Chris Hayes opens his Sunday show with the origins of Memorial Day. Funnily enough, this is the first time I've heard the freed slaves aspect of its inception. The history I've always been told revolved around women decorating the graves of fallen soldiers, presumably grieving widows and mothers. To his credit, Hayes reminds us that there are civilian casualties that we have no holiday for but whom we cannot forget as well.

My retired Air Force general grandfather took Memorial Day very seriously. He had seen his share of sacrifices by his fellow troops; he was still haunted by the ghosts of his own service. And there was nothing he could say that would express the magnitude of how his service impacted his life to those of us outside of the military. He felt a kinship with all service members for their shared experience.

That's one of the reasons that I do the In Memoriam segment each week. It's my little nod to my late grandfather, to the ethos he passed on to his children and grandchildren. I don't want the parents, spouses and children of those still overseas to think for a minute that we don't know and grieve for their loss.

I have never supported this mission, openly asking for someone to explain what we're doing in intellectually honest terms. But I've never blamed the service members for the political wrongs of those who sent them there.

And bless Chris for later bringing up the shameful and media-hidden number of suicides of our soldiers in Afghanistan. To date, 164 service members have killed themselves in Afghanistan. But that is only part of the story. Here, in the US, returned veterans are killing themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes, a horrifying indictment of how they've been abandoned by the country that asked them to sacrifice everything.

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If there is any particular Republican framing that grinds my teeth to see the left adopt--other than the term "entitlements" to refer to Medicare and Social Security--it is the pointing the finger at teachers' unions as the obstacle to education reform. No one--not one person--who enters the teacher profession, particularly at the K-12 level, does so because they're looking for a financial windfall. The teachers' unions in many cases have made accommodations to states pleading poverty, relinquishing pensions, salaries, health care, even acceding to furloughs. I never thought that the Democratic Party would need to be reminded just how underpaid and unappreciated teachers are and how their unions are the last line of defense in a country going into default on its social contract.

How refreshing in a media climate where even rising star lefties go to union-basher and cheat Michelle Rhee (I'm looking at you, Gavin Newsom) for their ideas on demonizing teachers some more, Melissa Harris-Perry invites an actual teacher on to point out that it's pretty frickin' dispiriting to be a teacher these days. What other profession can one be part of where the pay is low, the conventional wisdom (so aptly portrayed in this clip by Bloomberg's Jonathan Alter) blames teachers for all ills, they have no control over curriculum, they're penalized for teaching kids to think instead of mindlessly parroting test answers and yet somehow they're supposed to rise above it and teach our little darlings?

Look, I speak as a parent and as a product of California public schools at a time when they were ranked at the top instead of the lower 10 percent: we have deep, deep problems in education. California is the eighth largest economy in the world and we spend approximately 50 percent of the General Fund on education But that money isn't making it to the student. And we keep circling around teachers unions as the problem.

Here's an idea: let's look at inequality as a problem. Why shouldn't everyone have access to quality education regardless of zip codes? Let's look food insecurity, where one in five children goes without a single daily decent meal. Let's look at the disparity in parental involvement and try to figure out a way to get parents invested in their kids' education. Let's give teachers more autonomy over their classrooms. Let's stop wasting money on private testing organizations and looking at for-profit charter businesses as the silver bullet that "fixes" education. All of these forces have far more to do with the state of education today. And I think reform in these areas will immediately yield better results than the ability to fire the bottom 10 percent of teachers.

But let's also stop framing this debate as to what's best for children is de facto not good for their teachers.

Randy Newman - It's Money That I Love

Wouldn't it be refreshing to have Newt Gingrich--currently on his reputation repair tour, enabled by Dancin' Dave Gregory--just be honest about his ill-fated campaign? Or frankly, any of these politicos. Where is the discussion of inequality? Where is the discussion of Mitt Romney's reverse-Robin Hood tax schemes? Where is the discussion of the great food insecurity here in the wealthiest nation in the world? How is it that a man who offers nothing more than the exact same policies that George W. Bush touted can be considered a viable candidate? Well, my friends, it's because this is equally the theme song of all the networks carrying these Sunday shows as well.

