Jared Lee Loughner, mental illness, and fringe politics

Brave Woman Who Grabbed Clip from Shooter Blames Right-Wing Media and Rhetoric In Fox News Interview
Patricia Maisch, 61, was the brave woman who kept alleged shooter Jared Loughner from unloading a second clip into a Tuscon crowd on Saturday. Wounded herself from a bullet, she saw him attempting to equip his gun with another magazine, grabbed him and knelt on his ankle, delaying the reload and potentially saving many more lives.  So when Fox News interviewed her on Sunday, they clearly wanted to know if her strength could translate to psychic healing as Americans grappled with the tragedy...

The 2nd Amendment helped end Arizona Shooting, it didnt cause it
Twenty-four year old Joe Zamudio quietly stood at the Safeway counter waiting to buy a pack of Cigarettes as shots rang out in Tucson Arizona Saturday.  As most followed their natural instinct to run to safety, Zamudio put his hand on his gun and ran towards the chaos.   Zamudio was not an off-duty Police Officer nor did he possess Military training, he was merely an Arizona resident who was legally carrying a Concealed Weapon who believed he could stop the carnage.  In an in...

The Tragedy of the Arizona Shooting.
This weekend’s tragic shooting at a Safeway district meeting in which United States Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously hurt and a dozen more injured and a District Court judge John Roll, a nine-year-old girl born on September 11th, and a congressional aide were killed has left us all stunned. Nick Baumann has an interview with a friend of the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner. The friend describes Loughner’s obsession with Gifford as starting when she d...

Poll: Most Americans see no connection between Ariz. shooting and political rhetoric (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller We're probably alone in the universe, or else they're out to get us Mark Halperin: Conservatives should turn the other cheek when scapegoated for Murder Could Jon Huntsman really be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012? Auburn wins it all: Sights from the BCS National Championship [SLIDESHOW] Pucker up: Celebrities recall their first kiss [SLIDESHOW] A majority of Americans don’t see a connection between vitriolic Rhetoric and Jared Loughner...

Poll: Most Say Rhetoric, Killings Unrelated
From a deeply saddened CBS News: Poll: Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated Posted by Daniel Carty January 11, 2011 Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to a CBS News poll. So either our media master has better ratchet up their efforts or move on to their fall back position - Gun Control. In the wake ...

Oregon Rep. Schrader holds Beck, Limbaugh responsible for Arizona tragedy
 Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader, Democrat, is holding Right Wing commentators Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck responsible for the tragic Shooting Spree in Arizona. Saturday, outside of a strip mall in Tucson Arizona, Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including Federal Judge John Roll, and wounded more than a dozen, including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords, a Democrat who supported Health Care reform, was Loughner's target. Giffords was...

Media whitewashes ultra-right in Arizona massacre
Here the central role was played by the ultra-right media campaign mounted by Fox News, Talk Show hosts like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, including one Republican Senate Candidate who called for a "Second Amendment solution" to political issues -- i.e., the use of Firearms. As the World Socialist Web Site explained yesterday (See "Arizona Assassination spree tied to political right"), the political conceptions in Loughner's Internet postings are...

ADL's Jared Loughner Report: Mental Illness, Not Ideology Likely Led To Tragedy
Mental Illness, rather than Tea Baggery's likely to blame for Loughner's rampage, says the ADL Since Saturday's massacre in Tucson, both the left and the right have parsed alleged killer Jared Lee Loughner's YouTube videos, the statements of his supposed school chums, his favorite books (everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to Mein Kampf), and any other scraps of info out there on the guy. The left has surmised he's your classic anti-government, Wingnut Teabagger. The right's labeled him an a...

Absurd fingerpointing continues in wake of Arizona shooting
As more become clear about Jared Loughner, the facts seem to mean less and less for those seeking to turn this tragedy into a political witch hunt. It appears that Loughner, had an obsession with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) dating back to 2007 - before Sarah Palin or the Tea Party movement came on the national scene, and the warning signs that Loughner was an unstable person had been ignored; even by police. And while the debate on Loughner’s political leanings is still raging, Chris Ci...

Corn on Hardball: Who is Jared Loughner?
Tue Jan. 11, 2011 9:13 AM PST Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week. We've launched a new commenting system. How do you like it? What if 31 Shots Had Been Only 10? Had Congress not rolled back Gun Laws, the death toll would have been much lower. A longtime friend shares a message sent hours before the massacre. Some Haitians are busy rebuilding. Well, at least the ones who don't live in tents. The religious groups she affiliates ...

Commentary: Take the political rhetoric down a notch
Those searching for easy answers after a 22-year-old shot 20 people, killing six, during U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' meeting with constituents in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday won't find any. Yes, guns are easily accessible in this country. Yes, in the past two years we have seen Political Speech ratcheted up with gun-toting participants at some Tea Party events, and some Democrats in Congress faced angry voters at town hall meetings during debate on Healthcare Reform. And, yes, the Internet a...

Lawyers: Insanity Defense Wont Work
CNN reports: The alleged shooter in Saturday’s deadly Tucson massacre may have difficulty making the case for a successful insanity plea, experts said Tuesday. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, who authorities say shot up a gathering held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, outside a Supermarket, has been anecdotally regarded as very troubled and perhaps mentally unbalanced because of his ramblings spotted on the Internet and the ways he has been described by acquaintances. But Paul Callan...

