Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics

Unsuspecting Heroes Help Contain…
On a day of unspeakable tragedy, a group of unsuspecting heroes who showed up at a Safeway in southern Arizona may have helped prevent a brutal shooting from being a lot worse. A wave of dramatic details is starting to emerge about the actions of a handful of bystanders who intervened after a gunman opened fire Saturday on a town hall meeting in Tucson, shooting 20 people including a congresswoman, a Federal Judge and a 9-year-old girl. Choosing to fight instead of flee, one woman grabbed the sh...

US charges sole gunman in lawmaker shooting
US prosecutors charged a lone young gunman over the attempted Assassination of a congresswoman as doctors voiced guarded hope she would recover from the attack that killed six others. President Barack Obama called on Americans to observe a moment of silence on Monday for Victims of the attack in Arizona as some officials asked if the nation's often divisive politics had spiraled out of control. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was in an induced coma as doctors treated bullet wounds to her ...

Inside the Beltway
THE FAULTY PRESS News coverage of the Arizona shooting showcased a wide spray of partisan attacks in the 48 hours that followed the tragedy, with Collateral Damage and much talk of political Rhetoric and biased media coverage. A charged environment, intense public interest and minimal facts led to extrapolation, error, blame and instant agenda. "This is a horrendous act of violence. But does it surprise you, in the context of the bitterness of Arizona politics at the moment?" asked ABC News co...

Many Eye Role of Rhetoric in Psychotic Arizona Shooting Rampage
Needless to say, it's been a busy weekend here in Washington. The Saturday shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has left lawmakers among those reeling, as members of Congress prepare to discuss this week what security precautions they should take in the daily execution of their duties as representatives of the people. But while sharing America's sorrow in the attack that left six dead and 13 wounded, the world is watching with interest the immediate storm that arose over the political Rhetoric an...

Right-wing terrorism inspired by right-wing political groups, politicians, media
Yesterday’s attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz - D) rings the same Anarchist toll as many other recent circumstances of violent demonstration. It's bad enough that many of these attacks on human life only stem from Protest against Health Care. What's worse, though, is that they seem promoted by politicians, political groups and politically-influenced media - all of which are related to current mantras of the Republican Party, if not the GOP all by itself. On January 8, Giff...

Video: Megyn Kelly Challenges Pima County Sheriff On Injecting Political Spin Into Tucson Shooting
Megyn Kelly interviewed Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and challenged him on his comments about political Rhetoric and the the 24/7 news cycle contributing to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others. On Fox News, Megyn Kelly interviewed the man in charge of the Arizona shooting investigation, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Kelly introduced the interview saying, “it is always a difficult task to try to assign reason to an irrational act, but that is one of the things t...

'My assassination' message found as charges laid over mall rampage
Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. What type of connection do you have? Your video format settings have been saved. An Arizona sheriff and a former classmate describe the alleged gunman involved in the shooting of a US lawmaker at the weekend. Federal Prosecutors in the US have brought charges against the gunman accused of attempting to assassinate congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people at ...

Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics
"I think it's fair to say that if a Republican had been shot we'd have likely seen a similar burst of partisan finger-pointing from the right. What's surprising to me is that Progressives started laying blame before even a fraction of the facts were known."...

Breaking: Sarah Palin responsible for mass bird kills, genocide in the Sudan, and AT&T;'s loss of exclusive rights to the iPhone
Because there's just as much of a tie between Palin, those events and the tragic shootings in Tucson. Of course, to listen to many Democrats and those in Legacy Media, you'd think Sarah Palin had home-schooled Jared Lee Loughner. The unmoored Rhetoric of fools like Paul Krugman and Markos Moulitsas is not only divisive, it's destructive....

Sunday Late Night: Newsweeks Unscrupulous Eleanor Clift
Eleanor Clift speaking at the 2008 National Book Festival. (photo: bluedvls11 via Flickr) Eleanor Clift’s pledge to keep statements off-the-record apparently ends if you’re a Member of Congress lying in an Arizona Hospital fighting for your life. Under those circumstances, Newsweek’s pet liberal columnist and Versailles courtier justifies disclosing what you’ve said about your colleagues, your district and your constituents. This is the worst kind of Villager self-aggr...

Federal murder charges filed in Giffords shooting case
A 22-year-old man was formally charged Sunday with two counts of Murder and three counts of Attempted Murder in a shooting rampage that killed six people and critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Jared Lee Loughner, of Tucson, Ariz., is in federal custody. He'll go before a federal magistrate on Monday and could face additional state and federal charges, including Domestic Terrorism. Loughner came to a meet-and-greet event Giffords was hosting at a local Supermarket on Saturday morning a...

US charges sole gunman in lawmaker shooting
US prosecutors charged a lone young gunman over the attempted Assassination of a congresswoman as doctors voiced guarded hope she would recover from the attack that killed six others. President Barack Obama called on Americans to observe a moment of silence on Monday for Victims of the attack in Arizona as some officials asked if the nation's often divisive politics had spiraled out of control. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was in an induced coma as doctors treated bullet wounds to he...

