Do classrooms hold lessons on the link between rhetoric and violence?

Tucson shooting suspect had several scrapes with police
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The college Drop Out accused of shooting six people dead in Arizona had previous police encounters as far back as 2004 for drug use, drunkenness and other troubles in school but no record of violence, Police Reports released on Wednesday showed. The Pima County Sheriff's Department, the lead local agency investigating Saturday's Shooting Spree, also said that various unspecified threats Jared Lee Loughner was alleged to have made prior to his deadly rampage came to t...

Tucson shooting suspect had several scrapes with police
By Tim Gaynor TUCSON, Arizona | Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:57pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The college Drop Out accused of shooting six people dead in Arizona had previous police encounters as far back as 2004 for drug use, drunkenness and other troubles in school but no record of violence, Police Reports released on Wednesday showed. The Pima County Sheriff's Department, the lead local agency investigating Saturday's Shooting Spree, also said that various unspecified threats Jared Lee Loughner ...

Thousands flock to Obama's Tucson memorial address
"This could be a way of people connecting. Sometimes tragedy can lead to community," said Los Angeles native Megan Henley, 25, as she stood in a line of people winding several city blocks hoping to enter the sports arena. A 22-year-old College Dropout, Jared Lee Loughner, opened fire on a crowd in north Tucson on Saturday morning, gravely wounding local congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and killing six people including a Federal Judge and a 9-year-old girl. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama l...

Thousands flock to Obama's Tucson memorial address
Tucson, Ari. | Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:24pm EST Tucson, Ari. (Reuters) - Thousands of people, some toting peace signs, packed a stadium in central Tucson on Wednesday to hear President Barack Obama address a city devastated by a shooting rampage. "This could be a way of people connecting. Sometimes tragedy can lead to community," said Los Angeles native Megan Henley, 25, as she stood in a line of people winding several city blocks hoping to enter the sports arena. A 22-year-old College Dropout, Ja...

Asking The Right Questions
Do you agree that the "eliminationist Rhetoric" cited by Krugman is a problem and is out of bounds? Are you denying that such rhetoric exists, or that the preponderance of it comes from the right? More broadly, putting aside the case of Jared Loughner, is it a valid question to ask whether such rhetoric in general risks tipping the unhinged into violence? An Arizona Republican Party District Chairman resigned shortly after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 18 others on Saturday...

Obama eulogizes AZ shooting victims
Stumble This! President Obama is to speak at a memorial service at the University of Arizona at 8 p.m. EST. About 17,000 people were estimated to be in line at McKale Center by 2 p.m. The center's official capacity is 12,000. Obama returned from overseas to deliver the eulogy entitled “Together We Thrive: Tucson and America” of the six people who died from Saturday's tragic shootings outside a Grocery Store in Tucson, Arizona. The president prior to the memorial service visited...

Can't We All Get Along?
Hillary Clinton's comments today, describing Jared Lee Loughner as an Extremist, were unfortunate and are probably much regretted by now. I attribute them to jet lag and total immersion in the difficult, high pressure, multi-country trip she's undertaken, which probably caused her to lose track of the emerging portrait of the shooter as a dangerously disturbed young man. There is no comparison between Loughner's acts and Islamist Terrorism, the latter being violence undertaken in the service of ...

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...

Rep. Charles Rangel: STANDING UP TO GUN VIOLENCE
The tragic massacre in Tucson, Arizona last week is a grim reminder of what can happen when political Rhetoric spirals out of control. Constant vitriol creates a climate that can turn volatile by the ease in which people have access to dangerous guns.  My constituents have a special understanding of this tragedy because of the amount of gun violence that has been in my district. In fact, far too many people across our great nation have attended funerals of family members, friends and other l...

Hannity: 'Reckless Hoax Coming Apart Brick by Brick'
On his Radio Show today, Sean Hannity explains how the the left's campaign to link Jared Loughner with Talk Radio, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party is falling apart "brick by brick." You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Americans who share these values to join us here at Fox Nation. 'Cautious Optim...

Congressional Voices Speak Out About Tucson
Like this Story? Share it: Katie Couric speaks to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D - SC), Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D - FL), Rep. Michael McCaul (R - TX), Rep. Frank Guinta (R - NH) and Rep. Bill Huizenga (R - MI) about the Tucson shootings. Katie Couric speaks to members of Congress about their reaction the video released by Sarah Palin regarding the shooting in Tucson and the media surrounding it. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D - FL) talks about the impact of the Tucs...

Obama visits wounded Congresswoman Giffords
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - President Barack Obama visited wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords on Wednesday to begin an emotional trip to Arizona as political leaders condemned the deadly Shooting Spree in Tucson. Obama's Motorcade carried him to University Medical Center shortly after he landed in Tucson to address a memorial service for the six killed and 14 wounded by a gunman who opened fire while Giffords met voters last Saturday. "The president wanted to begin this solemn trip by st...

Obama visits wounded Congressman Giffords
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - President Barack Obama visited wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords on Wednesday to begin an emotional trip to Arizona as political leaders condemned the deadly Shooting Spree in Tucson. Obama's Motorcade carried him to University Medical Center shortly after he landed in Tucson to address a memorial service for the six killed and 14 wounded by a gunman who opened fire while Giffords met voters last Saturday. "The president wanted to begin this solemn trip by st...

