by NPR Staff, National Public Radio
January 8, 2011
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, Arizona Public Media reported Saturday.
Giffords, who was re-elected to her third term in November, was hosting her first “Congress on Your Corner” event at the Safeway in northwest Tucson when a gunman ran up and started shooting, according to Peter Michaels, news director of Arizona Public Media.
At least five other people, including members of her staff, were hurt. Giffords was transported to University Medical Center in Tucson. Her condition was not immediately known.
Giffords was talking to a couple when the man ran up firing indiscriminately, and then ran off, Michaels said. According to other witnesses, the was tackled by a bystander and taken into custody.
Fox News reported that she was shot at point blank range in the head by a gunman who was firing indiscriminately.
According to Wikipedia:
She is the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse, astronaut Mark E. Kelly, is an active duty member of the U.S. military.
Giffords is known as a strong proponent of solar energy as well as for her work to secure the border with Mexico
This is the third time she has met at this type of community event in Tucson. She is 40 years old. 11 others, including local staff members, were also shot. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rep. Giffords.
Fox News is reporting that there are multiple fatalities and that the congressman has died. They are trying to get official confirmation.
The above information was incorrect. Gabrielle Giffords is out of surgery. She is alive, in critical condition, but the doctor who just spoke said he was optomistic about her recovery.
okay, so here’s a link that I think is fairly neutral. However, some of the Republican candidates were shot by someone in their own party who didn’t like how progressive their president was getting ( Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt who was progressive but a republican for example) and frankly I don’t believe that Oswald killed Kennedy, so you can judge that one for yourself. There were a couple of anarchists and the rest were crazy ( who doubts any of these people ore balanced in the first place) I haven’t counted the Tally, and I would have to go search for non presidential political reps who were shot or assassinated ( like mayor of SF CA , Harvey Milk, gay democrat). that will require more research. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20821.pdf
agreed Moon howler, however, I stand by what I said in terms of where most of the violent vitriol is coming from. I am just sick of the equivocations made all the time. We do not know what the facts are about this particular individual, that is true. We will find out soon enough
I think I need to go take a tranquilizer or something now. I am just so angry and disgusted with where our country is going. At least that is one sentiment I think we all can agree on.
@Heidi
You want to know what makes me livid? People like you that blame innocent people for this. The shooter was a loon. Who knows why he shot these people? Already we have evidence of the nature of this idiot. He wasn’t even necessarily “left wing” but he wasn’t a conservative or a Tea Partier.
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/01/shooter-jarod-laughner/
Paul Krugman had a column out WITHIN HOURS, before ANYTHING was known. blaming the conservatives, calling it an ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/01/disgrace-krugman-blames-gop-for-attempted-assassination-today-before-we-found-out-hes-a-leftwinger/
So who is stoking what? Who is it that calls for violence, that their supposed to bring a gun and hit back twice as hard? Which side is calling for revolution? Who is it that blames ‘right wing politics” on people like Hinckely? Who is it that falsely accused the Tea Party of racism and then INFILTRATED with signs to purposely make the Tea Party look racist? Who is it that ACTUALLY INTIMIDATED VOTERS WITH VIOLENCE and called for the death of whites?
Words do have power. That’s why the Tea Party polices itself. NO violence can be linked to any Tea Party statements but violence has been committed against the Tea Party. We have a few extremists and fringe members. The violence on the left is INSTITUTIONALIZED. So, while you may not call yourself a “leftist” you sure do like to attack the “right.”
You don’t like discussions of impeachment charges against Obama so you link it to this violence? You think that the birth certificate controversy is idiocy so you link that to this? YOU’RE LIVID? What the hell do you have to be livid about? Is your apparent “side” so innocent? You’re tryhing to link this nut job to the right, making the right look violent. Well guess what? So far your wish fulfillment has failed.
We have people dead, people injured, and you linking “right wing” politics to this.
