We're Arizona shooting victims too, says Tea Party co-founder

Enough AlreadyIt Is Time for Sheriff Dupnik to Go
Since he first opened his mouth on Saturday night to address the nation about the terrible shootings at a Tucson Safeway, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has been inaccurate, deceptive, and completely biased in his handling of the case. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik must resign. Never have we witnessed a prominent public figure so inaccurately and viciously politicize a national tragedy like Sheriff Dupnik did this week. And in all of his statements he has either been wrong or misdirected. This bitter part...

Some historical perspective on political civility
In the aftermath of the attempted Assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), there has been near-hysteria about the tenor of our political culture. Has the inflammatory Rhetoric gone too far? Is there too much vitriol in American politics? Is the Tea Party movement to blame? This entire pointed conversation about our current state of political affairs — spearheaded largely by the American left —reveals a serious lack of self-reflection or historical perspective. For those who feel...

Sarah Palin's 'blood libel' blunder | Peter Beaumont
The sense of victimhood of the Tea Party and its fellow travellers should now be well known. It was Glenn Beck, after all - the man who accused America's first African American president of being "Racist" - who last year told a rally of his followers in Washington that they had taken on the mantle of the Civil Rights movement. Now Sarah Palin, former vice Presidential Candidate, has repeated this same repellent inversion, accusing those who criticised her for her violent political rh...

Loughner Was Stopped, Warned About Running Red Light Saturday Morning
What is this? Neighbors watch the media outside the Loughner home in Tucson. Neighbors watch the media outside the Loughner home in Tucson. "A wildlife officer pulled over the suspect in the Assassination attempt against an Arizona congresswoman less than three hours before the deadly attack," the Associated Press writes. "Jared Loughner ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said. The officer took Loughner's driver's license an...

Loughner Was Stopped, Warned About Running Red Light Saturday Morning
What is this? Neighbors watch the media outside the Loughner home in Tucson. Neighbors watch the media outside the Loughner home in Tucson. "A wildlife officer pulled over the suspect in the Assassination attempt against an Arizona congresswoman less than three hours before the deadly attack," the Associated Press writes. "Jared Loughner ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said. The officer took Loughner's driver's license an...

The Political Consequences of Violence
I believe that The New Yorker’s George Packer has mistaken the meaning of a line in my column this week. He writes: Douthat wrote, in the spirit of phony equivalence, “If overheated Rhetoric and martial imagery really led inexorably to Murder, then both parties would belong in the dock,” but also this: “the Attempted Murder of a Democratic congresswoman is a potential gift to Liberalism.” In other words, everyone goes over the line now and then, no one actually want...

Jacob Volkmann Regrets Obama Comment In Wake Of Arizona Shooting
Jacob Volkmann, the mixed-martial arts fighter who said last week he wanted to "knock some sense into that idiot" Barack Obama, told HuffPost on Wednesday that he regretted the comment in light of the Saturday Assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that left six people dead. "I would never make that comment if that shooting happened first," said Volkmann, 30. The Arizona shooting has resulted in widespread, and sometimes Controversial, calls for toned-down political rheto...

AZ sheriff knew in advance about Loughner
Even as Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik launched into yet another rampage against Rush Limbaugh yesterday, new information has emerged showing that the sheriff knew in advance about Jared Lee Loughner and the danger he posed.  According to a special report, Pima County Sheriff's Office records indicate that deputies had been called numerous times to the Loughner residence to address complaints by neighbors and others who were clearly frightened by Jared Loughner's growing anti-social, psych...

Westboro Church Cancels Picket at 9-Year-Old Arizona Shooting Victims Funeral
After Arizona passes a law banning Protests at Funerals, a leader of the Westboro Baptist Church says it will forego the Thursday funeral of Christina Taylor Green, but will picket outside the funeral Friday for U.S. District Judge John Roll....

Palin denounces critics over shootings
In a forceful and unapologetic statement released early Wednesday, Sarah Palin dismissed critics who had suggested that the former Alaska Governor's Firearms-infused Rhetoric contributed to the shootings in Tucson that killed six and wounded 14, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, contending they "incite the hatred and violence they purport to condemn." "Like many, I've spent the past few days reflecting on what happened and praying for guidance," Palin said. "After this shocking tragedy, I...

Palin Accuses Critics of 'Blood Libel' (updated)
Far from backing down, Sarah Palin defended herself today against critics who linked her Rhetoric to the Arizona shootings, accusing them of the long-condemned anti-Semitic slur "blood Libel." Palin opponents noted soon after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that left six people dead that Palin had posted a map on her website last fall with gun sights on 20 districts, including Giffords'. She announced it with a tweet: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!&quo...;

Disruptive Arizona suspect axed from online group
Singapore (Reuters) - The Arizona man accused of a Killing Spree that targeted a U.S. congresswoman was kicked out of an Internet gaming group last year in part due to statements that other members found disruptive and disturbing. "Wondering why i feel hate," Jared Loughner wrote in an Internet chatroom. "You know like when you sit there and you feel tingles of hate. ... like you did something wrong." His online chat sessions were available to members of the online gaming group, of which I am a...

