Saturday, January 8, 2011

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot by Gunman at Townhall Event in Tucson — Progressives Blame Sarah Palin 'Hit List'

This is breaking. Conflicting reports.

Gabriell Giffords

Huffington Post's headline reported earlier that she was killed (now revised), although Crooks and Liars still has this as of 12:00pm (and check the comments there as well):

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But Daily Caller has this, "CONGRESSWOMAN SHOT: U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head during a public event in Arizona, with conflicting reports as to her fate." (And some commenters there are applauding the shooting as evidence of the "evils of conservatism.")

I'm praying for everyone involved.

Expect updates.

12:18pm: Here's Representative Gifford's tweet from this morning: "My 1st Congress on Your Corner starts now. Please stop by to let me know what is on your mind or tweet me later." Screencap added:

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12:23pm: Crooks and Liars has amended its headline. And at New York Times, "Condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Remains Unclear."

12:45pm: TBogg Demon Seed blames Sarah Palin, "Fuck it, I'm going there":

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12:50pm: Sarah Palin has released a statement:
My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today's tragic shooting in Arizona.

On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.

- Sarah Palin.
And Jane Hamsher's playing up the "hit list" angle, "Giffords Opponent, Jesse Kelly, Held June Event to “Shoot a Fully Automatic M16″ to “Get on Target” and “Remove Gabrielle Giffords”."

1:05pm: Daily Kos scrubbed this post, but here's the cached version:, "My CongressWOMAN Voted Against Nancy Pelosi And is Now Dead to Me!"

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1:15pm: From Pat Dollard, "REPORTS CHANGING, SEE HISTORY BELOW: GIFFORDS IN SURGERY, “RESPONDING TO COMMANDS” - UPDATE: FEDERAL JUDGE CONFIRMED DEAD, STATE SENATOR LINDA LOPEZ SAYS “AFGHANISTAN VET” COMMITTED SHOOTING, BLAMES TEA PARTY."

Also, at The Other McCain, "
ARIZONA OUTRAGE: Congresswoman, Several Others Shot in Tucson - UPDATE: Conflicting Reports on Giffords":
Regardless of who perpetrated this outrage or why, it’s terribly harmful to the political process.

While I was on Capitol Hill for swearing-in events Wednesday, I saw Democrat Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) walk past on the sidewalk. He was walking alone, with no aides or anybody else with him. I said hello, smiled and waved.
1:33pm. Shooter is identified as 22 year-old Jared Loughner. Pamela Geller has more: "Arizona Shooter Jared Laughner: A Certified Nut." The Knoxville Daily Sun claims that Laughner was "inspired" by "Sara Palin" [sic].

2:10pm: Another progressive blog with a big roundup implicating Sarah Palin, "Sarah Palin’s Target List and the Assassination of Gabrielle Giffords."


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Also, at Wizbang, "That Giant Flushing Sound You Hear ... is thousands of diaries at Daily Kos getting purged in the wake of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford (D-AZ)."

2:45pm: At WaPo, "Hospital: Rep. Giffords expected to recover from Tucson shooting that killed six including a child and federal judge."


And an update from the New York Times report cited above:
Ms. Giffords, 40, was described as being in very critical condition at the University Medical Center in Tucson, where she was operated on by a team of neurosurgeons. Dr. Peter Rhee, medical director of the hospital’s trauma and critical care unit, said that she had been shot once in the head, “through and through,” with the bullet going through her brain.

“I can tell you at this time, I am very optimistic about her recovery,” Dr. Rhee said in a news conference. “We cannot tell what kind of recovery but I’m as optimistic as it can get in this kind of situation.”
3:15pm: Here's Markos Moulitsas on Twitter:

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3:28pm: At Fox News, "President Obama Offers Support to Arizona After Tragic Shooting."

5:38pm: At Politics Daily, "Sarah Palin Blamed by Bloggers for Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords," and NewsBusters, "Jane Fonda Blames Giffords Shooting on Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and the Tea Party."

