Obama Featured In 'Family Guy'

In Arizona, Obama to honor memories, speak of hope
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under high expectations to provide healing, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will try to convert the horror of the Arizona shootings into a moment of national unity centering his memorial Speech in Tucson on the lives of the Victims and the heroism of those who rushed to stop the madness. The president was crafting his Speech on Tuesday, and his aides were reluctant to discuss it even broadly in its unfinished form, other than to say it will emphasize the memories of t...

The New Don't Ask, Don't Tell
With President Obama reportedly set to visit this divided and mourning Arizona city Wednesday, the chair of the county Republican Party is calling on the president to help put an end to what he calls "assigning blame" in the wake of Saturday's shooting at a constituent event for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) that left six dead and the congresswoman gravely wounded. Brian Miller called on Obama to "lead the effort to stop the blame" after the shooting, responsibility for which he says has been u...

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...

Tuesday's Mini-Report
TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * It seems hard to even imagine, but Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is already able to breathe on her own, though she remains in critical condition. One of her doctors told reporters today, "She has no right to look this good." * Speaking from China today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said North Korea's nuclear and intercontinental Ballistic Missile programs are "becoming a direct threat to the United States." * Gates' visit just ha...

Increasingly Alert Giffords Breathing On Her Own Now
Los Angeles Times: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ condition is “the same as yesterday,” physicians at the University of Arizona College of Medicine’s University Medical Center in Tucson said in a Tuesday news conference, but she is now breathing on her own. “She is able to generate her own breaths,” said Dr. Michael Lemole, the neurosurgeon who operated on her following the shooting on Saturday morning. Nonetheless, Giffords’ doctors have left a breathi...

Arizona governor asks residents to pray for victims
Devoting most of her annual State of the State Speech to the rampage, Brewer called it "something dark and ugly", according to a transcript of the Speech released by her office. Among those injured in the shooting on Saturday were Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who investigators believe was the shooter's principal target, and who remains in critical condition at a local Hospital. Killed were a Federal Judge, a 9-year-old girl and four others. The suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Jared L...

Sanders Office Defends Reference To Giffords Shooting In Fundraising Newsletter
WASHINGTON -- A spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is defending the Senator's decision to reference the shootings in Arizona as part of a newsletter and Fundraising appeal he sent to constituents on Tuesday. The Vermont Independent took some heat on Tuesday for including his reflections on the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the context of raising money to fight Republicans and other "right-wing reactionaries." In an email to the Huffington Post, Michael Briggs, a spokesman for t...

Arizona legislature expected to block Westboro protest
We picket the Funerals to make these vital points to the living! If you heed, it is life and health and peace and God sent the shooter! Praise God for ALL his works, and BE YE THANKFUL! Before your blood reaches the boiling point, take some solace in the fact that the Arizona legislature is sending a message of its own. The body is expected to vote today to make it a Misdemeanor to Protest within 300 feet of a funeral from one hour before until one hour after the services have ended. Jeff Rogers...

In Arizona, Obama to honor memories, speak of hope
WASHINGTON—Under high expectations to provide healing, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will try to convert the horror of the Arizona shootings into a moment of national unity centering his memorial Speech in Tucson on the lives of the Victims and the heroism of those who rushed to stop the madness. The president was crafting his Speech on Tuesday, and his aides were reluctant to discuss it even broadly in its unfinished form, other than to say it will emphasize the memories of those l...

Emanuel: Direct access to representatives must continue
In a solemn Press Conference Tuesday, former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said it was important to continue Congress on Your Corner events after the Arizona shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Giffords was gravely wounded from a gunshot to the head during a meet-and-greet event Saturday. In his remarks, Emanuel, who served in the House of Representatives before joining the Obama Administration and is now running for mayor of Chicago, said he introduced the meet-your-congr...

Vt. senator cites shootings in fundraising letter
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — An independent U.S. senator from Vermont is being criticized by national Republicans for citing this past weekend’s shootings in Arizona in a Fundraising letter. The letter that Sen. Bernie Sanders sent out on Tuesday begins by mentioning the Shooting Spree in Tucson that killed six people and left Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others wounded. The letter also mentions issues such as health care, Social Security and taxes. Sanders is up for re-e...

Sen. Sanders uses Arizona massacre in fundraising pitch
There has been no shortage of individuals and institutions that have sought to capitalize on the shootings in Tucson. Add Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to that list. This afternoon Sanders sent out a Fundraising appeal, seeking to raise money to fight Republicans and other “right-wing reactionaries” responsible for the climate that led to the shooting. Given the recent tragedy in Arizona, as well as the start of the new Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few word...