Rush Limbaugh: Jared Lee Loughner has the "Full Support" of Democrats
(Credit: AP Photo/Gary He) Controversial, conservative Talk Radio host Rush Limbaugh is stepping up his assault against the Democratic Party in the wake of the Mass Shooting in Tucson, Ariz., claiming the Democrats fully "support" the alleged shooter. On his Radio Show Tuesday, Limbaugh said, "What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that... the Democrat party is attemptin...

Angle: Don't blame me for Tucson shooting rampage (AP)
Las Vegas – Former U.S. Senate Candidate Sharron Angle says she's not to blame for the Arizona shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded. The former Nevada assemblywoman who tried to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday she condemns all violence. The Tea Party politician calls Saturday's killings senseless and horrifying. Police say 22-year-old Jared Loughner fired at a crowd gathered at an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. I...

Shameless Palin Claims Victimhood, Refuses to Apologize
Wow, Sarah Palin sure has got no shame. You’d think after the horrible shooting in Tucson, and after literally putting Gabrielle Giffords in the cross-hairs, that Palin might have had the dignity either to say nothing or to show at least an ounce of remorse or pledge to lower her own Rhetoric by a decibel or two. But not Palin. No, now she’s made herself the Victim. She said: “Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood Libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violen

Friend: Loughner wasn't political, not left or right (two years out of date; Zeitgeist)
On Good Morning America, Zach Osler - a former friend of Gabrielle Giffords shooter Jared Lee Loughner - said the following about Loughner (video below): He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He didn’t take sides. He wasn’t on the left. He wasn’t on the right. However, in the same interview, Osler admits not having seen Loughner for two years. Obviously, a lot can happen in two years, but don't expect partisan hacks to acknowledge that or i

Giffords shooting about health care not Palin
As far as anyone knows, Jared Lee Loughner was neither a tea partier, nor a fan of Sarah Palin. But he was dire in need of Health Care for Mental Illness. Blaming Tea Party Rhetoric for the Tucson shootings means proving that Loughner self-identified with the Far Right. But the facts suggest his personal political proclivities were as disjointed as his mental functioning. Not to say Loughner’s politics should not raise eyebrows: anybody that subscribes to failed philosophies like MarxR...

Poll: Conservatives not to blame for Ariz. shooting
WASHINGTON — Most Americans reject the idea that inflammatory political language by Conservatives should be part of the debate about the forces behind the Arizona shooting that left six people dead and a congresswoman in critical condition, a USA Today/Gallup Poll finds. A 53% majority of those surveyed call that analysis mostly an attempt to use the tragedy to make Conservatives look bad. About a third, 35%, say it is a legitimate point about how dangerous language can be. And there is lit...

Arizona shooting: Sarah Palin breaks silence and accuses critics of 'blood libel'
Sarah Palin accused critics who said she had incitied Arizona shootings of perpetrating 'a blood Libel' in a video message hours before President Barack Obama was due to call for unity in mourning for the Victims....

Liberal Heartache (kinda): Loughner Didn't Watch TV/Disliked News/Didn't Listen To Political Talk Radio
Drudge headlines via TVNewser: I blame Jared Loughner and only Jared Loughner. Would have, could have, should have won't bring the Victims back. He pulled the trigger...no one made him do it. A few comments to explain my 'kinda': While some portrayals of Loughner indicate that he once leaned towards the political left, the influence of the contemporary hard right is clear in his later psychotic rantings. His friends may Protest that he was apolitical, but one might reasonably doubt that he was...

Report: Loughner's Online Musings Bizarre, Sad
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. Though Jared Lee Loughner's parents were "completely surprised" by the news of the Tucson shooting, former friends and classmates of Loughner's were not. Ben Tracy reports on the troubled past of Jared Lee Loughner. Doctors at Tucson's University Medical Center are increasingly optimistic about Ariz. Democratic Rep. ...

Obama, Gillibrand en route to Tucson for memorial
President Obama and a delegation of lawmakers jetted off to Arizona Wednesday afternoon for a memorial service for the Victims killed during the Assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a close Capitol Hill pal of Giffords, joined Obama aboard Air Force One. The groups of lawmakers, which included Giffords' friends and her fellow Arizona reps, planned to first visit her at the Hospital, where she's being treated for a gunshot wound to the head. "We ma...

Boehner to toast RNC members in Wednesday night reception
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will join members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) at a reception Wednesday evening. The Republican Speaker will attend a reception with RNC members in an event several days before committee members vote on choosing a new chairman. "Speaker Boehner will attend an organizational meeting with RNC members this evening, but will leave before the president’s Speech begins," said Cory Fritz, a spokesman for Boehner's political organization.  The recep...

Giffords is moving spontaneously
TUCSON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Doctors said Wednesday they're encouraged by the progress made by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot in the head during the weekend. Dr. Peter Rhee of the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., said Giffords still is in critical condition but is making more and more spontaneous movements -- even fixing her Hospital gown on her own. GALLERY: The aftermath of the Rep. Giffords shooting "We're very happy at this point," Rhee said of Giffords' progress...

Loughner's Father Chased Alleged Shooter Into Desert On Saturday
In the hours before Jared Lee Loughner allegedly tried to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and killed six others, his father chased him into the desert as he carried a mysterious black bag in his hand, the Associated Press reported. Police also said that at 7:30 a.m. that same morning, Loughner was stopped by a wildlife officer after he ran a red light but was let off with a warning, according to the AP. The officer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said, looked at Loughner's dri...