ADL's Jared Loughner Report: Mental Illness, Not Ideology Likely Led To Tragedy

Loughner's ramblings appear rooted in far right
Source: LA Times The ramblings of accused Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner are difficult to tie to a coherent political philosophy, yet in them can be discerned a number of themes drawn from the right-wing patriot and Militia movements, experts said. * * * Most wind up concluding that Loughner suffered from mental problems. But experts said that several oft-repeated phrases and concepts — his fixation on grammar conspiracies, currency and the "second United States Constitution" — seem derived f..

The Tucson Tragedy's True Lesson
Now that someone with Mental Illness has shot one of Washington's own, maybe Congress will start to pay attention to its abysmal failure to provide care for the most seriously mentally-ill Americans. We'll see. Lawmakers took a brief lunge in that direction after mentally-ill John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan in 1981, and an even smaller step in 1988 when Russel Weston, another mentally-ill man, entered the Capitol and shot two police officers. But most mentally-ill people are not violent -- and ...

Loughner Parents: Sorry About Those Murders (ignore that skull in the back yard??)
These parents have a LOT of explaining to do.    “Sorry” isn’t going to be enough. The family of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner handed out a written statement to reporters standing in front of their home late Tuesday afternoon. This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our Privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don’t understand why this ...

Giffords District Unable to Meet Mental Health Needs
The Huffington Post reports: WASHINGTON — In the past year, Pima County, Ariz., where Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others were shot Saturday, has seen more than 45 percent of its Mental Health services recipients forced off the public rolls, a service advocate told The Huffington Post. The deep cuts in treatment were protested strongly at the time, with opponents warning that they would result in a spike in Suicide attempts, public disturbances, hospitalizations and brushes ...

Insanity plea in Arizona shootings may be hard to make stick
The disturbing photograph of Jared Loughner that has been released after his arrest, as well as the writings and statements attributed to him, seem to point to a man with delusional thinking and Mental Illness. Even if that is found to be true, the attorneys for Loughner, the 22-year-old College Dropout who has been charged in the Tucson shootings, may find it difficult to mount a successful insanity defense. The rules regarding such a legal strategy were tightened over the years in the wake o...

01.11.11 Open Thread
For all of of US Open thread aficionados, here’s tonight’s, squeezed between two very hot posts … … by Reverend Amy and Mssr. Johnson, the bad-boy, brilliant writer of irony and satire. Tonight, I’d like to point you to David Brook’s op-ed on the Tucson shootings in The New York Times: “The Politicized Mind.” Yes, well, it IS David Brooks. However, he sometimes makes very astute, insightful remarks, and this is such a case. Brooks’ op-ed wo...

Sheriff Dupnick and the malice of the accusatory left
It is definitely tragic that a young man, born of politically connected parents, who had a history of arrests for acting out, without developing a record, showed up at a public meeting set by a recently re-elected Congresswoman and with malice in his heart started pouring bullets into those that had gathered to share thoughts about their community. What has nearly the same level of malice is the initial and continuing statements of those in our country who are politically left, liberal, progress...

Who is Jared Loughner?
An interesting analysis of Jared Loughner by Mark Potok of Southern Poverty Law Center. At one point, Loughner refers disparagingly to “currency that’s not backed by gold or silver.” The idea that silver and gold are the only “constitutional” money is widespread in the antigovernment “Patriot” movement that produced so much violence in the 1990s. It’s linked to the core Patriot theory that the Federal Reserve is actually a private corporation run f...

Should We Shut Down Debate About Arizona Rampage? A Tucson Paper Says "No"
Hyper-defensive conservative talk-radio and talk-television hosts are attacking anyone who tries to suggests that angry political Rhetoric, weak Gun Laws or inadequate programs to address Mental Illness might offer an explanation for the Tucson shooting rampage that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords wounded and six Arizonans dead. They are even condemning the local sheriff for daring to offer his perspective -- as a lawman with more than five decades of experience -- on how Arizona's toxic p...

Guns and Witches
As a Student of Psychology soon to be tasked with providing an approximation of Mental Health care, I noticed with particular alarm Sam Stein’s post about the 45 percent reduction in recipients of public Mental Health services in Pima County, Arizona, in 2010. In January, 3,000 people were dropped because they were deemed not to be actively displaying symptoms of Mental Illness. In July, 3,800 more were dropped because they didn’t fall below the federal Poverty line. So in Pima Count...

Exploring the Mind and Behavior of Jared Loughner
Jared Loughner is not cooperating with police, remaining silent since being taken into Custody. So we only have his past patterns to use to try and understand his character and his motivations for arriving at the Tuscon Safeway with a loaded gun on Saturday. It looks increasingly clear that Loughner was a normal teen who gradually lost touch with reality, probably due to Mental Illness. He was anti-government but not in a coherent way. And it appears he held a grudge against Gaby Giffords. Ti...

Arizona's extremism in the spotlight
In his Saturday news briefing, just hours after the shooting, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said: The anger, the hatred, the Bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous.... And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry. While a couple of Arizona Republicans, Rep. Trent Franks and Sen. Jon Kyl, took issue with Dupnik's remarks, a few Arizona Democrats have first hand knowledge to back up the Sheri...

