Attack inspires an outbreak of civility

Arizona shootings have immediate impact on the political conversation in Washington
This was supposed to be the week of another "showdown" in Congress. Now, the very word makes politicians squeamish. The shootings in Arizona resounded in Washington with a deep and immediate impact on the political conversation. As is the case with such shocking collective national moments, the attacks prompted a dramatic - if temporary - stand-down in the partisan battles that have consumed the capital. Instead of a vote to Repeal President Obama's health-care law, Republican lead...

The Week Ahead: Assassination attempt brings Congress to a standstill
<TABLE cellPadding=12 width=440 align=center bgColor=#ffffff hspace=”0″><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG alt=”Capitol half staff.jpg” src=”https://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/Capitol%20half%20staff.jpg” width=”440″ height=”300″ /><DIV align=right><FONT face=”verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif” color=#666666 size=-3><B>AP photo</B></FONT></DIV><FONT face=”verdana...

Jared Loughner: The Making of a Political Assassin and an American Terrorist
When the sound of gunfire had finally stopped, 18 people were shot. Of the 18 wounded, six of them were dead or were dying, including John M. Roll, the chief U.S. District Judge in Arizona, and Gabe Zimmerman, Giffords's local director of community outreach. Also killed was Christina Taylor Green, age 9, who ironically was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and had gone to the event with a neighbor. Two other Giffords Staffers, district director Ron Barber and community outreach aide Pam Simon were among t...

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
Monday morning punditry. President Obama calls for a moment of silence Monday at 11 a.m. EST. Paul Krugman: When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen? Matt Bai: The problem here doesn’t lie with the Activists like most of those who populate the Tea Parties, ordinary citizens who are doing what citizens are supposed to do — engaging in a conversation about the direction...

Giffords' husband blames inflammatory rhetoric for shooting
WASHINGTON - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' heartsick husband told lawmakers he blames inflammatory Rhetoric for the Assassination attempt on his wife. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that in a conversation on Sunday Giffords' husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, lashed out at the cantankerous politics dividing the country. He is "very angry about the level of angry Rhetoric that he believes incites people," Hoyer told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. Hoyer stopped short of calling Saturday's attack on his...

House joint caucus conference on security to be held Wednesday
House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) told reporters at a Capitol briefing after Sunday's Conference Call that leaders of both parties have scheduled a joint Caucus conference for Wednesday at House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) request. At Wednesday's meeting, members are expected to be given additional recommendations on security measures, Larson said. "The primary thing here is to make sure that all members are coordinating their efforts with local police officials, which a l...

Clinton calls Giffords shooter an 'extremist'
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called the alleged shooter of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords an "Extremist" and urged an Abu Dhabi audience not to let the incident define the United States. Responding to a Student in the United Arab Emirates, who asked her at a town hall meeting about American animosity toward the Arab World for the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, Clinton said people should work to marginalize "extremists" in all societies. "We have extremists in my country. A wonderful,...

The Climate of Krugman
Within hours of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, lunatic “Economist” Paul Krugman raced to put up a blog post blaming Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for the attack. “For those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target,” said Krugman, “the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party Activist. (Her father...

NYT Blames 'Vitriol in Politics,' Palin's Campaign Map for Schizophrenic's Rampage
Sunday’s Times led with the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a three-term Democrat representing Tucson, in an Assassination attempt in which six others were killed, including a Federal Judge and a nine-year-old girl. The suspect in custody is 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner. The suspect’s MySpace and YouTube pages are filled with crazed syllogisms, dominated by thoughts of mind control. Loughner also recommending a video of an American Flag being burned, and is evidentl...

Shooting marks turning point for Palin
With a long list of enemies, a taste for incendiary Rhetoric and responsibility for a campaign website graphic that placed gunsight logos on a map of targeted Congressional Districts, it didn’t take long for Sarah Palin to get pulled into the orbit of Saturday’s massacre in Tucson. So far, the former Alaska Governor has said little, only posting a brief message on her Facebook page Saturday offering condolences to those affected by the shooting. But the rush on the left to affix so...

Clinton urges more tolerance, less extremism
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, front, looks for a member of her team as she walks with Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right rear, at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday Jan.10, 2011. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says that dangerous Extremism can exist in many societies and pointed to the Assassination attempt on an American congresswoman. Speaking on an Arabic Talk Show hosted by women, Clinton urged mor...

Free Republic: Ignoring the Real Issue - Personal Responsibility
Every person living in the United States, to one degree or another is exposed to the Rhetoric of the left and the right, to books, both good and bad, to demagoguery and eloquence. The defining measure of men is, nonetheless, what they do with these influences.A book cannot pick up a gun. A politician cannot pull the trigger of a weapon wielded by another. While we freely anthropomorphize these things on a regular basis, saying, for example, that an article in a newspaper or a blog "takes aim" at...

