Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot

[Gob]

A US congresswoman and nine other people have been shot at a public event in southern Arizona.

Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords is in a critical condition following the attack, in which a child was killed.

Ms Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at close range in front of hundreds of people meeting constituents in Tucson.

A man was arrested after the shooting, in which nine other people were injured - four of them critically.

A doctor at the hospital where Ms Giffords is being treated told reporters he was "very optimistic about her recovery".

Video on page

[dales]

Get a rope....

[Guinevere]

What a horrible tragedy and an absolute disgrace. Also killed in the shooting, U.S. District Court Chief Judge John Roll --- a Bush I appointee, who had received death threats when he certified an immigrants civil rights action in 2008 or 2009.

[Lord Jim]

From what I'm seeing on the news, apparently the killer is a major head case....

A paranoid conspiracy type, who believes the government is involved in some sort of "mind control", among other wacky things....

[rubato]

Just not enough guns and they are not easy enough to get aholt of.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

CNN is reporting six killed 12 wounded. Giffords is expected to survive.

The shooter's youtube site is still up:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10 ... nNx0WThoF0

Four star freak.....

[rubato]

The Republican party exists to ensure that mentally ill idiots like this are as heavily armed as possible.

yrs,
rubato

[Jarlaxle]

Are you sauced or just stupid?

[Guinevere]

Shakespeare in real life. Sarah Palin in the role of Henry II and Gabby Giffords as Thomas a Becket -- that "meddlesome" priest.

In March last year, Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head in Tucson around lunchtime on Saturday, was interviewed on the MSNBC news channel. Just the day before, she had voted in favour of Obama's healthcare reform, and that night, the door of her office was destroyed.

She told the interviewer she wasn't fearful for her life, but that protesters' rhetoric was becoming "incredibly heated". She was asked if the Republican leadership should have spoken out more to denounce the violence. Diplomatically, she said both parties should. But then, she recounted how she was on Sarah Palin's hit list. "We have the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district," she said. "And when people do that, they've got to realise there are consequences."

Giffords was referring to a map of the US that Palin had posted on her website. There were a number of gun sights; one was for Giffords. But shortly after the shooting on Saturday, it mysteriously disappeared from Palin's site.

That's not all. Giffords' Republican opponent in the 2 November race for a seat in the House of Representatives was Jesse Kelly. He had held a campaign event in which he invited his supporters to "Get on Target for Victory in November". He asked them to "Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office – shoot a fully automatic M15 with Jesse Kelly."

Of course, there's no suggestion that the suspected gunman – a college graduate from Arizona who lists reading as his favourite pastime – was particularly inspired by Sarah Palin or Jesse Kelly. But it's this kind of rhetoric that is lighting a fire under extremists who believe that Obama is, in fact, the devil – and, by association, so are all Democrats.

That may sound ludicrous, but last year, civil rights organisation the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) said extremist groups had exploded in the United States since Obama's election. These groups, it said, had increased by 244%, were "steeped in wild, anti-government conspiracy theories" that exploited populist anger across the country and had infiltrated the mainstream.

Since Obama took office as president, there have been two skinhead plots to assassinate him, a plan to set off a dirty bomb packed with radioactive materials during the inauguration, and now this.

This is not some fallacy. Judge John Roll, who was killed in Saturday's shooting, had allowed a $32m civil rights lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants to proceed against a local Arizona rancher. In one afternoon, Roll received over 200 phone calls – some threatening him and his family. One online rant said: "We should kill him. He should be dead."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfre ... sa-arizona

[Lord Jim]

(Also posted at the new CSB with a couple of changes)

At a news conference Saturday night, a clearly emotional Dupnik, who has been close to both Giffords and Roll, repeatedly cited what he characterized as the "vitriol" that has infected political discourse. He said that his own state has become "the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

There is reason to believe, he said, that the shooting suspect "may have a mental issue," adding that people like that "are especially susceptible to vitriol."

"That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences," he said.

I saw the press conference where he said those things yesterday, and I was appalled and disgusted by Dupnik's remarks...(But not surprised...Dupnik is a liberal gadfly who appears frequently on MSNBC)

The fact that this man would take advantage of the platform afforded to him by his official role as Sheriff in this tragedy, when people were tuning in just to get basic information about what had happened, in order to grind his own partisan political axe is beyond the pale....(he did this not once, but three times)

Folks were looking for him to use the information he had available to speak authoritatively about the facts of what had happened...

Instead he went off on a tangent, completely talking out his ass, apparently trying to blame Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin et al., for what this twisted sicko did....

Complete bullshit, and about as unprofessional as one can imagine.