Thanks oh so much for NOT thinking any of us would shoot and kill innocent people. You only blame our slogans and our political speech. You link that nutjob Randell to those of us that are against abortion, implying that we’re all alike. Some of us may even consider abortion murder. But so is shooting doc
As for talking about 2nd Amendment solutions, well, guess what? When its needed, that’s what its for. NOBODY IS VOTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS. If they were, it wouldn’t be at lunatic as this? We’d be at war. Exercising LEGAL rights to carry weapons DOES NOT incite violence.
You say that the “right” is stoking the fires yet all the violence is coming from the left? I wonder why the left feels that its ok to stoke THOSE fires by trying to portray the right as evil and violent? Like you just did.
Just to let you know, it appears my last entry is in moderation for two links.
The event is horrible. We don’t know the facts, he could just be some nut, but I know, for me, I have, and continue to worry about the craziness that has evolved since Obama has been elected.
The bizarre reaction to the health care reform was our first real indictator that the right was becoming unhinged. We do have a health care crisis and yet the very idea to reform insurance was seen as Marxism. Stomping on a womans head is crazy, shooting Dr.’s in his own Chruch IS crazy! Believing that Obama is from Kenya IS crazy!
What I think will be very informative is how did this guy GET a gun? Was he diagnosed with mental issues prior to the purchase?
Now we have the Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, trying to tie this to the “prejudice and vitriol” in Arizona. This is the same sheriff that refused to enforce the immigration law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVOCPO_a_MI
Why won’t these idiotic political hacks just wait to see who the freaking shooter is and what his motivation was? Apparently he’s schizophrenic according to some reports. People need to stop trying to score political points of this stuff.
I’ve been following this on Fox News with Shepard Smith. His commentary was outstanding. Talking about the nine year old girl who was killed, he had to stop and collect himself. I found myself crying.
This must become a turning point in our country. Spewing hatred causes actions one could never have imagined, and I don’t care what tough times the killer has been through.
This is the United States of America. This is not supposed to happen here. We MUST change! There are tears in my eyes as I type this. Please, please – stop the hatred!
I took my tranquilizer ( kidding) and a few deep breaths. I have a link that , although I don’t like his attacks on Coulter ( who I also detest, but it takes away from his argument) I like his review about all presidential assassinations, liberal vs conservative.. You decide http://priscusforem.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-all-presidential-assassins-liberals.html
Squid: I hope you are right and he is certifiable. Thank you for posting. I will go and watch the entertainment news networks. I got bored because they were not reporting anything new. Thanks
@Elena
His “diagnosis” appears to be just from his ramblings on the net.
I haven’t heard that he was actually diagnosed and restricted. In Virginia, one had to be adjudicated a danger to oneself and others to be denied a gun. Of course, that only stops purchases through an FFL.
Elena, you know if you bring up guns we will just get alot of NRA response.. Oh boy, I am waiting for it. By the way, don’t you hear your telephone?????
the reaction to hcr was not bizarre. what would have been bizarre is if there would have been no reaction. if hcr is fully implemented as passed, and not repealed, a fundamental transformation of our country and the fundamental relationship between the private citizen and the government will result. the meaning of citizen and free person will be relegated to serf and dependent of the state. to equate hcr to some kind of reform insurance is false, it is radically much more than that.
E: sorry to inform you ( I don’t mean that in an insulting way, rather with a sad tone) Most of us are not free: We are serfs now.
Interesting link. Never thought of earlier presidential assassins in either liberal or conservative ways. His big one, Booth, killed Lincoln because he was a Confederated Nationalist, not because of his political platform. Most of the others were crazy.
Then again, I don’t read Coulter either.
@Cargo,
I would say Lincoln’s assassination was political and so was MLK’s. I am not sure I could hang a label on the perp on JFK, RFK, or someone like George Wallace.
Squeaky Fromm was just 100% nut as was Hinkley.
e,
I’m sorry, suggesting Obama was Hitler because he wanted to create policy that would allow 30 million more people access to health care is imperative for all our good. You may disagree, but I have yet to hear facts that back up your theories.
