Congresswoman Giffords' office releases first photos from hospital room

Obama calls for an end to 'sharply polarised' US
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the memorial event, 'Together We Thrive: Tucson and America', at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona, on 12 January 2011. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Barack Obama has appealed for an end to the "sharply polarised" debate that has consumed American politics in recent years and provided the backdrop to the aftermath of the bloody Assassination attempt against a congresswoman in Tucson. Speaking at a memorial event i...

Backlash Grows Over Palin's 'Blood Libel' Claim
Sarah Palin's use of the loaded phrase "blood Libel" is attracting more attention and condemnation as the day goes on. The former Alaska Governor used the words to describe the claims of critics who said Palin deserved some of the blame for the Arizona shootings because of her fiery Rhetoric and her target-marked election map that put the sights on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), among others. But the phrase most often refers to an anti-Semitic myth that's been used to justi...

POLITICO: Pelosi Was in the Room When Giffords Opened Her Eyes
It's a borderline violation of the Hippocratic oath, but I'll let the doctors slide on this one. Wax replica of Pelosi greeting Giffords. CORRECTION: That's a photograph. Seriously, though - this is incredibly good news. TUCSON, Ariz. — Simple sentiments, spoken by family and some of her closest friends in Congress, inspired the beautiful “miracle” of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ open eyes Wednesday evening. Surrounded in her Hospital room by her husband, her parents, former ...

Poll: Tucson Shooting Wasn't Political
PHOENIX - A Mass Shooting that left six dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords gravely wounded has the nation wondering, why? Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik spoke out about the rampage on Saturday, saying it grew from extreme political Rhetoric, Bigotry and hatred, especially in his home state of Arizona. That statement ignited a firestorm of statements from politicians and Law Enforcements, who said there was no evidence to suggest politics played a role and that it was too soon to make...

Obama: Don't turn on each other
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic...

Office of Gabrielle Giffords Release First Photos From Her Hospital Room
Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's office released the first photos from her Hospital room at the University of Arizona Medical Center. The pictures show her husband, Mark Kelly, holding her hand. ...

Gabrielle Giffords' Difficult Path Back From a Brain Injury
Five years after Lee Woodruff’s ABC News anchor husband, Bob, was hit by a bomb in Iraq, he has experienced a miraculous outcome, and the pair now devote themselves to talking with families about brain injury and recovery. She offers some words of advice to Giffords’ family—and to the media....

Obama leads mourning of Arizona shooting victims
By Jeff Mason and Tim Gaynor TUCSON, Arizona | Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:10pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - President Barack Obama mourned the Victims of an Arizona Shooting Spree on Wednesday and urged Americans not to let the debate over the tragedy be used as "one more occasion to turn on one another." In an emotional address to thousands of people who packed a Tucson arena for a memorial service, Obama said no one knew what prompted a gunman to go on a rampage that killed six people and critic...

At Memorial, Obama Announces Giffords Opened Her Eyes
President Obama speaks at the Tucson, AZ memorial event (AP) NEXT » President Obama spoke at a memorial for those killed and injured in Saturday shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson, Arizona Supermarket, and told the country, "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: the hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen," and also referred to the debate, "It's important for us to paus...

Daniel Hernandez: In Praise of the Intern
Photo: David Becker / Getty Images While President Obama may have gotten some of the biggest cheers during Wednesday night's University of Arizona memorial service, Daniel Hernandez Jr. certainly had his moment, too. Hernandez is one of Senator Gabrielle Giffords' unpaid interns—and the guy who first ran to Giffords' aid. A Student at the University of Arizona, Hernandez had been Giffords' intern for less than a week when Saturday's shooting occurred. He was called a hero for his life-sa...

Obama: Polarized Nation Needs Healing
TUCSON, Ariz. - Summoning the soul of a nation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Americans to honor those slain and injured in the Arizona shootings by becoming better people, telling a polarized citizenry that it is time to talk with each other "in a way that heals, not in a way wounds." Following a Hospital bedside visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of the Assassination, he said: "She knows we're here, and she knows we love her." In a memorably dramatic moment, the pres...

Fired!
Read below and post your view! TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Three employees at University Medical Center have been fired for violating patient Privacy in connection with accessing confidential medical records in last weekend's shooting rampage in Tucson. The Arizona Daily Star says a contracted nurse also was fired by the nurse's employer and the families of the affected patients were notified. All of the remaining injured patients in Saturday's shootings are at UMC, including Arizona congresswoman Ga...

Shot US politician can now breathe on her own
Gabrielle Giffords with her husband, NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly. Photo: AP The Arizona politician shot in the head in an attack that killed six in Tucson remains in critical condition but is now capable of breathing on her own, doctors said. "She's holding her own," said Michael Lemole, the head neurosurgeon who operated on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, adding on Tuesday that she was still responding to simple commands, a key sign for her recovery prospects. "In fact, she's able to generate h...

