Poll: Despite Left's Lust to Pin Blame on Right, Only 32% Believe AZ Shootings Were Politically Motivated

Will Tucson Tragedy Shift Gun Control Debate?
Roanoke Firearms store owner John Markell holds a Glock 19 Handgun, the model used in both the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the recent shootings in Tucson, Ariz. Sales of the handgun surged after both events. In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson Saturday, pundits have spent countless hours debating the role of Sarah Palin in the story - despite the fact that there is no evidence that alleged shooter Jared Lee Loughner is a Palin supporter or had ever seen or heard her Rhetoric. What ...

My Take: Is Arizona shooting an individual or shared sin?
Editor's Note : Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor. By Stephen Prothero , Special to CNN After the shooting, the vitriol. First came the thunder from the left, blasting the right for creating a climate of hatred in which taking out your Glock and aiming it at a congresswoman might seem to be the next logical thing to do. Then came the thunder...

FBI Launches 'Bureau Special' to Probe Shooting
Hundreds of FBI agents are working on an investigation aimed at understanding why a former community College Student, with no history of violence, went on a shooting rampage outside a Tucson, Ariz., Supermarket last weekend. The suspect, Jared Loughner, 22, allegedly killed six people, gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and injured 13 others as he opened fire during a political event at a local shopping center on Saturday morning. Inside the FBI, the investigation is known as a "Bure...

Dad pursued Ariz. massacre suspect before shooting
A woman prays at the memorial located in front of the University Medical Center, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz. The memorial has been set up for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who is in critical condition at the Hospital, and other Victims who were shot on Saturday, leaving six dead and more injured. Mysterious black bag in hand, Jared Loughner ran into the desert, his angry father stopping pursuit in his truck. Hours after Randy Loughner's futile confrontation with his 22...

Obama to devote most of Tucson remarks to honoring victims Iowa quilter already getting personal calls from GOP candidates DeL
PUNDIT PREP – CBS News poll: “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.” https://bit.ly/eEhys4 --VIDEO : Katie Couric talks Tucson with Tim Pawlenty and E.J. Dionne. https://bit.ly/gjPZcY EBONY magazine cover of the President and the First Lady, “THE OBAMAS: A couple with a PURPOSE.” https://politi.co/h2oxi9 --ROBERT GIBBS&rs...;

Arizona shooting: The claim that more guns means less crime is just silly
I walked into a drugstore in Phoenix the night after the Tucson shooting and saw toy guns for sale. They were a garish red plastic, with bright orange tips, and bore the notice that it’s strictly illegal to paint the guns in any way to resemble real ones. Yet here, as Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik declared after the shooting, just about anyone can buy and carry a gun almost anywhere at any time. So why bother with toys? Sheriff Dupnik is the one politician (sheriffs are elected) who...

Rush Limbaugh: Democrats Seek "to Profit Out of Murder"
Rush Limbaugh (Credit: AP) Rush Limbaugh is not exactly dialing down the Rhetoric in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson on Saturday. In his first comments on the tragedy, Limbaugh lashed out at the Democratic Party as one that "seeks to profit out of Murder," Roll Call reports, citing Limbaugh's comments as aired on a Tucson station. The Roll Call report also quotes Limbaugh saying that the political left "openly wishes for such disaster in order to prof...

01.11.11 Open Thread
For all of of US Open thread aficionados, here’s tonight’s, squeezed between two very hot posts … … by Reverend Amy and Mssr. Johnson, the bad-boy, brilliant writer of irony and satire. Tonight, I’d like to point you to David Brook’s op-ed on the Tucson shootings in The New York Times: “The Politicized Mind.” Yes, well, it IS David Brooks. However, he sometimes makes very astute, insightful remarks, and this is such a case. Brooks’ op-ed wo...

Arizona suspect's troubles didn't prevent him from buying gun
Tucson, Ariz. — Jared Loughner had trouble with the law, was rejected by The Army after flunking a Drug Test and was considered so mentally unstable that he was banned from his college campus, where officials considered him a threat to other Students and faculty. But the 22-year-old had no trouble buying the Glock semiautomatic pistol that authorities say he used in the Tucson rampage Saturday that left six dead and 14 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Obama, House prepare to address Tucson tragedy
President Barack Obama and members of the House of Representatives could bring new clarity Wednesday to the national debate over last weekend’s Mass Shooting in Tucson, which left six people dead and Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords fighting for her life. Obama will travel to Tucson Wednesday evening to address a memorial gathering for the Victims of the Saturday attack. He and First Lady Michelle Obama will participate in an event at the University of Arizona titled, “Together W...

Angle defends herself, tea party
Former Nevada Republican Senate Candidate Sharron Angle is blasting those blaming her for inciting the Arizona shooting that injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others, saying the accused shooter went off the deep end long before the Tea Party movement started. In her first comments - coming three days after the shooting - Angle said in harshly worded statement that her critics were “dangerous and ignorant” and charge it was irresponsible to blame the political right for...