And at Time, "
Is Violent Rhetoric Behind the Attack on Giffords?":

Sometimes, rumors of violence beget actual violence. Saturday's mass shooting at a Safeway on North Oracle Road in Tucson, which left Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition and at least nine others wounded, may well be one of those occasions.
The author then goes on whine about the conservative backlash against illegal immigration, claiming that the threat of violence in Arizona, following the Krenz killing, has been completely overblown.

Nope. No trying to score political points there.

Plus, a roundup at
Instapundit.

6:07pm: The shooter doesn't fit into any particular ideological frame, despite the best efforst of the progressive left. See the Arizona Daily Star, "Man linked to Giffords shooting called 'very disturbed'."

And at Fox News, "Giffords Likely Faces Long Road to Recovery."

Plus, at NYT, "
2nd Suspect Sought in Arizona Shooting."

14 comments:

RandomThoughts said...

This is a horrible act, regardless of the political party of the victims. It's clearly the work of a madman; nobody in their right mind wants our elected officials assassinated.

It does not surprise me though that the far left would use this tragedy to attack conservatives, the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, and probably even Pres. Bush (everything is his fault). Just like not wanting to waste a crisis, they're all about not wanting to waste a tragedy either.

My prayers go out to the victims of this violent crime, and to their families.

Opus #6 said...

Good job with the updates, Donald. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

Bartender Cabbie said...

Yes it only took minutes for some to begin placing blame for this horrible action. That was easy to predict though. This nut should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Not sure if the death penalty is an option in AZ. It will be interesting to see whether those who are so concerned about the welfare of the Mohammedans at GTMO show the same humanitarian concern for this particular murderous nut. I somehow doubt it.

Bob Belvedere said...

Thank you for what you're doing, Donald - bravo!

The rat bastard Left.

Linked to at:
The Attempted Assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

JBW said...

Plain drew a target on her, she got shot. Now you can debate what effect this had on the events of today but you can't deny it as fact.

And let's face it: if Obama had done the same and a Republican had gotten shot today you'd all be blaming him for it. I'm sure you'll deny this but that's to be expected.

AmPowerBlog said...

"Plain drew a target on her..."

Lost without spellcheck, eh, JBW motherfucker?

Lady Fyre said...

Contrary to what liberal media would have us know, so-called "target maps" and "Cross-Hair" talk were not invented by Sarah Palin.

SNIPERS WANTED: (for George Bush) IMAGE: http://bit.ly/eMCILy

IMAGES OF DEMOCRAT MAPS TARGETING CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES: http://bit.ly/aCFdcC

CNN: RAHM EMANUEL IN THE POLITICAL CROSSHAIRS": http://bit.ly/gMbclf

Anonymous said...

What has happened to the congresswoman really concerns me, because they are going to make it look like it was some rightwing extremist, and I don't think that is the case, at all.

I think that if it is the one they are saying did it, that he is just a mentally deranged, immature young guy, much like all the ones who shoot up universities..but they are going to misconstrue the whole thing, making it look like it is the fault of the Tea Party, or Sarah Palin.

My heart goes out to all of the victims, and their families. No matter who did it, or why, it is just wrong, and should never happen to anyone.

JBW..you should be ashamed for making such terrible accusations, because you have no proof, nor any way of knowing why the sick individual did what he did.

Since we're on the subject, I don't recall that there was much uproar on the left when the guy killed all those innocent people at Ft. Hood a few months, ago.

The most that I remember being said about it, was to make excuses for his actions, and that was every bit as heinous as today's tragedy.

But that's a horse of a different color, isn't it?

JBW said...

One of my great laments about purchasing an iPad is that the spellcheck largely goes about it's business automatically without my consent, Don. Blogspot used to flag "Obama" as misspelled all the time at one point but now it's fine with it. Make your girl more of a household name and maybe Apple's spellcheck will recognize her name when I type it in the future. Cheers, fuckface!

