Shooting Casts a Harsh Spotlight on Arizonas Unique Politics

Have gun, Will talk: Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik not speechless over Tucson shootings or much else
For a chief Law Enforcement officer who's supposed to be assembling the complex Criminal Investigations of six sudden homicides against a local 22-year-old suspect, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik sure has found ample time the last couple of days to appear all over national News Media, spouting prickly opinions on pretty much anything asked. The sheriff, who celebrates his 75th birthday today, is understandably defensive. He had no officers at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords ' Saturday ope...

Double Standards
Rush Limbaugh and the right wingers are all over Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for having the temerity to express an opinion about the causes of the shootings in Tucson last weekend.Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik thrust himself into the spotlight in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 other people in Arizona on Saturday, decrying the heated political atmosphere and calling for more civility. "It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, ...

One wonders what we will learn from these senseless shootings
The moment of silence came and went Monday, and I tried to set aside my own anger and heed President Barack Obama's call "for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the Victims and their families closely at heart." The quiet passed, and I was revisited by the uneasy sense we are unlikely to learn anything from Saturday's tragedy in Tucson. Is the lesson of the deadly shooting destined to be buried with the dead in a country that day by day watches its ability to reason ...

Kanjorski: Impossible to protect lawmakers in public
Paul Kanjorski, the Pennsylvania congressman who served from 1985 until this year, wrote in The New York Times on Tuesday that there is no practical way to protect lawmakers entirely when they want to talk to their constituents, the way Gabrielle Giffords did when she was shot. In an op-ed, Kanjorski recalled the shooting of five members of Congress in 1954 by Puerto Rican nationalists; after the attack, only “minor security procedures” were adopted because the assault was seen as ...

Shooting from hip followed rampage
Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Ariz., have sparked calls for restraining political Rhetoric, but some of the most vociferous groups are the same ones already blamed for the harsh climate, and that's raising deep questions about where robust debate ends and incendiary Speech begins. From MoveOn.org on the left to Tea Party Activists on the right, the shootings - which left six dead, including a 9-year-old girl, and 14 others wounded, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who wa...

Was the Arizona Shooting Sheriff Dupnik's Fault?
By RightKlik It's pretty clear at this point that Jared Loughner was the Lone Wolf shooter solely responsible for the carnage in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday. But without a shred of evidence, liberals in this country want to blame the "usual suspects," including Sarah Palin, the tea partiers and conservative Talk Radio. Let's cast the net wider. On Saturday, we began asking pointed questions about Tuscon Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: A congresswoman got shot point-blank in the head in Pima County, A...

Arizona is on the brink | Max Blumenthal
The social fabric of Arizona seems to be deteriorating as fast as the state's population grows, driving it to the brink of dysfunction. The shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, US District Court judge John Roll and several other innocent bystanders by a lone gunman have brought the state's crisis to the fore, prompting Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik to declare it "the mecca for prejudice and Bigotry". Since I first travelled to Arizona more than seven years ago to interview rightwi...

Will AZ Shooter Kill the First Amendment?
Joe Guzzardi, FloydReports.com Immediately after crazed gunman Jared Lee Loughner gravely wounded Arizona U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, killed U.S. Judge John M. Roll, and six other people while wounding 12 innocent bystanders, the Immigration Rhetoric subtly ratcheted up. Denouncing Gifford’s shooting, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and others made it clear that what they referred to as “inflammatory Speech” had made the political atmosphere in Arizona so toxic that acts

Molloy: 'Crazy talk encourages crazy people'
Enough! We've let the haters and bullies lead the political and moral conversation for far too long. The national dialogue has descended into a fusillade of hate from politicians, political operatives and TV and radio pundits. There's no doubt Jared Loughner heard some of it before madness overtook him and he murdered six people and nearly killed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson Supermarket on Saturday. "People who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol," says Pima County...

Loughner Appears in Court; Giffords Gives 'Thumbs Up'
A court room sketch from Loughner's appearance. Photo: BILL ROBLES/AFP/Getty Images Suspected gunman Jared Loughner appeared in court for the first time on Monday. He'll be represented by public defender Judy Clarke. Meanwhile, congresswoman Giffords gave doctors a "thumbs up." Her brother-in-law, Scott Kelly, mourned from Outer Space. And President Obama is heading to Tucson. The latest on the Arizona shooting case, below: • Jared Lee Loughner appeared before a Federal Judge for the fir...

Gun control, tone of rhetoric take center stage after Arizona shooting
The Tuscon shooting Saturday that left Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords severely wounded, six dead and 13 others injured, is shaking Washington politically as much as it is emotionally. Health Care is off, for now. A debate about Gun Control may be back on. But the biggest breakdown, it seems, is over conduct rather than content. Several lawmakers (mostly Democrats) are blaming a poisoned political discourse and thinly veiled incitements to violence for having created an environment that...

Making Sense Out of the Violence in Tuscon: Reflections From A Migrant
It's not about win or lose Cause we all lose when they feed on the souls of the innocent blood drenched pavement keep on moving though the waters stay raging. Matisyahu - 2009 The reactions I've witnessed to the violence in Tuscon have made me physically sick. Ever since I heard the news on Saturday, I've been glued to twitter, the television, and my computer screen, looking for someone to say something that makes some kind of sense. It seems the only people that have anything worthwhile ...

Hate Speech and Hateful Acts in Arizona
Justice and other local hosts "struck a defensive, even embattled tone" in response to remarks by Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik, who said at a news conference that Arizona had become "the mecca for prejudice and Bigotry" and that local TV and radio hosts should do some "soul-searching," the Times reported. "They said Saturday's shooting had nothing to do with either their broadcasts or the state's tense political environment." Some callers disagreed and "made it clear" they think the radio hosts ...