ABC's "This Week" - Afghanistan, Defense spending, National Security: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Roundtable: BC News' George Will, former Michigan governor and host of Current TV's "The War Room" Jennifer Granholm, Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman, Washington Post national political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and National Journal editorial director Ron Brownstein.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Decision 2012: Former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md.; Roundtable: Mayor of Los Angeles and Chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Antonio Villaraigosa; Vice Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former head of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina; author of the new book "Our Divided Political Heart," the Washington Post's EJ Dionne; and from the New York Times, David Brooks. Advice to Class of 2012: Maria Shriver, author Michael Lewis.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Joe Klein, Time; Helene Cooper, New York Times; Major Garrett, National Journal; Kasie Hunt, AP. Topics: Obama attempts to disqualify Romney's Bain credentials as Rove runs new ad. Do veterans make better Presidential Candidates? Meter Questions: Will TV ads more effectively portray 2012 as a referendum of Obama rather than a choice? YES: 9 NO: 3; If race is politicized, will it hurt Romney's candidacy? YES: 10 No: 2.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panelists: Michael Brendan Dougherty, Business Insider; Michelle Goldberg, Newsweek/Daily Beast; John McWhorter, Columbia University; Liliana Segura, The Nation. Guests: Lt. Col. Steve Beck, U.S. Marine Corps casualty assistance officer and Associate Professor of Naval Science at Carnegie Mellon University; Barry Scheck, Co-Founder, The Innocence Project and Co- Author, “Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution and Other Dispatches from the Wrongly Convicted”. Topics include: Memorial Day, Gallup’s new morality poll, new report out on exonerations.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Margaret Cho, comedian; Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar, Third Way. Topics include: 2012 latest political news; Wedging women; Asian-American voters, Sexual abuse at Tutwiler prison in Alabama

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Senatorial politics: Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; Decision 2012: Ed Gillespie, adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign; Robert Gibbs, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Roundtable: Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, co-authors, The President's Club, Robert Merry, author of Where They Stand: The American Presidents in The Eyes of Voters and Historians, Douglas Brinkley, author of Cronkite.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Presidential race, Bain Capital: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; VA backlog: Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash; PTSD and brain injuries in vets: Peter Chiarelli, retired Army vice chief of staff; Struggles of returning vets: Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; Tim Tetz, legislative director of the American Legion.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - China, Russia, Obama v. Romney: Bill Keller, Peggy Noonan, Chrystia Freeland and Ross Douthat. Deficit: Alan Simpson, Erskine Bowles.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Andy Cohen, Bravo; Cory Booker scandal: Roger Simon, Politico; Anne Kornblut, Washington Post; Changing media landscape: former president of ABC News David Westin

"Fox News Sunday" - Afghanistan, foreign policy: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Contraceptives mandate: Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Catholic archbishop of Washington. Panel: Jeff Zeleny, New York Times; Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal; Kirsten Powers, The Daily Beast and Fox News.

What's catching your eye this morning?

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Credit: Getty Images

Currently, Afghanistan is obviously a big subject at the G8 conference, with France's new government already having promised to remove troops. Meanwhile, General John Allen has announced his departure as commander of forces in Afghanistan, while the President just returned from Afghanistan. And, it seems not coincidental that The New York Times Sunday edition ran a piece on President Obama's last shift on the war.

Combined, everything is telling me that a major announcement is coming, very soon. It'd be a welcome change, as VoteVets.org has long called for a shift towards an Advise, Train and Assist (ATA) role, which is a bridge towards a more limited counter-terror mission in the region, with the war in Afghanistan itself effectively over.[..]

That's why VoteVets.org has always called on President Obama to adopt a counter-terror mission in the region. Counter-terror operations target the enemy where they are, and take them out. It's the strategy that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaeda targets around the world. It costs less in money and lives. It doesn't deplete our troops and our military. And it doesn't put military men and women in the position of having to win over an entire country, under the real risk that a few bad troops could topple the entire house of cards.

So, what's changed? Operationally, there's been a debate within military circles whether the planned summer offensive would be effective given the three points I raised before -- that the Afghan Army is shrinking, U.S. Forces are coming down from surge numbers, and perhaps most importantly, it's important to note that each NATO country controls its own area in Afghanistan.

