The Arizona Shootings and Personal Responsibility

Shooting opens divide on inflamed rhetoric
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a town where politics never rests, the shooting of U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords quickly opened a sharp divide on the role of inflamed Rhetoric in the assault and on the proper response to its growth. The Arizona attack ignited a flood of finger-pointing and pontificating on the sometimes overheated state of U.S. political discourse, even as politicians largely vowed at least a temporary halt to the battle of words in Washington. The motives of suspect Jared Lee...

Jared Lee Loughner: what is known about Tucson, Arizona, shooting suspect
Jared Lee Loughner is refusing to tell investigators anything about a motive for the Tucson, Arizona, shooting, but he appears to be a familiar character in American life: a disturbed outsider with a gun....

Could Anything Have Stopped Loughner?
The shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of six and wounding of 13 others in Tucson is one of those American tragedies that threatens to be interpreted according to what one wants to believe. The shootings will be argued over and debated as more information comes forward, but what seems unavoidable is that the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was a nutbar through and through, and there was no way he could have been deterred. Arizona’s curious (to Canadians) Gun Laws that ...

Some random quotes....
If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web with crosshairs on 20 pols, then 1 of them got shot, where would he be sitting right now? Just asking. - Michael Moore A physician cannot treat an illness s/he willfully refuses to diagnose. Violent political Rhetoric is not fault of "both sides." - Tom Tomorrow Inspiring that our media pundits are so quick to reach for "everyone's to blame" when no conservative events have been terrorized by gunmen. - Jeffrey Feldman Weird: rightwingers say movies, vid...

Despite violence, Rep. Shelley Berkley plans 'Congress on the Corner' event
Rep. Shelley Berkley will host a "Congress on the Corner" event Friday in Las Vegas to honor Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically shot last weekend at a similar event. "I'm not going to let any wing nut keep me from doing my job," Berkley said. Berkley invited constituents to meet with her from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday in her district office at 2340 Paseo del Prado, Suite D106. "To do less than that, to hide behind the walls of this office, is a huge mistake," Berkley said. Giffor...

Frightening, twisted shrine in Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner's yard
Source: New York Daily News A sinister shrine reveals a chilling occult dimension in the mind of the deranged gunman accused of shooting a member of Congress and 19 others. Hidden within a camouflage tent behind Jared Lee Loughner's home sits an alarming altar with a skull sitting atop a pot filled with shriveled oranges. Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/10/201... ...

Manchin: 'I have never targeted an individual'
In the aftermath of the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, freshman Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday defended his Controversial campaign ad involving a gun. In a 30-second ad that aired at the height of the campaign in October, Manchin (D-W.Va.) was shown shooting a hole through what is supposed to be a copy of the cap-and-trade Energy Bill.  Manchin said people should not confuse his actions with those of Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of shooting Giffords (D) on Saturday. “I've...

Scarborough On Giffords Shooting: Is This Not A Time For People, Like Sarah PalinTo Apologize?
Conservatives and Tea Party Activists have reacted with rage to what they view as accusations from the left that they are somehow responsible for this weekend’s massacre in Arizona that targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). In reality, Progressives are not trying to assign blame or argue that shooter Jared Lee Loughner — who seems to possess no coherent political ideology at all — is a member of any popular political movment, but rather to point out that words have consequ...

John Green, father of nine-year-old shooting victim: Tucson 'such a wonderful city.'
A voice of sanity emerges amid the swirl of blather, blame and bile in the aftermath of the shootings in Tuscon, Arizona. It is humbling that it is the voice of a man who has every reason to be bitter, angry, even insane with rage. John Green’s daughter Christina, nine, was killed by a lunatic called Jared Loughner. There are people falling over themselves to proclaim a “climate of hate” in America but Mr Green talks of how “our family” - his wife Roxanna, h...

With E-mail, Palin and Beck Discuss the Arizona Shootings
As the nation reacted this weekend to the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others outside a Tucson Supermarket, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, a conservative radio host, took to e-mail on Sunday to have a conversation of their own. “I hate violence,” Ms. Palin wrote, according to Mr. Beck, who read what he said were excerpts of their e-mail exchange on his radio show on Monday. “I hate war.” Mr. Beck said that Ms. Palin reached out to him to ask h

Nashville arena ranks 6th nationally in concerts
Bridgestone Arena in Nashville has ranked sixth nationally in 2010 in concert attendance. Arena officials said in a news release Monday that just over 447,000 people attended Concerts at the downtown facility last year. Madison Square Garden in New York City was No. 1 at 1.1 million. Arena officials cited figures compiled by the international trade publication Pollstar. Concerts last year included nine by Garth Brooks to benefit Flood Victims and one by Paul McCartney that was his first Nashvill...

Arizona rampage renews questions about gun screenings
By Steve Gorman Los Angeles | Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:57pm EST Los Angeles (Reuters) - The deadly Shooting Spree in Tucson, Arizona, has renewed questions about a 13-year-old U.S. system that relies on personal Background Checks at the time of gun sales to keep Firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people. Despite ample evidence that the suspect in Saturday's rampage, Jared Lee Loughner, was engaged in bizarre, disruptive behavior well before the shooting, this did not stop him from legally bu...