Words That Dont Heal
Sarah Palin feels victimized by critics who accuse her of helping create an angry political climate that led to the Tucson shootings, and she has a point. She chose a truly unfortunate way to make it, using the phrase “blood Libel.” Here’s the context, from Palin’s eight-minute video statement on the shooting: “Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and v...

Tucson Tea Party Founder Blames Giffords For Getting Shot:'The Real Case Is That She Had No Security
Source: Think Progress Tucson Tea Party Founder Blames Giffords For Getting Shot: ‘The Real Case Is That She Had No Security’ In March 2010, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) warned that the Rhetoric from the tea parties and Sarah Palin was potentially dangerous. “I can say that in the years that some of my colleagues have served — 20, 30 years — they’ve never seen it like this…when people do that, they’ve gotta realize there’s consequences to that action,” she

Pantsuit labels Giffords' shooter an "extremist"
Hillary Clinton thinks the attempted Assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was political. This is in spite of the fact he was a registered Independent who didn't even vote in the last election. The actual truth likely is he was just a lunatic who was paranoid about the government. His dislike for Giffords started before the Tea Party was ever envisioned. This tragedy is not the fault of the right or left. DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The attempted Assassination of Arizona congre...

Watch Pres. Obama's Address at Ariz. Memorial Live
President Obama's Speech Wednesday at a memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., the site of a shooting rampage that has shaken the nation, could be a defining moment in his presidency. The White House has said the Speech will focus on the Victims, heroes and those in Tucson affected by the alleged Assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition. Six others were killed and 13 besides Giffords were injured. Alleged shooter Jared Loughner so far has been charged with ...

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill: Media Must Stop Language Of Violence; Obama Is A Murderer
The political Rhetoric debate that has arisen in light of the likely schizophrenia-induced Arizona massacre this weekend has led to a whole lot of line-drawing on what media personalities can and cannot say. That doesn’t mean that some haven’t been immediately- and egregiously- crossing them. Take Columbia University Professor Marc Lamont Hill , who called for Rhetoric to be toned down nearly in the same breath as calling Barack Obama a “murderer.” The aforeme...

In Arizona, Obama Prepares To Console Nation
President Obama flew to Arizona Wednesday and headed straight to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' bedside to pay his respects to the wounded lawmaker as he sought to unify a mourning nation. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were visiting privately at University Medical Center with Giffords and other Victims of the weekend shootings that killed six people and wounded 13. He was then meeting with family members of those killed before speaking at a nighttime memorial service in Tucson, Ariz. "The president wa...

Obama visits shot politician in hospital
US President Barack Obama has made a poignant visit to wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Hospital, four days after she was gunned down in an Assassination attempt. Obama spent time with Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, a US Space Shuttle Astronaut, at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, before heading to a memorial service to pay tribute to those killed and wounded in the attack. "The president wanted to begin this solemn trip by stopping first at the hospital where c...

President Obama to Speak at Memorial Service for Arizona Victims at 5:00pm Pacific
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are in Tucson to speak at a public memorial service honoring the Victims of the Arizona shooting rampage on Saturday at 5:00pm Pacific time. Jared Loughner is accused of shooting 20 people, six of whom died. President Obama visited several other victims,  including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot point blank in the head, who remain hospitalized. The President’s Speech is expected to be broadcast by every major TV and Radio Station; r...

So who will? Someone has to...
PHOENIX (AP) -- All Federal Judges in Arizona have recused themselves from hearing the case against the man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and four other federal employees. An order issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver says the impartiality of the Arizona judges could be questioned given that one of people killed in the shooting was U.S. District Judge John Roll of Tucson. Roll was the chief federal judge for Arizona. Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th U.S. C...

Herman Cain announces presidential exploratory committee
It begins. There has been a good bit of ‘presidential’ buzz about Herman Cain in the right online community, and in the conservative camp in general. He’s not been shy about admitting that he’s considering it. Now he’s taking the next step. I had the privilege of speaking with him for a half-hour last night after he was done with his nationally syndicated Talk Show, and I am pleased to make the following announcement on RedState. Moments ago, Herman Cain announced...

Congressman happy rifle part engraved with "You Lie" no longer being sold
Washington (CNN) - The Republican congressman who gained notoriety for shouting "You Lie" at President Obama is happy that a gun seller has stopped selling a part for a semi-automatic rifle that was engraved with his infamous words. This comes amid the debate over whether provocative political Rhetoric inflames violence. The issue is getting fresh scrutiny in the aftermath of the deadly Arizona shootings that left six dead and 13 wounded, including Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Rep. Joe Wilso...

Officers stopped suspect on day of shooting...
TUCSON, Ariz. – A wildlife officer pulled over the suspect in the Assassination attempt against an Arizona congresswoman less than three hours before the deadly attack, authorities said Wednesday as they pieced together more details of a frenzied morning. Jared Lougher ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said. The officer took Loughner's driver's license and vehicle registration information but found no outstanding warr...