The government already requires private citizens to pay for certain services, this is no different except in this case , you can opt out.
everything is relative. to cubans or mexicans or eastern europeans from the old soviet bloc, america has been perceived as a beacon of freedom and liberty, and that’s why half the world wants to move here
E: look up Plato’s world of illusions: Appollonian vs dyonastic. We live in what we think is a free society. tha’s how I view our country and the politicians now. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=22686854392&topic=25180
to reduce hcr to simply allowing 30 million more people access to healthcare is false. you can give every person in this country a little card they can carry in their wallet, on which is declared that the holder of this card is entitled to free healthcare, but the card will not be worth the paper it’s printed on
let me clarify, e, you never called Obama Hitler, but many people did as they related him to health care reform…………THAT is bizarre in my opinion.
it is still a free society, more or less. i can still afford to put gas in my tank, i am still allowed to travel from one state to another without getting permission from the authorities, i can quit my job and look for another if i so choose, i can still get on this blog and call obama for what he is; there are a myriad of opportunities and freedoms that we take for granted; talk to emigres from oppressive regimes like the former ussr or cuba, see how much we take for granted here and enjoy it while we still can
Here’s some info on the shooter:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/01/arizona-shooter-jared-laughner-a-certified-nut.html
And apparently its not only Palin that uses a bullseye when “targeting” people
http://oi56.tinypic.com/2apvzk.jpg
@Cargo, what I am looking at is not a bull’s eye but rather a cross hair gun sight. But, those kinds of targets should not be used in political discussion. Too many nut cases out there.
that first website–who does that belong to? I would say that kid is totally nuts. I don’t blame the army for not taking him.
And here to prevent moderation:
http://hillbuzz.org/2011/01/08/my-congresswoman-voted-against-nancy-pelosi-and-is-now-dead-to-me-eerie-daily-kos-hit-piece-on-gabrielle-giffords-just-two-days-before-assassination-attempt-on-her/#comment-331196
Incitement is put out by the left: http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-national/on-msnbc-radical-cartoonist-ted-rall-rallies-left-to-take-up-arms
My point about all this is…..the left is blaming the right for things that the LEFT does. Is KOS to blame? NO. Is the TEA Party to blame? NO.
THE SHOOTER IS TO BLAME.
I see, E, so you’ve lowered your standard to the USSR and Cuba now. Great comparison. You know, in Cuba, with all the problems they have, are oil independant, have higher degrees than us due to access to free university and everyone can see a doctor and get medical treatment when they need it. Not that I want to live in Cuba, but give me a break.
@Moon-howler
I agree. But, Lincoln’s wasn’t due to normal domestic politics, but, as an act of war by a Confederate nationalist. MLK’s, …. I don’t know. James Earl Ray, I think, did it because he was a criminal bigot. JFK, if you believe the current theory, was killed by a communist. RFK? Has Sirhan Sirhan ever given a motive?
Squid, so there’s one guy who writes a book, which most people will not buy. Yes, the comparisons are the same, but the percentages of people not just writing things like this but yelling at the top of their lungs in public and on the radio and blogs about taking up arms and 2nd amendment remedies are currently coming from the right. Had you not posted this I wouldn’t have known about it because he represents a minority of opinion like this on the left ( in terms of “taking up arms”)
ah, i suspected that cuba would be lauded. you say we are serfs, and i counter that such a characterization of our current condition in the u.s. is false. if cuba is such a paradise, why did hundreds of thousands of them flee the communist paradise and come here? how many cubans perished at sea while making the dangerous journey? really, how can you stomach a condition when one man and now his brother rule the country since jfk was in the white house? seriously?
I happen to believe that JFK was killed by someone in Johnson’s camp.