France, for example, contributes heavily in Regional Command East, or RC-East (which is part of that 70 percent of the population laid out above). RC-East is made up of about 14 provinces and is larger than Pennsylvania. When France leaves, there's a huge gap to fill. If other NATO partners follow suit, the gaps become bigger and bigger, making the current strategy and timeline dead in the water. This wasn't lost on the President, as he considered General Allen's resignation and replacement.

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Let me stipulate this up front: I don't hate anyone. There are people I dislike. There are people I scorn. There are people I believe have lost the right to ever have a national platform again. But "hate" is a word I reserve for concepts, not people. I hate willful ignorance and bigotry (which I find go hand in hand); I hate liars, endless wars, poverty, the exploitation of those perceived as being different or weak, your typical bleeding heart liberal stuff.

But people are different. It is the simplistic mind that thinks that people can be neatly categorized into all bad or all good. Dick Cheney and I are far more sympatico on gay rights than arguably President Obama and I are. Even Adolf Hitler had a girlfriend who adored him and was willing to die with him. Clearly, there are aspects of lovableness in even the most repellant of human figures.

So maybe because I am able to acknowledge humanity in the most inhumane, I don't really understand the big "aha" moment that former The Daily Show producer Mike Rubens had:

What I’m hoping the lesson is: People are complex and can hold different views and still be moral actors — essentially the message that Jon Stewart talked about during his Rally for Sanity.

Maybe you already grasp that concept, because you have good friends or loving relatives with beliefs that are wildly divergent from your own. But I tend to think my experience is more typical: I lived in a little bubble surrounded by people who think more or less like me. And when I considered people with opposing viewpoints I would turn into a fabulist, concocting an entire narrative of who they were and what they were like — and what they were like was yucko. Because I was not really interacting with them. I just thought I was, because, hey, look, there they are on the TV, or there’s that guy’s post in the comments section. But that stuff doesn’t count. Meeting people counts. Talking counts.

So yes, I love to loathe people, but my “Daily Show” experience complicated all that and sort of spoiled my fun. When I’m exposed to views that I dislike, I try to remind myself of the human being behind those views and to cut that person some slack. I hope that they would do the same. I think we should all fight hard for what we believe in, but I’d like to put in a request for some general slack cutting – especially as we move deeper into what is sure to be a very heated campaign season.

I see a fairly big and erroneous assumption in Rubens' realization. What I (and I suspect, Rubens) define as "moral actors" do not necessarily match up with how Paul Ryan defines it. And moreover, one can be the cuddliest, most lovable person in personal interactions, but if one advocates or implements actions that hurt people, what measure matters the most? I have met the same deathly earnest liberals that Howard Kurtz want Rubens to bring up for the sake of equivalence, but their lack of humor or personal jerkiness is mitigated in my mind because they're advocating for things that are for the common good. If anyone should have some slack cut, it's them.

This is the banality of evil that Hannah Arendt warned about. And (sadly, ensuring that no one from this site ever gets on Reliable Sources) that includes Howard Kurtz. His entire media career is based on not looking at the consequences of actions, but of the messaging. He clutches his metaphorical pearls over news anchors getting upset over getting talking points but never considers that the interviewee was not answering the questions posed to him. He becomes indignant at Al Sharpton covering the Trayvon Martin shooting because he flew down to Florida to support Trayvon's parents and call for an investigation, but says nothing at the Fox News influence and coordination of tea party events. Each and every column he did for the Washington Post and does for the Daily Beast glosses over the very real and very evil ramifications and consequences of these actions in exchange for more self-important navel-gazing of oh-so-clever journalists who don't even bother to place their reporting in context or fact check their subjects.

It's all well and good that Howie doesn't hate Mike Rubens. I'm sure Rubens will be comforted by that. But I hate what Kurtz does every day, because it's hurting the country.

