Russ Belville: Arizona Shooter Loughner Used Marijuana... So What?

Congresswoman Giffords breathing on her own, doctors say
Arizonans leave offerings at a shrine to Victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Brad Poole, Reuters · Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 TUCSON, Ariz. — U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and doctors on Tuesday were hopeful about her recovery from a head wound suffered in an Arizona Shooting Spree that killed six people. Ms. Giffords, a popular 40-year-old Democrat, remained in critical condition at a Tucson Hospital but is “holding her own,” re...

Why Arizonans Can Buy Guns Made In-State Free of Background Checks, and Other Issues in Gun Control
ProPublica, Jan. 11, 2011, 11:30 a.m. The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and more than a dozen of her constituents in Tucson this weekend has sparked criticism of Arizona’s lax Gun Control laws and renewed calls from some to tighten those restrictions. Six individuals were confirmed dead. Here’s our attempt to briefly break down a few of the issues at play: In the Arizona case, the gun used by accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner was a Glock 19—a semiautomatic weapon with a ...

Rush Limbaugh: Its insane to fault Sarah Palin for Ariz. shooting (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller Rep. Peter King to introduce bill making it illegal to carry a gun within 1,000 feet of 'high-profile' government official Fellow commenters at UFO Conspiracy website questioned Jared Lee Loughner's sanity in threads 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? Talk Radio ma...

Fighting Words: In Tucson Massacre Debate, The Shooter Becomes Irrelevant
Before anyone knew anything about Jared Loughner beyond his name, pundits and politicians began a mad dash to assign ownership of his motives. Clearly, he was driven by conservative politics because Rep. Gabrielle Giffords supported health-care reform and was therefore an enemy of the Tea Party. No, wait. He was a liberal because he once read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Communist Manifesto." The funny thing is that, despite Loughner's written targeting of Giffords and a past, bizarre claim ...

The Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Arizona and Jared Lee Loughner prosecution.
Peter King proposing law banning guns within 1,000 feet of President, VP, members of Congress, and judges. https://slate.me/enyX8B What did you think of all those crazy trick plays in last night's BCS National Championship Game? https://slate.me/hkyR0s 10 Percent Unemployment Forever?...

Mental Health Care, Not Political Blame
In the wake of the Arizona shootings, it has been disturbing to see many politicians, Journalists, and even a sheriff exploit a national tragedy for political purposes. And, in so doing, many have set themselves up as Mental Health experts, explaining to the public that political debate and Rhetoric caused a likely psychotic suspect, Jared Loughner, to kill and injure innocent people. This is especially alarming when we consider that those who are public servants might, instead, focus their ef...

Infidel Bloggers Alliance
The Hill: Poll: Rhetoric, Arizona shooting unrelated By Jordan Fabian - 01/11/11 08:13 AM ET Almost 60 percent of the public believes that heated political rhetoric has nothing to do with an Arizona Shooting Spree that gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and killed a Federal Judge. Fifty-seven percent of respondents in a new CBS News poll said rhetoric is unrelated to the shooting, while 32 percent said they believe the two are connected. Many pundits and lawmakers have keyed in on ...

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Coverage Becomes Media Navel Gazing
The Tucson shootings, three days removed, have reached the predictable place in the story arc in which media analysis turns into a meta-narrative about the nature of the coverage rather than the event itself. The Victims, intermittently remembered, first were props for an analysis of political Rhetoric, then a playing field for accusations of partisan opportunism and, finally, now are an excuse for media navel-gazing. The coverage and meta-discussion have laid bare this essential truth: There ...

Whoopi: 'People Talking Caused a Lot of People to Get Lynched'
On "The View" on Tuesday, Whoopi discussed whether the Giffords shooting could be attributed to political Rhetoric: "When I was growing up – people talking – and saying things – whipping folks up – caused a lot of people to get lynched." 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 a...

Mental illness expert: Yes, ask whether political climate was a trigger for shooter
Dr. Marvin Swartz, a Professor of psychiatry and leading expert in Mental Illness, told Greg Sargent today that yes, the nation's political climate should be considered in the Jared Lee Loughner case. "It's a reasonable question to ask," Dr. Marvin Swartz, a psychiatry Professor at Duke University who specializes in how environment impacts the behavior of the mentally ill, said in an interview this morning. "The nature of someone's delusions is effected by culture. It's a reasonable line of inq...

Gabrielle Giffords, Christina Green & The Place The American Dream Went To Die
Like flies to feces, the Extremists who have so debased the American political system in recent years are feasting mightily on the latest watershed event out Arizona — the place where the American Dream went to die. The irony, of course, is that this debasement continues apace because the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free Speech, no matter how vile, while Congress and Obama Administration, cowed by the NRA, all but assure the kind of violence that leaves a congresswoman with ...