Ailes Calls Attempts to Blame Fox 'BS', Says He Instructed News Staff to 'Tone it Down'
Fox News chief Roger Ailes spoke with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons on the latter’s GlobalGrind web site, and gave some. . . direct . . .comments on the rush by some to blame the Tucson shooting on the likes of Fox News (warning: language): Roger Ailes:   They knew about this guy (Jared Lee Loughner).  The education system knew about this guy…they kicked him out of school and told him until he gets a letter saying he’s not going to kill anybody, he can’t co...

Boise St coordinator introduced at Texas
After a decade at Boise State, new Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin promises one thing: He won't try to change the color of the field. Harsin was introduced Monday as co-offensive coordinator. He shares the title with former Texas Quarterback Major Applewhite, the running backs coach. Harsin will call the plays. The pair is charged with revitalizing the Texas offense after the Longhorns went 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the first time in Mack Brown's 13 seasons in Austin. Harsin choked...

Jared Loughner arraignment: Live tweeting the proceedings
The Post's David Nakamura is in Arizona and will be live tweeting on the arraignment of alleged shooter Jared Loughner. Loughner is scheduled to appear in Federal Court Monday at 4 p.m. ET. Loughner is charged with one count of attempted Assassination of member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the Federal Government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. ...

Jane Hamsher: Sarah Palin's Political Career May Already Be Over, But If It's Not, It Should Be
I automatically recoil at the suggestion that people should be held responsible for the actions of others, especially when it comes down to the influence they supposedly have on those they've never met. It's the kind of Lieberman-esque thinking that brought us the Culture Wars, the scapegoating of Video Games and a decade's worth of Ice-T demonization. As someone who did not emerge unscathed from that ignoble period in our history, I instinctively feel that the people who trade in those kinds ...

Giffords shooting leads nation to introspection and political finger wagging
In the wake of the shooting in Arizona this weekend that critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and that killed and injured more than 20 people, many pundits and politicians are pointing fingers. Others are hoping the incident will serve to ratchet down rancor. Yet emerging details make it clear the shooter wasn’t primarily motivated by politics, right or left. Jared Lee Loughner seems mainly to have been struggling with Mental Illness and was angry at being thrown out of Pima Communi...

Arizona's Eighth Congressional District Epitomized Over-The-Top Demonization Of Liberals
While it is critical to understand that Jared Loughner's Terrorist Attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and dozens of her constituents over the weekend was not directly caused by the words of her political opponents, the tragedy in Arizona presents an opportunity to examine the nature of our political discourse. Giffords' district, the Arizona Eighth, is a prime example of overheated Rhetoric. Her 2010 campaign was plagued by Vandalism and death threats from anonymous citizens, as well as hyperbol...

Quote Unquote: Question from the Audience
Jared Lee Loughner's question to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at a rally of hers several years ago… "What is government if words have no meaning?" Yikes? ...

Free speech and bullets
First, let me say I believe absolutely in the First Amendment to the Constitution, which says “Congress shall make no law … abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Don’t wait for a “but,” or an “except,” or “in some cases.” I don’t have one. Second, at least one idea arising from the tragic, despicable and appar...

A Sneaky Teenager
What Jane said: I won’t speculate on the role Palin played in motivating the actions of Jared Loughner — nobody can know that for sure, probably not even him. But the irresponsible nature of Palin’s actions speak for themselves, and don’t need the affirmation of outside events to qualify as alarming and foolhardy. You want to act recklessly? Fine, drive a race car. Put out oil fires. Climb the Himalayas. You do not have the maturity or the judgment to be President of the United Sta

Ariz. Shooter Loughner Not Linked to Hate Groups
Source: CBS News The FBI continues to comb through computer files, notebooks, and phone records to learn more about Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner, but so far investigators have found no evidence that Loughner was connected to any hate groups or other fringe organizations, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports. Sources tell Orr that Loughner was angry with the government and targeted Congresswoman Giffords because she "represented the government" in his eyes, but that his anger was a...

Heroism on a Day of Horror
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. As Jared L. Loughner opened fire on Congressman Gabrielle Giffords and a small crowd of supporters, killing at least 6 and wounding many others, there appears to be at least three people who, in the face of horror, performed unimaginable heroic acts: Bill Badger, Daniel Hernandez, and Patricia Maisch. Instead of running away, Bill Badger, a former Army colonel, tackled the shooter, subduing Loughner and preventing him from hurting e...

Doctors: No Change In Giffords' Condition, Not Out Of The Woods Yet
Dr. Michael Lemole, left, chief of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Peter Rhee, trauma director, discuss Rep. Giffords' condition. (AP) NEXT » The medical team at University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson announced that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was shot in the head on Saturday during an apparent Assassination attempt, remains in critical condition. Chief of neurosurgery Dr. Michael Lemole said, "At this phase in the game, no change is good, and we have no change," but added, "We're ...

The Tragedy of the Arizona Shooting
The Tragedy of the Arizona Shooting Monday, 01/10/2011 - 1:47 pm by Mike Konczal | Post a Comment There are many ways to look at it, but all say disturbing things about the country. 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. Her...