subscribe[s] to the school of politics that says on national security and foreign policy issues, politics stops at the water’s edge”:

We shouldn’t criticize or even disagree with our government’s actions when we’re overseas. We shouldn’t allow people to think that we speak for our government. I do not.

Barbour’s statement could be seen as a rebuke to fellow Republicans like former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), both of whom, on previous trips to Israel, have stridently criticized the Obama administration’s efforts to pressure Israel to halt illegal settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Later in Barbour’s speech, however, he showed that he has somewhat looser standards in regard to shameless fear-mongering while overseas:

For those who care about Israel, or the Western world for that matter, we must focus on Iran as the crucial strategic issue… We must recognize [Iran's] goal of destroying Western civilization.

On a panel immediately preceding Barbour’s speech, Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar issued a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew the settlement moratorium and “stop Israel’s settlement dispute with the international community in order to help it focus on Iran.” The settlements can wait, Javedanfar said, but “the Iranian nuclear program cannot.”