This Week with George Stephanopoulos notes the passings of six service members in Afghanistan:

US Army 1LT Alejo R Thompson, 30, Yuma, AZ
US Marines Sgt Wade D Wilson, 22, Normangee, TX
US Army SPC Alex Hernandez III, 21, Round Rock, TX
US Army SGT Brian L Walker, 25, Lucerne Valley, CA
US Army PFC Richard L McNulty III, 22, Rolla, MO
US Army SSG Israel P Nuanes, 38, Las Cruces, NM

According to iCasualties, the total number of allied service members killed in Afghanistan is now 3,006.

The following notable names lost their lives this week as well: author Jean Craighead George, architect Mary Richardson Kennedy, baseball player Kevin Hickey, bluegrass musician/actor Doug Dillard, "Godfather of Go-go" Chuck Brown, former Senator of North Dakota James Abdnor, musician Donna Summer, comedian Ron Shock, journalist Derek Round, actor Paul O'Sullivan, drummer Peter Jones, hockey player Paul Cyr convicted Pan Am 103 terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and singer/songwriter Robin Gibb.

Jeremy Rivkin and the evolution of empathy

Ah...empathy. I think a highly developed sense of empathy is what defines us as liberals. I do not need to be a minority, or on food stamps or elderly to empathize with the struggles they have. I can empathize with all sorts of people. But there appears to be an empathy gene missing from Republicans. Rather than imagining and empathizing with those who aren't as fortunate as they, Republicans treat them with suspicion and worse, contempt. How else can you explain their policies? Would that we could be the ones to ask questions of these guys. How I'd love to ask Paul Ryan of the real consequences of his budget plan. Is he prepared to let so many people suffer in the richest country in the world? Or Mitch McConnell, how does he feel about hurting so many children? Or John Boehner? Where in the world is their empathy?

ABC's "This Week" — Budget, debt ceiling: Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Gavin Newsom.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Economy, elections 2012: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Roundtable: Mayor of Newark, NJ, Cory Booker (D), Republican strategist Mike Murphy, CNBC's Jim Cramer, and the Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune; Kathleen Parker, Washington Post; Liz Marlantes, Christian Science Monitor; John Heilemann, New York magazine. Topics: Jeremiah Wright returns -- will negative ads dominate 2012? America's Non-White Majority in the context of our American Tradition

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panelists: MSNBC Policy Analyst Ezra Klein; Former Obama Labor Dept. Chief Economist Betsey Stevenson; Former Federal Home Loan Bank Board Litigation Director Bill Black; Karl Smith, Asst. Prof. of Economics and Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. Topics include: The 2012 presidential-race battles over debt and Bain’s effect on jobs; A look at how much America has at stake in the Euro Zone crisis; This weekend’s G-8 talks.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Panelists: Glen Johnson, Politics Editor of Boston.com; Salamishah Tillet, Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies at Univ. of Pennsylvania; Dafna Linzer, Senior Reporter for ProPublica; Kayla Williams, Author of “Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army” and a fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Julie Zeilinger, Founder of the The FBomb, a feminist blog for teenagers and author of “A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word”, former Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), author of “We Can All Do Better”. Topics include: Year of the young woman; Women in combat; Clemency for Clarence Aaron; Bill Bradley’s new book

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Debt ceiling battle: Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Mark Warner, D-Va. Afghanistan: Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Tom Friedman. Syria: CBS news correspondent Clarissa Ward. Roundtable: Chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell and Political Director John Dickerson.

CNN's "State of the Union" — Budget and debt ceiling battle: Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Presidential election: David Axelrod, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign; Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman; Upcoming NATO meeting in Chicago: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary-General. Roundtable: Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times and CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - European economy crisis, upcoming G8 summit: Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Campaign ads: National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru, Newsweek/Daily Beast columnist and CNN contributor John Avlon, and RealClearPolitics’ Erin McPike. Facebook IPO: PandoDaily.com’s Sarah Lacy. USA Today new online editor: Larry Kramer. Former Daily Show producer: Mike Rubens.

"Fox News Sunday" — Ryan; former White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. Roundtable: Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard; Joe Trippi; Karl Rove; Evan Bayh

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Scott Fitzgerald admitting his agenda on Fox News, March 2011

While Governor Scott Walker got the lion's share of attention over the assault on public unions in Wisconsin, the truth is that his right hand man in the whole agenda was Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald, member of the Fitzgerald dynasty in Wisconsin. Wisconsinites knew, though, and Scott Fitzgerald was the subject of a recall as well. Within a fairly short period of time, more than 20,600 of his constituents—roughly 12 percent—signed the petition to recall Fitzgerald.