Forget civility. How about more truth in politics?
In the wake of last weekend’s horrific shooting, many observers have weighed in with both trenchant and idiotic takes on what the incident means and doesn’t mean. There has been some wonderful stuff — George Will, the National Journal’s Kathy Kiely and Josh Kraushaar, to name a few — along with gigabytes of left and right Jabberwocky. But as I have reflected on the tragedy, while marveling at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ resilience, my reaction has gradually metamorphosed fro

Arizona officials reveal disturbing details about suspect in massacre
Doctor: No change in Rep. Giffords condition Ariz. survivor: 'It was like a bad crime drama' TUCSON — Investigators revealed more disturbing details Tuesday about the events leading up to the Assassination attempt against U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, including a menacing handwritten note in the suspect's home with the words "Die, bitch." Just before Saturday's shooting, a mumbling Jared Loughner ran into the desert near his home after his father asked him why he was removing a black bag ...

NYT: Cops Previously Visited Loughner Home
With all the evidence against the suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, a Guilty verdict could still prove very difficult. Jan Crawford reports on the latest details of the case. As new details are released of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner's alleged behavioral issues, Dean Reynolds reports on the latest Mental Health laws in Arizona. Jared Loughner, 22, is charged in the shooting that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded and killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. (CBS) In thi...

Monica Yant Kinney: Arizona tragedy becomes grist for political mills
Hours after a troubled 22-year-old massacred six people and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others in a Tucson, Ariz., Parking Lot, my in box began filling up with unsolicited missives from officials and interest groups miles from the crime scene. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence wanted to make sure I knew that "we have too few laws to protect our families and communities from this kind of bloodshed, and the laws we do have are riddled with too many Loopholes." Ce...

'Cautious Optimism' for Rep. Giffords
AP/Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Mark Kelly, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband, holds her hand in her room at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. the day after the shooting rampage in a photo just released by congresswoman's office. 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 s...

OReilly Unmasks Far-Left Sheriff
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 Optimism' for Rep. Giffords Mark Kelly, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband, holds her hand in her room at University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. the day after the shooting rampage in ...

Loughner Parents: Sorry About Those Murders (ignore that skull in the back yard??)
These parents have a LOT of explaining to do.    “Sorry” isn’t going to be enough. The family of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner handed out a written statement to reporters standing in front of their home late Tuesday afternoon. This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our Privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don’t understand why this ...

Loughners Father Chased Son Hours Before Tucson Shooting
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 By Amanda Lee Myers and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press This Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 photo released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office shows shooting suspect Jared Loughner. (AP Photo/Pima County Sheriff's Dept. via The Arizona Republic) Tucson, Ariz. (AP) - Mysterious black bag in hand, Jared Loughner ran into the desert, his angry father stopping pursuit in his truck. Hours after Randy Loughner's futile confrontation with his 22-year-old son Saturd...

Giffords staff boosted by support
TUCSON, Ariz. — If we keep busy, we’re fine. This has become the mantra of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s staff in her district office, where those closest to her attempt to manage an overwhelming flood of constituents, cards, candles and flowers while their boss fights for her life in a Hospital bed 4 miles away. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 Giffords’s Communications Director calls the past few days a “time of extremes” — for as rand...

Obama to be nation's consoler at memorial service
WASHINGTON — Searching for unity out of tragedy, President Barack Obama will honor the Victims of the Arizona Mass Shooting in personal terms and remind those in grief that an entire nation is with them. The president is again stepping into his role as national consoler, a test of leadership that comes with the job. His mission at Wednesday's memorial is to uplift and rally, not to examine political Incivility. Set to speak during an evening gathering in Tucson, Ariz., Obama will remembe...

Bill Maher is a loon
In case you had any doubt, allow this to remove it once and for all: 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. Huh? Cooper...

Why Wasnt Loughner Committed?
What to make of Jared Lee Loughner’s reading list? His Internet rants and his political leanings? Answer: not much. In my other life, I’m a physician, and one who often deals with chronic Mental Illness. Obviously, I’ve never interviewed Jared Loughner, nor have I had the opportunity to speak to his friends and family. But given his age, his paranoid views, and his behavior, the suspect seems to be very mentally ill. Media reports are a dime a dozen and, with such a hot topic, qualit...

A Fool With a Badge is Still a Fool
Michael Reagan, FloydReports.com When a would-be assassin shot my Dad, President Ronald Reagan, nobody questioned the fact that the shooter was certifiably nuts. Authorities recognized that fact and put him in a mental institution as his obvious disturbed mental state demanded. Now we have another attempted killing of a public official, Arizona’s widely admired Rep. Gabby Giffords, and just about everybody recognizes the fact that the shooter, one Jared Loughner, is crazy as a loon. Moreover...

A Missed Chance To Intervene In Tucson?
Jared Loughner could have been involuntarily admitted for evaluation under Arizona's progressive Mental Health laws long before he allegedly showed up at a Tucson Grocery Store Parking Lot with a semi-automatic pistol, Mental Health professionals say. Whether or not Loughner is mentally ill is unclear. But what is known is that friends, relatives and teachers watched as Loughner's behavior apparently became increasingly erratic, including outbursts in class, isolation and bizarre Internet postin...