Arizona suspect wrote 'die bitch' on Giffords note
Jared Loughner, accused of shooting US politician Gabrielle Giffords in an attack that killed six people and wounded 14, wrote "die bitch" and "die cops" on a letter he received from the lawmaker in 2007, officials said. The note was found by FBI investigators searching the Tucson home of Loughner and his parents, Captain Chris Nanos of the Pima County Sheriff's Department said. Ms Giffords, who authorities have said was the target of the Shooting Spree in Tucson, Arizona, at the weekend remains...

Infidel Bloggers Alliance
If One Extremist Gunmen Can Do So Much Damage in America, How About Ten Million Such People In The Middle East? ["Ayatollah Ali Loughner," Tundra Tabloid Photoshop Special for Rubin Reports] By Barry Rubin When one crazed or ideologically obsessed gunman named Jared Loughner starts shooting in Arizona, people condemn him and start bemoaning the state of their society. How about a place with ten million people like that who are treated as heroes? America this week is awash in a huge and passi...

Wheres Joe Friday When We Need Him?
The target of the most justified criticism this weekend is a tight contest between Paul Krugman and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. That said, it isn’t a difficult choice as to who most deserves the criticism. Paul Krugman once was a brilliant Economist. He’s now a political hack. In the grand scheme of things, he’s a nothing because he hasn’t contributed anything but noise to society in ages. Sheriff Dupnik, however, has a serious job, that of being a chief law enf...

Is Jared Lee Loughner linked to Tea Party, conservatives, or libertarians? (Gabrielle Giffords shooting)
Q. Is Jared Lee Loughner linked to the Tea Party, conservative, or Libertarian movements? A. At this time, there's no indication that Loughner was a member of any organized political movement. He was a registered independent who hadn't voted in 2010 (link). The DHS claim that he was linked to the white racial separatist group AmRen is false. Given what we know now, the chances of him being welcomed as a member of any group outside the far fringe is remote [1]. Given his history, the chances th...

Savageis right!
When famous radio talk-show host Mike Savage wrote a book entitled, "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder," I slapped my thigh and chortled with delight. I thought it was a delicious "shtick" and would surely win him the acclaim and money a jape like that deserves. But I didn't take it seriously. Now, after the Arizona massacre of Jan. 8, I fear I short-changed my buddy Mike. A quick listen to the national conversation written, tweeted, bleated or blithered tells me Mike wasn't kidding. His indict...

Its not about guns, and Tucson is not why hateful speech is bad
The “Second Amendment remedy” discourse of the last few years is a near-monopoly of the Far Right, “crosshairs map” and all.  And  Arizona does have extremely permissive Firearms laws, and it’s full of people who really, really, want to be able to play with guns and take them everywhere.  I would love to hang the Tucson massacre on both, the first because the hate/revolution/kill Speech is deeply execrable per se and the second because like everyone, ...

Suspect's parents: We care about victims, their families
TUCSON — The parents of Jared Loughner issued a sorrowful public Apology as Arizona prepared to pay tribute to the dead and wounded. President Obama will speak at the memorial service at 6 p.m. MT Wednesday at the University of Arizona sports arena. Since Loughner's arrest moments after the shooting Saturday of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and 19 other people, his parents have stayed inside their modest suburban home. They are distraught, crying and unwilling to leave, according to n...

6 killed in Tucson remembered at mass
TUCSON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Christina Green and those who died with her were remembered Tuesday in a memorial mass at the Tucson church where the 9-year-old had her first communion. Bishop Gerald Kicanas gave the homily at St. Odilia Roman Catholic Church, the Arizona Star reported. The service was called a Mass for the Healing of Our Community, and the church, which holds about 700, was packed -- with more people watching a TV feed in the parish hall. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has been charged with ...

Obama to Arizona as shot lawmaker fights for life (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama will lead Americans in national mourning Wednesday after an Arizona shooting tragedy unleashed a polarizing national debate about the violent Rhetoric rocking US politics. Obama will fly to the southwestern state to lead a tribute service for the six people who were killed and the 14 wounded in the Assassination attempt on congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is fighting for her life in a Hospital. His trip will take place after the family of th...

The far left goes political with Arizona tragedy
Jared Loughner, the gunman charged with shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ and the Murders of six people in Tucson on Saturday, wasn't new to the local authorities.  His bizarre beliefs about “conscious dreaming” and government mind control imposed through English grammar were well known as far back as 2007. In other words, before Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was known outside her own state and the Tea Party was ever organized.  Contrary to views of the Far Left persuasi...

Protecting lawmakers: Arm them? Install shields?
(01-11) 16:18 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Several lawmakers defiantly vowed Tuesday to arm themselves after the shooting rampage in Arizona despite the Senate's top Law Enforcement officer's admonition that more guns would not be the answer. "It's not that I'm going to be like Wyatt Earp," declared Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who said he was re-applying for a state permit to carry a Concealed Weapon even if he didn't necessarily plan to carry the pistol to public events. In a Capitol already ringed...

Loughner's Parents: Did They Know About His Mental Illness?
Alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner is the only child of Randy and Amy Loughner, described by neighbors as an unfriendly, isolated couple. Claire Martin and Masada Siegel report on their odd behavior—and why they’re hiding from the media. Plus, full coverage of the Arizona shooting....

Loughner's Grammar
Carrie Budoff-Brown tracked down the origins of Jared Loughner's strange ideas: Jared Lee Loughner’s rants about grammar and mind control track closely to the writings of a Conspiracy theorist who believes that is how the government controls the populace, one leading group says – and the man tells Politico he agrees with some of Loughner’s statements. The far-right Activist,...