But given how little respect Wisconsinites have gotten from Scott Fitzgerald, is it any wonder that he expresses disdain for his challenger in the most dismissive and sexist of terms?

In comments to the Wisconsin State Journal, Fitzgerald argued that his opposition wasn't really being driven by his challenger, Lori Compas, but by unions, protest groups and her husband. From the paper's report:

For the record, Fitzgerald said he doesn't buy Compas' Pollyanna image. He knows some people are painting the race as a David-vs.-Goliath contest. But Fitzgerald said he thinks her husband is one of the main forces behind her campaign, as well as unions and protest groups.

"I don't for one minute believe she is the organizing force behind this whole thing," he said.

While Wisconsin Republicans have been arguing for months that unions exert undue influence in the political process in the state, Compas was reportedly "audibly stunned" when told of the state leader's remarks about her husband.

"That is pretty insulting, but it does seem in keeping with his general views on women," she told the paper. "He doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for them. That's OK; he can keep underestimating me."

For the record, Compas' husband is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. However, to belittle Compas as a puppet of her husband ignores her long-standing and very prominent role in the We Are Wisconsin movement and the recall of Scott Fitzgerald.

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There's a lot of rhetoric on supporting women on both sides of the aisle. There's endless talk about family values. And we're up to our collective necks in jingoistic American exceptionalism.

And according to the organization Save the Children, that's a big fat stinkin' lie when it comes to motherhood and family.

Among the troubling findings:

Just in time for Mother's Day, an annual ranking of the best and worst countries in which to be a mom puts the USA in 25th place, up from 31st last year.The 13th annual State of the World's Mothers report by the Save the Children foundation, out today, examines the well-being of mothers and their children in 165 countries, based on a range of measures, including mothers' education, infant mortality and breastfeeding rates.[..]

The improvement in the USA's rank is due largely to increases in its already high educational status, which benefits the economic potential of women and mothers, says Carolyn Miles, president of the charity.

The USA still performs below average overall and quite poorly on a number of measures, Miles says, including:

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David Gregory, backup dancer to MC Rappin' Rove, Washington Correspondents' Dinner, 2007

Elder statesman of the NBC News Department Tom Brokaw has a very specific notion of how the people in the news division should comport themselves. He was so unhappy with what he perceived as the degradation of NBC News' objectivity that he demanded that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews not be allowed to do any more live coverage of election events in 2008, actually offering himself up as a diplomatic liaison to the McCain campaign, smarting from some Olbermann barbs. Later, he played a key role in seeing that MSNBC rid themselves of Olbermann once and for all (not that Olbermann's actions endeared him to the NBC/MSNBC suits).

Oddly enough, Brokaw seems to have little issue with his Nightly News replacement spoofing the NBC News department on 30 Rock or participating in a Black Eyed Peas lipdub. That doesn't detract from the gravitas of the position at all.

Nor does openly working for a Republican advocacy group: (h/t Captain Kangaroo)

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which calls itself “the voice of small business,” is one of the Republican party’s strongest allies. The group spent over $1 million on outside ads in the 2010 campaign — all of it backing Republican House and Senate candidates (and, Bloomberg News reported last month, “another $1.5 million that it kept hidden and said was exempt” from disclosure requirements). The group is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Obamacare law and bankrolled state governments’ challenges to the law. The NFIB has also taken stances against allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, opposing regulations on businesses, and supporting curtailing union rights.

Given the group’s obvious Republican alliance, it comes as little surprise that the NFIB’s three-day 2012 Small Business Summit, which begins Monday, will feature headliners Karl Rove and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

But the first name and photo on the invitation for the $150-per-person event — Tuesday’s “keynote address” speaker — is NBC’s Meet the Press host David Gregory. He is marketed by NBC as an anchor and “trusted journalist.”

Trusted, really? That's a Caveat Emptor statement if ever I heard one.

It's interesting how inconsistently this "appearance of bias" is applied at NBC News, non?