How low can Wikileaks go? Julian Assanges sick attempt to exploit the Arizona shootings
In a Press Release late last night, Wikileaks made a sick attempt to link in the public mind the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to widespread outrage in America over its recent leaking of hundreds of thousands of US government documents. Even for Julian Assange this is surely a low point IN Media manipulation, and here he is clearly mimicking the Far Left’s ludicrous attempts to blame the Right for the Arizona shootings. Here’s what the release, entitled “WikiLeak

Bloomberg: Let's talk gun control
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman should spark a renewed Gun Control debate, calling accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner “a disgrace to Democracy” as he advocated changes in federal gun policy. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset “This case is fundamentally about a mentally ill drug abuser who had access to guns and shouldn’t have,” Bloomberg said at a news conference Tuesday with members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns...

Limbaugh: Jared Loughner Has The Full Support Of The Democrat Party
The mugshot of alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner really angered Rush Limbaugh today. Not only because Loughner is getting all the attention he wanted, but also because “he’s snickering at every one of us in that mugshot.” While everyone can agree the photo is disturbing, it’s likely few would agree with Rush’s actual explanation as to why Loughner is smiling. Limbaugh theorized: “What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political...

House to honor Rep. Giffords as debate over rhetoric continues
The House on Wednesday will consider a resolution that honors Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) for her “service and leadership” and reaffirms the First Amendment rights of assembly and petition as “bedrock principles” of American Democracy.   In a four-page document to be posted online later Tuesday, the resolution “condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific attack” on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz. It also recognizes each of the Victims of the shooting and

Congresswoman Says 'Job-Killing' Is Hate Speech
Following Saturday's tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, which led to the death of six people and the serious injury of 20 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, echoed the growing call for a more civil political discourse by challenging Republicans to change the name of their Health Care Repeal Legislation: "The bill, titled the ‘Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act,' was set to come up for a vote this week, but in the wake of Gabby's shooting, it...

CBS poll: 57% of Americans reject Palin did it media spin on Arizona massacre
According to a CBS poll, a 57% majority of Americans do not believe this weekend’s mass Murder had anything to do with politics. Bad news for the Far Left which has worked overtime to smear Sarah Palin and the Far Right in the wake of the shooting. Just how badly folks on professional left failed at politicizing this tragedy for their own political gain? Even a 49% plurality of the survey’s Democratic respondents does not buy the meme that Sarah Palin and the Tea Party are at fault ...

The shooter was sent by God says Westboro minister- rhetoric continues
Controversial nut-job minister, Fred Phelps from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas told anyone who would listen to his disturbing rant on YouTube that “the shooter was sent by God.” These Westboro Church leaders are equally as guilty as the “shooter” who took his anger out on innocent folks gathering to meet their Congresswoman last Saturday. The facts first, Jared Loughner was a lone shooter operating on a limited mental capacity who killed six and injured 11 others. His...

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...

Beck, Limbaugh respond to shooting
Conservative media figures like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are raising fears that liberals could use the Tucson shootings as an excuse to clamp down on their voices, even as two prominent liberals made public statements urging that the FCC and Fox News do just that. Limbaugh and Beck, along with other conservative voices like Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly, had come under fire in the hours after the shooting from liberals such as Keith Olbermann and Paul Krugman, who accused them of us...

MSNBC's Richard Lui: 'Is It Time to Rethink the 2nd Amendment?'
"Is it time to rethink the Second Amendment?" MSNBC anchor Richard Lui asked viewers of the January 11 "Jansing & Co." on the way to commercial break around 10:15 a.m. EST. Lui was teasing an upcoming segment in which MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing would interview House Intelligence Committee Chairman and former FBI agent Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) about what measures Congress could or should take to explore greater security measures for congressmen and/or Gun Control legi...

Lautenberg: 'We Don't Have More Madmen, We Have More Guns' (VIDEO)
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said on Tuesday that America's problem isn't that there are more madmen, it's that guns are too readily available to them. In the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the Murder of six others in a mass shooting over the weekend is pushing Legislation to ban high-capacity gun clips. Lautenberg said it was outrageous that there hasn't been a positive response to the shooting and said that if alleged gunman Jared Lee Loughner didn't have access t...

Pol suggest Democrat spin on Tuscon shooting not working
Image by Getty Images via @daylife 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 hav...

Vt. health dept. to discuss floride levels
The Vermont Health Department says officials are going to work the state's community water Regulators to discuss new federal guidelines about how much Fluoride should be added to Drinking Water. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reduced the recommended amount of Fluoride that should be added to Drinking Water. The new guidelines say a 0.7 parts per million, down from a range of .7 to 1.2 milligrams, is sufficient to protect against tooth decay. And the lower level reduc...

Why Did The GOP Think It Had To Delay The Health Reform Repeal Vote?
As Republicans prepared to take over the House, they announced one of their first bills would be the Repeal of health reform because "that's what the American People want." If that's true, and repealing health reform is simply a sound policy decision called upon by the public, then why would Republicans have to indefinitely delay a vote that was scheduled for Wednesday in response to Saturday's attempted Assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords? Yes, a memorial service is scheduled for Wednes...