Heroes, humility and healing in Tucson
This day started out on a discordant note with a tin-ear video from Sarah Palin. An eight-minute defensive message that pointed fingers while demanding that fingers not be pointed at her. Her tone was wrong. Her words were ill-chosen. Her message ill-timed for a nation in need of healing. Thankfully, hers was not the last voice to be heard today. Speaker John Boehner (D-Ohio) spoke on the floor of the House. So, too, did House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Both struck the statesman-li...

Two Events In Tucson
Two events were held concurrently at the University of Arizona in Tucson on Wednesday night. One of them was a memorial service for the dead and wounded from Jared Loughner’s rampage on Saturday. This event went quite well. The other was an embarrassing political pep rally, held before a mob of rowdy kids whose cell Phone Numbers were likely harvested by the Obama campaign at rock Concerts in 2008. There were some weird touches, like the rambling Indian ceremony performed at the beginning...

Obama leads memorial for Tucson shooting
President Barack Obama led a national outpouring of grief while calling for unity at an emotional memorial after a shooting that unleashed fierce debate about inflammatory political Rhetoric. In a Speech repeatedly interrupted by applause for those who tackled the gunman -- and the announcement that a US lawmaker who was shot in the head had opened her eyes -- Obama said the attack must not lead to new divisions. "At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when w...

Palin Accuses Critics of 'Blood Libel' (updated)
Far from backing down, Sarah Palin defended herself today against critics who linked her Rhetoric to the Arizona shootings, accusing them of the long-condemned anti-Semitic slur "blood Libel." Palin opponents noted soon after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that left six people dead that Palin had posted a map on her website last fall with gun sights on 20 districts, including Giffords'. She announced it with a tweet: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!&quo...;

Palin's Arizona defense fuels 2012 speculation
Sarah Palin fanned speculation about her presidential ambitions when she cast herself as chief defender of arch-conservatives accused of inspiring a horrific act of violence with their fiery political Rhetoric. Palin accused those linking bellicose politicking by the right-wing Tea Party movement to the attempted Assassination of a US lawmaker of spreading a "blood Libel" in a slickly produced video on Wednesday. "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the cr...

Palin's Arizona defense fuels 2012 speculation (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Sarah Palin fanned speculation about her presidential ambitions when she cast herself as chief defender of arch-conservatives accused of inspiring a horrific act of violence with their fiery political Rhetoric. Palin accused those linking bellicose politicking by the right-wing Tea Party movement to the attempted Assassination of a US lawmaker of spreading a "blood Libel" in a slickly produced video on Wednesday. "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on t...

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Opens Her Eyes As Pelosi, Gillibrand and Wasserman Schultz Joyously Watch
Rep. Gabby Giffords, who took a bullet to the brain in Saturday's Tucson rampage, opened her eyes for the first time Wednesday night at the urging of her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, as three close Democratic friends from the House -- Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Kirsten Gillibrand -- looked on in joyous disbelief. "Gabby, open your eyes, open your eyes," Gillibrand quoted Kelly in a phone call to CNN. She seemed to struggle momentarily but then managed t...

Pete King: We Need to Stop the Fear
Rep. Pete King thinks cops need the power to stop people carrying guns within 1,000 feet of federal officials because Americans are becoming afraid of listening to lawmakers in public. The powerful Long Island Republican who chairs the Homeland Security Committee thinks the Arizona shootings that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) with a bullet hole in her head have deeply chilled regular Americans. "I’ve gotten people saying, 'Hey, you’re a good guy -- do...

Pelosi on Hand When Giffords Opens Eyes
TUCSON— Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, was in Gabrielle Giffords‘ Hospital room when she opened her eyes for the first time since being shot in the head last Saturday, Obama Administration and congressional aides said. Mrs. Pelosi, along with two other Democrats, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, were in the room, shortly after President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama finished their visit to the hospital, before...

McCarthy Pushes For Smaller Gun Clips After Tucson
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-L.I.) drafted Legislation today in response to the Arizona shootings to renew the ban on gun clips that carry more than 10 rounds. "As someone who’s experienced senseless gun violence firsthand, I’m praying for my colleague Rep. Gabrielle Giffords" (D-Ariz.) and other Victims of the Shopping Mall shootings last Saturday, McCarthy said in a statement. Jared L. Loughner, the 22-year-old suspect in the shootings, allegedly had an “extender&rdquo...;

OOPS: Politico: Obama speech undercuts federal charge for judges murder. It may have been inad
OOPS: Politico: Obama Speech undercuts federal charge for judge’s Murder. It may have been inadvertent, but a passage in President Barack Obama’s Speech to a memorial service it Tucson Wednesday night could undercut a criminal charge Federal Prosecutors have leveled at suspect Jared Loughner for the death of U.S. District Court Judge John Roll in a shooting rampage...

Mourning turns to cheers
TUCSON — President Barack Obama probably never imagined he would fill a college gymnasium like this. But at the University of Arizona’s McKale Center Wednesday night, Obama faced a mourning community looking for consolation, but perhaps more importantly, a chance to celebrate its strength. It was a night for sadness, to be sure, but there was also a raucous, nervous energy in the crowd that found release several times in loud, sustained and boisterous cheering. Continue Reading Te...