Loughner's parents 'devastated,' 'hurting'
Source: MSNBC PHOENIX, Ariz. — The parents of Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old suspect in the fatal shooting of six people and attempted Assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, are "devastated" and "hurting real bad," a neighbor told The Wall Street Journal. The paper reported that the neighbor, Wayne Smith, broke the news to Randy and Amy Loughner that their son was a suspect in the shootings Saturday. <snip> The Journal reported that Smith did not think Randy Loughner had work...

SINGULAR HUMAN [THIESSEN: MARC] ACTIVE-VERB WRITES [SIN=OPPOSITE/HYPOTENEUSE] ON [DEFINE FUNCTION=INSIGHT] HYPOCRISY
IS =SINGULAR-VERB, ARE = PLURAL-VERB ~10-~JANUARY-~2010-NOW-TIME >>>REMARK/NONEXECUTABLE: Since David Corn has outed my secret admiration of HUMAN-DESIGNATE DAVID-WYNN: MILLER, I will drop the pretense of the VOID-WAR of having never MIND-SPACE heard of him, and begin emulating my DEFINE FUNCTION: LIBERATE (RECURSIVE) TRUTH BRAIN-HERO [SEE UPDATES TO POST, TIME: PRIOR; REFERENT: NOW-TIME]. BEGIN: EXCERPT FROM HUMAN DESIGNATE THIESSEN: MARC. Left-wing Bloggers and commentators blamed the attack ...

Media Knew Killer Probably Wasnt Politically Motivated
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com The Left has gone out of its way to blame Saturday’s tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on anyone to the Right of the Mensheviks. Among the first to pile on the blood Libel was New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who pinned the shooting on an alleged conservative “climate of hate.” Most of us countered that the murderer, Jared Lee Loughner, clearly seemed mentally ill, addicted to mind-altering drugs, or perhaps the Victim of ...

The Quest for an Obamacare Martyr
Posted by Nichole Hungerford on Jan 11th, 2011 and filed under Daily Mailer, FrontPage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. In 1995, a politically desperate President Clinton brazenly capitalized on the bombing in Oklahoma City, blaming his political opponents and their extreme right-wing Rhetoric for the horrific incident. This was six months after Clinton suffered a stunning rebuke in th...

Video of the Day: AZ Sheriff Slams Irresponsible Rush
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is at it again. He gave a politicized Press Conference after the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, blaming “vitriol.” Then Sunday, he admitted to Fox News’ Megyn Kelly he had no proof Loughner had been influenced by politics at all. But now he has reversed course and blamed Rush Limbaugh for his “irresponsible” Rhetoric, anyway. Way to issue a blood Libel there, Sheriff. ...

CDR Salamander: On the Tucson shooting.
This is going to come out like a disjointed rant. I don't care - that is what it is. OK, I've had enough. This did it for me. AT THE DIRECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE United States, THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF UPON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, IN HONOR OR THE Shooting VictimS IN Tucson, Arizona. FURTHER GUIDANCE WILL BE PASSED UPON RECEIPT AS TO THE DURATION OF THIS HALF-STAFFING OBSERVANCE. THE FLAG SHALL BE FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF ON ALL DEPARTMEN...

A Tale of Two Matthews: How MSNBCs Host Handled Tucson Shooting vs. Ft. Hood Shooting
After the Ft. Hood shooting, Chris Matthews went out of his way to find reasons other than Radical Islam for the shooting. And he had a representative of CAIR on his show for the express purpose of keeping people from jumping to conclusions about the Muslims. Today, in stark contrast, Mr. Matthews assigned motive and direct cause for the Tucson shooting....

Naturally: Rush Limbaugh Added to Sheriffs Blame List
**Written by Doug Powers National Review’s Rich Lowry touched on this earlier, but it appears that Jared Loughner’s descent into ultimate evil has been documented to have started as far back as 2007 — long before the first “Tea Party” and prior to Sarah Palin becoming a household name. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the man at the forefront of a Murder investigation but who is acting hell-bent to prove that he learned everything he knows about responsible la...

Top lawyer to represent accused Arizona gunman
FILE - In a Dec. 3, 2007 file photo, attorney Judy Clarke leaves the federal building in downtown Boise, Idaho. Public defenders are asking that Clarke, the attorney who defended Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Timothy Mcveigh and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, defend Jared Loughner. Loughner is charged with one count of attempted Assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the Federal Government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. He is schedu ...

Arizona gunman in court as Obama leads mourning
The man accused of trying to assassinate a congresswoman in an Arizona Shooting Spree that left six dead appeared in court Monday but said nothing to shed light on his motive. President Barack Obama led the Americans in a somber minute of silence to honor the 20 people gunned down in Tucson -- where he will attend a memorial service on Wednesday, the White House announced. Flags were at half-staff at the Capitol in Washington, where hundreds of aides and lawmakers crammed the storied steps of Co...

Hill aide: 'It could have been any of us'
Capitol Hill returned to work Monday with a sense of grief and vulnerability, as thousands of Staffers — those who truly make things run in Congress — tried to cope with the idea that their own people have become targets. Instead of charging into another week of partisan Rhetoric, they bundled up and gathered on the cold marble steps of the Capitol for a moment of silence. They listened to a prayer of hope from ordained minister and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). They signed a book...

For Giffords, right doctors in right place
Two of the surgeons who were waiting to pick up the pieces from the “mini-mass-casualty” event in Tucson, Ariz., have ties to the Washington area and, some might say, were the right doctors at the right place at the right time to help Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Peter Rhee, head of the trauma department at the University of Arizona Medical Center, said he had all the gear and good people he needed Saturday as Giffords and 10 others were brought to the emergency department. Continue ...