Vt. senator cites shootings in fundraising letter
An independent U.S. senator from Vermont is being criticized by national Republicans for citing this past weekend's shootings in Arizona in a Fundraising letter. The letter that Sen. Bernie Sanders sent out on Tuesday begins by mentioning the Shooting Spree in Tucson that killed six people and left Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others wounded. The letter also mentions issues such as Health Care, Social Security and taxes. Sanders is up for re-election in 2012. Brian Walsh of the...

Loughner Parents: "No Words to Express" Feelings
Like this Story? Share it: During a Press Conference for the injured Victims of the Tucson, Ariz. shooting, Bill Hileman became overcome with emotion when describing his wife who was holding the hand of 9-year-old victim Christina Taylor Green. Jan Crawford speaks with New York Times Chief political correspondent Jeff Zeleny about what to expect from President Obama's Speech from Tucson, Ariz. Jan Crawford talks to Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and Prof. Larry Sabato, Director, Univ. of Va. Center ...

Vt. senator cites shootings in fundraising letter
MONTPELIER, Vt.—An independent U.S. senator from Vermont is being criticized by national Republicans for citing this past weekend's shootings in Arizona in a Fundraising letter. The letter that Sen. Bernie Sanders sent out on Tuesday begins by mentioning the Shooting Spree in Tucson that killed six people and left Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others wounded. The letter also mentions issues such as Health Care, Social Security and taxes. Sanders is up for re-election in 2...

Today in Comprehensive Solutions
[Long Island Republican] Rep. Peter King said Tuesday he plans to introduce a new gun safety bill in Congress in the wake of the Mass Shooting in Arizona that killed six people and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. King said his bill would make it illegal to knowingly carry a gun within a thousand feet of "certain high-profile" government officials. Oooookay. I guess that's one option. Hooray for safety! [Long Island Republican] Rep. Peter King said Tuesday he plans ...

Dollars & Sense: Verizons iPhone; 15 hot cars of the future
Arizona shooting Six people were killed and 14 others wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona....

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...

Silence Is Complicity and Defensiveness Is Endorsement
When, for instance, Sarah Palin responds to the shooting by scrubbing her website but not by apologizing for her violent imagery aimed at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, that simultaneously says she knows she may be partially responsible for violent culture, but unwilling to state that publicly so as to change that culture. When Arizona Tea Party Leaders condemn the violence but then nonetheless make a show of publicly refusing to refrain from violent Rhetoric, they are acknowledging the tragedy whi...

Family of accused Arizona shooter expresses sorrow
TUCSON, Arizona | Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:13pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The family of a 22-year-old man accused in an Arizona Shooting Spree that killed six people and injured 14 others expressed sorrow on Tuesday for the rampage and asked for the media to respect their Privacy. "There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish there were, so we could make you feel better," according to the statement attributed to accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner's family. "We don't unders...

Family of accused Arizona shooter apologizes for 'heinous' events
Arizona shooting Six people were killed and 14 others wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona....

Arizona governor asks residents to pray for victims
TUCSON, Arizona | Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:49pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer asked Arizonans on Tuesday to pray for the Victims of a Tucson Shooting Spree that killed six people and wounded 14. Devoting most of her annual State of the State Speech to the rampage, Brewer called it "something dark and ugly", according to a transcript of the Speech released by her office. Among those injured in the shooting on Saturday were Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who investig...

I Hope Erick Erickson Lives A Long and Miserable Life Afflicted By At Least Six of the Ten Plaugues*
I’m working on a longer post on the question of causation, madness and Murder, but I have to stop that for a moment of sheer rage. Y’all know that I’m a bit squeamish in my language here—the way I write f**k and all that—but let me drop that reticence for just this once and say that I hope that notorious goatbuggering cretin, Erick Erickson, suffers every possible anguish reserved for those who see the suffering of others as evidence of their god’s love for ...

Most Americans do not blame political rhetoric for AZ shootings, survey says
Stumble This! WASHINGTON - A majority of Americans reject the view that heated political Rhetoric was a factor in the weekend shootings in Arizona which killed six and critically wounded a congresswoman, a CBS News poll said on Tuesday. Since the Saturday incident in which Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot at point-blank range, various politicians and commentators have said a climate in which strong language and ideological polarization is common may have contributed to the att...

Gabrielle Giffords' Medical Status
The video below is from yesterday, but there's updated news this afternoon. At Also, at Tucson Sentinel, "Doc: Giffords '100 Percent' Certain to Survive" (via Memeorandum): Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is "100 percent" certain to survive, said Dr. Peter Rhee, a surgeon treating her for a gunshot wound to the head. "As a physician I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this, but her prognosis for survival is 100 percent, as far as it being short term," Rhee told Britain's Channel 4 News ....At N...