Sanitizing Extremism: Palin and Beck on Violence and War
Politico: Sarah Palin reached out to Glenn Beck over the weekend, and Beck read some of their email exchange on his Radio Show this morning. “Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are felling the same heat, if not much more on this,” Beck wrote. Beck expressed concern about Palin’s safety, and urged her to hire the same Los Angeles-based security firm that he uses. The Rhetoric of both Beck and Palin has been cited by both liberals and some of the mainstre...

Mahers Offensive Rant About Loughner Sets New Low
Anderson Cooper took a very different tack last night in trying to make sense of the Arizona shooting tragedy from the weekend. While many on Cable News were turning down the partisan Rhetoric, AC360 producers booked comedian Bill Maher, who was unafraid to compare the imagined mindset of alleged assailant Jared Loughner with Fox News host Glenn Beck, while at the same time calling for responsibility in the media. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, exc...

CBS News Poll: Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated
A new CBS News poll shows that Americans are not falling for the Left’s attempts to exploit on the Tucson tragedy for political purposes: Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to a CBS News poll. In the wake of the shooting, much focus has been put on the harsh tone...

CBS Poll: American Public Not Buying Democrat, Media Spin on Arizona Shooting
From CBS News: Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political Rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to a CBS News poll. In the wake of the shooting, much focus has been put on the harsh tone of politics in Washington and around the country, particularly after a contentious Midterm Election. Rhetoric and imagery from both Republicans and Democrats have included gun-related ...

Evaluating Palin's Response to the Giffords Shooting (The Atlantic Wire)
WASHINGTON, DC – Sarah Palin hates violence and war--she just happens talk about it because it makes a middle-aged mom with glasses and a hair pouf sound tough. Harsh judgment, but even those who see no connection between Palin's rough Rhetoric (complete with gunsights) and the Giffords shooting aren't impressed with her response to the tragedy. Giffords's shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, appears to have been mentally ill and did not mention Palin--or the infamous map--a single time in his p...

On Jared Loughner: The politicized mind
Before he allegedly went off on his shooting rampage in Tucson, Jared Loughner listed some of his favorite books on his YouTube page. These included: “Animal Farm,” “Brave New World,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Through the Looking Glass” and “The Communist Manifesto.” Many of these books share a common theme: individuals trying to control their own thoughts and government or some other f...

Bill O'Reilly's 'Bloody Shirt' Factor: How to turn perpetrators into victims
Bill O'Reilly was in rare form last night as he was simply outraged from all the criticism that was heaped on the RWNM after the Giffords shootings. And the extreme Right Wing Rhetoric that Paul Krugman talked about in his piece was directed at poor l'il BillO. So Paul, be afraid -- you'll never be forgiven for writing this: And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans....

Toxic rhetoric: Twitter users want Sarah Palin dead, media yawns
Ever since the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, liberals have sought to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party for the attack. Shortly after the shooting, Jane Fonda sent out tweets blaming Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and the Tea Party. Encouraged by irresponsible and shameful reporting, a number of Twitter users have expressed their desire to see Sarah Palin dead, and some tweets actually call for her Assassination. “So…will everyone be satisfied then when Palin is assa...

Arizona's Fixation On Immigration And Guns: A Recent History
The Mass Shootings in Arizona over the weekend that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) in critical condition after being shot in the head hardly marks the first time the state has been under scrutiny for its tense political atmosphere and somewhat off-the-rails policies. In April, TPM took a microscope to the state in the wake of its incredibly Controversial Immigration policy. So it's time to ask again, what's the matter with Arizona? As TPM reported back in April: What happene...

Let's Just Say...
...for shits and giggles that Jared Lee Loughner grew up in a void and the violent Rhetoric and imagery that permeates our national political discourse had no relation whatsoever to his actions. Let us leave aside any notion that people are affected by growing up in a culture in which it's acceptable to a Republican president for his lunch guests to say things like "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus—living fossils—so we will ne...

Happy Meal Conservatism
This is an appropriate time to turn back, once again, to one of my favorite John Derbyshire pieces published waybackwhen in The American Conservative: How Radio Wrecks the Right. A long excerpt: Taking the conservative project as a whole—Limited Government, fiscal prudence, equality under law, personal liberty, Patriotism, realism abroad—has Talk Radio helped or hurt? All those good things are plainly off the table for the next four years at least, a prospect that Conservatives can o...

Krauthammer: Lefts Attempts to Blame Right for Tucson Shooting is Truly Scurrilous Video 1/10/11
Charles Krauthammer condemned the Left’s attempts to blame the Tucson Mass Shooting on political Rhetoric from the Right - calling the attacks “scurrilous.” Krauthammer, who in addition to being a syndicated columnist is also a trained psychologist, said it is clear that alleged shooter Jared Loughner is “psychotic,” exhibiting signs of “schizophrenia,” and “severe thought disorder.” ...

Jared Loughner: Examining Lucid Dreaming and Mental Illness Instead of Politics
I haven't written a word about political discourse and Jared Loughner because I don't think politic discourse, or even politics, has anything to do with his motive for the Arizona shootings. Nightline attempted to explore some possible motivations last night, and had an interesting discussion on Loughner's obsession with lucid dreaming. (It starts about 3 minutes, 10 seconds into the clip above.) Lucid dreaming is when a person becomes aware they are dreaming during the dream. Luci...