E: Yes, Cuba is ALL evil and our corporatocracy is not. if you look at all the “social welfare going on , it is geared to bailouts for the banks, wall street and low or NO taxes for large corporations ( Mobil along with hundreds of other corps paid NO taxes this year. Look it up) You have got your socialism confused, my friend. And that is why I am against all the money and lobbying that has a death stranglehold on our politicians and our govt policies.
cuba is not all evil, i heard castro gave every citizen a free rice cooker a few years back
They came here for freedom of speech, and the hope they could “make it in America”. that America has been dead a long time. Pretty soon, you will NOT be able to afford your gas and most other neccessities. Of course you seem to like Burger King, so maybe you can get by in the food arena.
I put a link up a few days ago: our own bureau of labor statistics states that the unemployment rate is 17%. That doesnt include those that no longer are looking for work in the past 4 weeks or the underemployed or the part timers. Put all of those together, and a few statisticians have calculated the true unemployment to be more like a mean average of 26.8%. Don’t make me put up the links again. Go look back at the threads. This is your great America thanks to the trickle down Economic voodoo theory of the past 40 years that I personally remember.
I am going upstairs to watch the non- news stations now.
it is precisely because of horrendous policies coming out of d.c. that soon gas will hit five bucks a gallon and more. it is precisely because of such horrendous policies coming out of government, and the fear of so much more coming down the pike, that the tea party arose. you are welcome to join
wait a minute, i thought obama’s trillion dollar stimulus was supposed to keep unemployment below 8%? what about all those shovel ready jobs? do you admit that obama’s fiscal policies are an abject failure?
This is your great America thanks to the trickle down Economic voodoo theory of the past 40 years that I personally remember.
Really? Unemployment has been around 4-7% for since 1987, but the CURRENT unemployment is blamed on “trickle down economics” instead of policies implemented within the last 4 years, when unemployment started to rise, the market fell and housing started to tank.
Ok, then.
@Moon-howler
The first website? Which post? I think you mean the Atlas Shrugged website, the one with all the info on the shooter.
@Cargosquid
Cargo, I don’t know re Sirhan Sirhan. No one ever really figured that one out either. James Earl Ray probably was just a bigot. I think that Booth just flat out hated Lincoln. JFK, who the hell knows.
I go back to Squeaky Fromm. The lights are on. No one is home. Hinkley –in love with Jody Foster so he goes and shoots the President. HOWWWWWLLLLLLLL!
This Jerod was a nut, from everything I have read. He seemed to have some obsession with syllogisms.
@Cargosquid
Yes, Cargo. I am trying to figure out who all these people are.
don’t forget bill ayers, ghostwriter for obama’s biographies
and the weather underground and the faln
Which people? I can help.
Btw, my screen still shows that my #3 is awaiting moderation. Is it up?
Born in 1944, Bill Ayers, along with his wife Bernardine Dohrn, was a 1960s leader of the homegrown terrorist group Weatherman, a Communist-driven splinter faction of Students for a Democratic Society. Characterizing Weatherman as “an American Red Army,” Ayers summed up the organization’s ideology as follows: “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, Kill your parents.”
This guy was plain certifiable. Just read his youtube videos (they are reading things). He is basically incomprehensible. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s not a vast anti-government movement, it’s your basic squirrel-bait. But I’m amazed at the attempts (not here, but on TV and certain online places) to make this into all kinds of political plays. What it tells me is that there are many, many more unstable people around, and I wonder if this sort of thing is going to become more frequent. Hope not, but some of the stuff I’m reading is a bit scary.
That’s funny you mention Fromm, Moon. I was just thinking about her, too!
You didn’t mean for this post to be an example, did you?
Man, our country’s political climate is looking more and more like Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Congo every day. That’s what happens when violence becomes the preferred means of achieving political ends.
On the web, the TV, everywhere the political characters are playing the same game. Left wing jumps to connect this to GOP/TEA political tactics of the last 2 years. GOP/TEA jumps to cover their butts. Nobody knows the guy’s motivations, but that doesn’t matter. Everything is just another opportunity to take a shot at the “enemies” on the other side of the aisle.
Six people have lost their lives. Could we wait a day at least before we start to calculate the political fallout?
Weather Underground? Weren’t they a rock bank in the 60s? How old are you, dude?