Lady Frye and Anon, nobody's saying that Palin invented the practice of putting a target on one's political rival and the guy who perpetrated this horrible act does indeed seem to be more of a psychotic rather than some deranged right-wing nut. I'm not blaming Palin or anyone else other than the crazy asshole who did the shooting, I'm just making the observation that it's irresponsible and stupid to put a target on someone and then take absolutely no responsibility for it when some nut-ball attempts to assassinate them.

I said the same thing about Bill O'Reilly when Tiller was killed. Giffords' political opponent in the last election had an event inviting his supporters to "Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office, shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly". Words and actions like that don't happen in a vacuum, and one never knows who's listening to them. And if you didn't here an uproar from the left about the soldiers killed at Fort Hood then you just weren't listening hard enough because there was plenty from both sides of the aisle at the time.

Dennis said...

I have avoided saying anything about this before there was more information. Remember that Giffords is a "Blue Dog" Democrat. The kind the Left has railed against and in many quarters wished dead.
From all the current information it does look like the shooter is a walking advertisement for the Left. He seems much more in touch with Marx, Engels and the tenets of the Left than he does with Alexander Hamilton, James Madison or anyone who would be on the Right or in the TEA party. Even his friends, and I use the term loosely, thought him a liberal. As I have stated I wish people would make a real difference between Liberal and Leftist.
I can see why the Left went into deflection mode because I suspect they had an inkling that this guy, like most others, was more a child of the Left. It is always interesting to watch those on the Left make assertions that I suspect they know is wrong, but anything to protect their long held dogma.
Suffice it to say this guy is a mental case and that is where most of the blame lies.
My hope and prayers go out to her and wish, unlike the Left has previously, she gets back to being herself with all of her faculties as they were before. She seems like a nice person and one who, unlike many in Washington, wants to stay in touch with her constituency.

Dennis said...

Further more when one sees "Media Matters" trying to be the voice of reason one knows that the Left knew early the propensities of this individual. Their warning that Conservatives should not use this is almost laughable. Considering the fast response by the Left to blame anyone and everyone before the facts were known.
I would posit that "Think Progress" was in full blame anyone but us mode with the help of their partners in the MSM. I am surprised that the radical feminists have not made this a sin of the patriarchy because a woman was shot not withstanding the male judge who died. Everybody with an agenda has jumped in to use this tragedy for their own purposes.

Grizzly Mama said...

Communist Manifesto - check. Mein Kampf - check.

That's all you need to know about this guy - oh and he was a member of what sounds very much like a white supremecist group: American Renaissance http://amren.com

American Renaissance displays TEA Party stuff on its site. I would argue that all TEA partiers I know are disgusted by amren anti-semitic and racist ideology.

Hey - how about that Joe Manchin commercial? The democrat candidate that shot the Cap and Trade bill with a rifle? Maybe he's responsible??!!! /

JBW said...

Shorter Dennis: the left always blah blah, we never blah blah, boilerplate blah blah.

Tired. Very tired.

Keir said...

Only last week the media was used to advocate the execution of Michael Vick for killing dogs. Last April Republican Congressman Paul Broun used the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: "Fellow patriots, we have a lot of domestic enemies of the constitution, and they're right down the Mall, in the Congress of the United States – and right down Independence Avenue in the White House that belongs to us. It's not about my ability to hunt, which I love to do. It's not about the ability for me to protect my family and property against criminals, which we have the right to do. But it's all about us protecting ourselves from a tyrannical government." The year before, this same Broun singled out then-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as one such "domestic enemy of the constitution". He was re-elected last November with 67% of the vote. As a teacher of 20th century history here about 7 miles from Dachau in Germany, I know all about how self-serving demagogues like Palin will sacrifice people's lives for their own ends and use God and patriotism to justify it.