Tone It Down
Glenn Reynolds is upset that people in the press and liberals and Democrats have blamed the shooting in Arizona on the heated Rhetoric of Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement, hate radio, and the right. I think it is reasonable to wait to see what can be learned about the shooter's political beliefs and espoused motivations before we assign direct blame on anyone. We've already learned a little bit about the shooter, and it doesn't appear that he was motivated primarily by anything he heard or r...

Democrats Will Introduce Legislstion Outlawing Inflammatory Language
Democrats will introduce a bill this week to rip apart the US Constitution. Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) will introduce Legislation this week that will criminalize inflammatory language. Democrats are still blaming Sarah Palin and Conservatives for the shooting in Tucson by an anti-Christian, anti-Constitution, left-wing, pro-Marx, antiflag, “quite liberal” lunatic. Rep. Robert Brady , D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce Legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use langu...

Shooting spotlights 'toxic' US politics
A debate has erupted in the US over whether an inflamed political climate influenced a gunman to shoot a congresswoman and 19 other people in Arizona. From the left and the right, politicians and commentators seized on the attempted Assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday as either a reflection of the passions stirred up by rabble-rousing Conservatives or the isolated act of an unhinged psychopath. Liberals highlighted a map posted online ahead of the November Elections by...

SKorea, Japan to discuss first-ever military pact
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean and Japanese defense chiefs will start Military talks on accords to share intelligence and provide each other with fuel and medical support. A Defense Ministry official said Monday that the accords, if signed, will be the countries’ first Military treaty since Tokyo’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula ended in 1945. The official says the accords won’t be signed during Monday’s one-day talks. It was unclear when the signing ...

Myanmar enacts military draft law
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Military-ruled Myanmar has enacted a law that could draft men and women into the Armed Forces and mete out Prison sentences of up to five years for draft dodgers. The country currently has a volunteer army. According to an official document seen Monday the law will come into force when proclaimed by the ruling military council. Myanmar’s 400,000-strong military ranks among the largest in the world. Its Troops are engaged in a continuing conflict with several et...

Let's not make this something it isn't
I’ll admit that my first thought on Saturday upon hearing that Gabrielle Giffords had been shot was that it was probably the work of a politically motivated right-wing Extremist. And based on my initial conversations with colleagues and friends -- to say nothing of what I observed on Twitter -- I was hardly alone. It certainly seemed logical. There have been plenty of times since the fall of 2008, when Barack Obama’s pending election as president began stirring some hysterical and oc...

The Six Victims Killed in Saturday's Shooting
As the investigation continues into 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, the main suspect in the Tucson shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, Dean Reynolds reports on the other Victims. Rep. Giffords Heavily Sedated after Attack (CBS/ AP) From a judge to a janitor, the victims killed in Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Ariz., targeting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were all caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports that C.J. Karamargin, Giffords' commun...

Man who saved Rep. Giffords life is openly gay
Stumble This! The man credited with saving the life of a US congresswoman who was shot at point-blank range Saturday morning is Openly Gay, according to a published interview. “She’s been a great ally to the LGBT community,” Daniel Hernandez Jr., a 20-year-old college Student intern, told the Dallas Voice Sunday. Hernandez, a member of the City of Tucson Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues, applied pressure to Giffords' entry wound to stop her bleeding ...

Arizona Sheriff Admits There's No Evidence 'Vitriolic Rhetoric' Incited Giffords Shooter
Since making his claim Saturday that the Tucson shootings were caused by "vitriolic Rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business," Pima County Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has become a media darling being regularly quoted by press outlets from coast to coast. Megyn Kelly: I just want to ask you whether there’s anything you’ve uncovered in your investigation so far that suggests the suspected killer was list...

Arizona tragedy gives Congress a moment to pause
(01-09) 18:12 PST WASHINGTON, CA (AP) -- The shooting rampage in Arizona seems to have created a reset moment for confrontational politics, as lawmakers reflect on the repercussions of the overheated Rhetoric traded on the airwaves and on the Campaign Trail. Members of Congress from both parties called Sunday for civility over belligerence as the House temporarily shelved the contentious debate over repealing the Health Care law and lawmakers paused to contemplate the tragedy. Critically wound...

Tombstone Politics
Timothy Egan on American politics and life, as seen from the West. Tags: Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, guns, tucson If it turns out that a poisonous variant of free Speech is partially to blame for the shootings in Tucson, we will most certainly be struck by the fact that Gabrielle Giffords was seen last week in Congress, reading part of the Constitution that allows an American Citizen to say just about anything. But as Rep. Giffords herself also pointed out, in March when...

The Weekend That Was
A troubled 22-year-old College Student, Jared Lee Loughner, has been charged with trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, during a shootout that left 20 people (Read more...) ...

Vitriol: Progressives would eviscerate the metaphorically rich language that is our birthright
  "Wonder which JournoList/cabalist wordsmith came up with the now viral 'vitriol' to tar Sarah & the Tea Party. John Podesta, EzraKlein?" we twittered this afternoon. The local sheriff was apparently the first to use the term in this context, but its ubiquity in the left's craven attempt to shape the narrative of the Saturday Night Massacre to blame the usual suspects — Sarah Palin and the Tea Party — suggested media-control mavens were on the case. &...