There isn't one shred of evidence to support the idea that this guy was some sort of "right wing" loon...apparently he was an atheist....he said on his Facebook site that he was offended when somebody handed him a bible, and that he didn't "trust in God"...

Most of what can be seen so far about his "philosophy" is that it's most distinguishing feature is its incoherence...ideological or otherwise...

He is evidently deeply paranoid about the government, (he said it practices "mind control") but that characteristic is hardly exclusive to the right...

(One need only look Steve and editec's posts to realize that)

This was a pathetic, mentally troubled person who's life was in a downward spiral following a series of failures and disappointments, (he didn't finish high school, he got kicked out of community college, the army wouldn't accept him, he couldn't keep a job) who was bitter and angry and casting about for some one or some thing other than himself (like the "mind controlling" government) to blame for his predicament and lash out at.

Dupnik should be ashamed of himself. He ought to be looking at a recall petition.

[dales]

Look for more political opportunists to cash in on the tragic events in Tucson.

Sickening.

[Lord Jim]

Look for more political opportunists to cash in on the tragic events in Tucson.

Sickening.

Keith Olbermann and his parade of shills attempted to do just that last night...

Of course there's a big difference between Olbermann and Dupnik....

Olbermann is just a bloviating gas bag that nobody takes seriously and who has no obligation to anyone to act responsibly...

Dupnik, on the other hand is not only an elected official, but he's an elected official with direct responsibility for dealing with these heinous crimes...

The ironic thing of course, (an irony that I'm sure is lost on these clowns) is that by their rhetoric and baseless attempts to smear people with responsibility for this tragedy, they are engaging in precisely the sort of "vitriol" they claim to deride.....

[Jarlaxle]

This was a pathetic, mentally troubled person who's life was in a downward spiral following a series of failures and disappointments, (he didn't finish high school, he got kicked out of community college, the army wouldn't accept him, he couldn't keep a job) who was bitter and angry and casting about for some one or some thing other than himself (like the "mind controlling" government) to blame for his predicament and lash out at.

Actually, he WAS in the Army and saw combat in Afghanistan. I wonder if this was an already-unstable mind just snapping due to PTSD.

[Lord Jim]

Actually, he WAS in the Army and saw combat in Afghanistan. I wonder if this was an already-unstable mind just snapping due to PTSD.

That claim turned out to be false Jarl. He was rejected, and because of The Privacy Act, the Army is refusing officially to say why...

Though you can bet it will leak out....

I'm guessing it's because he had a criminal record...

[Lord Jim]

As this story unfolded yesterday, I switched back and forth between the three cable news networks to follow it....

There were a number of liberal talking heads, and even supposed "news correspondents" that immediately began speculating on some link between Gifford's vote in favor of the Healthcare Bill, (and her opposition to the Arizona Illegal Immigration enforcement law...though she has been a strong proponent of increased border security, and opposed the Justice Department's efforts to have the state law overturned) and Judge Roll's involvement in a lawsuit brought on behalf of a group of illegal immigrants....

Well it turns out that there is nothing in any of Loughner's weird list of concerns (at least that has come to light thus far) that has anything at all to do with immigration or the healthcare bill...

On top of that, the judge was present purely by accident...he lived in the neighborhood, happened to be shopping at the Safeway, and just went over to say hello to the Congresswoman when he saw her gathering.

Compare this "rush to speculation" with the case of Major Hassan, where for hours, every major news outlet, (including FOX) wouldn't even release his name....

Far be it from me to suggest that there might be a double standard at work here....

[liberty]

Sure there is a double standard; a person would have to be deaf dumb and blind not see the double standard. Any unbiased person should be able to see the bias in the news media.

[Lord Jim]

This is interesting:

Federal investigators found a letter in the safe of accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner thanking him for attending a “Congress on Your Corner” event hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2007, alongside an envelope with handwritten notes that read “I planned ahead,” “my assassination” and “Giffords,” according to a federal complaint filed Sunday.

The envelope also included what appeared to be Loughner’s signature, said the complaint, which does not elaborate on the find or what else was found in Loughner’s safe.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/01 ... z1AamkGnsd

The fact that Loughner would hang on to a letter like that for three years, suggests to me, that he may have had some sort of personal obsession with Giffords.....

[Jarlaxle]

Gee, you think so? Hmm, that would be a little weird, wouldn't it. What makes you think he might do something weird...wait, could it be the fact he SHOT A BUNCH OF PEOPLE?!?!

[Lord Jim]

I'm suggesting Jarl, that keeping something like that for three years, (in a safe to make sure he didn't lose it) indicates to me that his obsession with her may have had nothing to do with her politics....

[Jarlaxle]

I think politics had little or nothing to do with this...the guy was just flat-out batshit.