Op-Ed: Mental Illness, Not Rhetoric, at Root of More Political Assassinations Historically
It's tempting in the angry aftermath of deadly moments such as Saturday's shooting of 20 people in Tucson to seize on any convenient, seemingly credible explanation for the inexplicable. How could someone so young take it upon himself to lash out lethally to kill six innocent people and wound 14 others, all presumably unknown to him, on a sunny Saturday by a grocery ironically named Safeway? You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government contr...

Obamas to Lead National Moment of Silence for Tucson Shooting Victims
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the nation in a moment of silence Monday morning at 11 Eastern time to honor the Victims of Saturday's mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz. The moment of silence "will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the Victims and their families closely at heart," said the president Sunday in a statement posted on the White House website. Obama also signed a proclamation over the weekend calling for flags to be fl...

Arizona Rep. Farley: Gabrielle Giffords' family is 'strong' and 'optimistic
Congress convenes Rep. John Boehner of Ohio inherits Speaker’s gavel as 112th session of Congress convenes Arizona Rep. Farley: Gabrielle Giffords' family is 'strong' and 'optimistic Flowers surrround the portrait of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords....

Protection Connection
A Pennsylvania Democrat wants to introduce Legislation that will extend the laws dealing with threats against the President to all members of Congress and Federal Judges. Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce Legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress. Brady told CNN that he wants federal lawmakers and officials to have the same protections...

Gabrielle Giffords is the victim of a debased political culture
One could be shocked, but hardly surprised, by the news that on Saturday morning the Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, had been shot while meeting with her constituents outside a Safeway Supermarket in suburban Tucson, and that the gunman had killed six of the people who were with her, including a Federal Judge and a nine-year-old girl. It was an event that seemed to grow out of America’s present disturbed and angry climate, like a killer-tornado or Hurricane: awful, yes, but part...

From the weekend
FROM THE WEEKEND.... We covered a fair amount of ground over the weekend. Here's a quick overview of you may have missed. On Sunday, we talked about: * A Republican senator acknowledged that "there is a need for some reflection" within the GOP in the wake of the massacre in Tucson, and that political figures need to remember that "tone matters." The senator, however, was so worried about blowback for expressing this sentiment, he/she refused to go on the record. * An aide to former half-term G...

Unclear whether shooter's motivation was political
A sign is shown on the lawn of University Hospital Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011... Tucson, Ariz. (AP) - Soften the political tone: that's been the message from lawmakers from across the nation since a gunman tried to assassinate an Arizona congresswoman and killed six people after posting confusing online rants about his views. Yet as an image of the suspected shooter emerges, friends and online ramblings paint a picture of a troubled young man whose beliefs are unclear. Some Democrats have suggested ...

Giffords' husband thanks the nation
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s husband is speaking out for the first time since his wife was shot, expressing “heartfelt gratitude” for the “unbelievable outpouring of support” from Americans in the hours since tragedy struck. In a moving statement, NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly voiced his appreciation for the help he and his wife have received from across the country. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset “On behalf of Gabby and our entire family, I want to extend o...

Tucson Suspect Jared Loughner Due in Ariz. Court
Like this Story? Share it: This March 2010 photo shows a man identified as Jared L. Loughner at the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books in Tucson, Ariz. (AP/Arizona Daily Star, Mamta Popat) As Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in a Tucson Hospital after being shot in the head, investigators find evidence at the main suspect Jared Lee Loughner's house. Ben Tracy reports on the attempted Assassination. Bob Schieffer spoke with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Nancy Cordes, Jan Crawfo...

All eyes remain on Tucson
The weekend attack on Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords appears likely to consume the nation’s business Monday, as prosecutors begin to make their case against Giffords’s would-be assassin and a debate continues to unfold over the political implications of the shooting. President Barack Obama plans to lead the nation in a moment of silence at 11 a.m. in honor of the Victims of the attack, which claimed the lives of six Arizonans, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and a 9-year-o...

Local Congressman Wants To Make It A Crime To Threaten Any Federal Lawmaker
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In the wake of the shooting in Arizona, a local congressman is introducing Legislation that would expand the law that deals with threats against the President to also cover federal lawmakers. Congressman Bob Brady, who represents Pennsylvania’s first Congressional District, wants to make it illegal to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against any member of Congress. “We are out there as much as anyone e...

Giffords Shooting in Arizona May Cool U.S. Political Rhetoric, Hurt Palin
Source: Bloomberg.com The shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and left U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition is contributing at least momentarily to a cooling of U.S. political Rhetoric. The incident on Jan. 8, coming after the Jan. 5 opening of a new Congress in which Republicans took control of the U.S. House, led the House to postpone legislative business for the coming week as both parties rushed to condemn the attack. It is also likely to hur...

Don't Say Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting Not Related to Violent Rhetoric
It would be wrong, not to mention unfair and destructive, to blame the Tea Party movement or any other political force for what happened to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But it would be equal folly to treat the shooting as though it had nothing to do with the sort of violence-themed and inciteful Rhetoric employed by some leaders and followers of the Tea Party. We are all responsible for our behavior, and the shooter who took six lives and injured 14 other individuals is no exception. The “Tw...