CNN: Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot

[Adam]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/08/arizona.shooting/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

CNN a few minutes ago confirmed she had died, but now is saying there are conflicting reports. Horrifying

[bellcurve]

Just awful.

[Adam]

Sh was speaking at a Town Hall style meeting at a Safeway grocery store. That makes it even more horrifying.

[DRW50]

Oh God This has been building for a long time. She was also in the middle of the ugly immigration debates that have roiled Arizona. She also faced threats after the health care vote.

I remember last year when so many pooh-pooed the idea that members of Congress were in danger, that the threats against them were just "free speech."

Perhaps now, with the first member of Congress to be assassinated in over 30 years, people will realize it's not just "free speech."

My prayers to her loved ones.

[DRW50]

Apparently some of the media reports were wrong, and she is still in surgery. I hope she pulls through.

Apparently a federal judge was also shot.

[quartermainefan]

Five gets you fifty the shooter is some deranged, right wing, the government wants to kill me nutjob who watches Glen Beck.

[DRW50]

A nine month old child died in surgery.

Rep. Giffords is out of surgery, and the doctor says he is optimistic about her recovery.

[MichaelGL]

When you look at the nature of those town halls during the healthcare debate over the summer, a shooting was going to happen in a matter of time. I hope her and the other victims pull through. My sympathies to the family of the 9 year old child and the family of the judge that has passed away.

What makes this even more upsetting is that the warning signs were there, the political atmosphere has been downright hostile for the past four years.

[Scotty]

Well, now that you meniton it, I ran across this a few momentrs ago: "Media sources noted that Giffords was one of the U.S. Congresspersons whom Sarah Palin, a former candidate for Vice President of the U.S., had placed on a 'target map' using images of gun sights."

[DRW50]

Sorry I thought they said nine month, not nine years. Thanks for the correction.

The judge who was killed was named John Roll. He had also faced death threats.

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/John_Roll

[Toups]

Yup. Here it is. Images of gun sights - *shakes head*

[Scotty]

Here's some more: There is no evidence at this time that the shooting of Giffords was politically motivated, but it's grimly ironic that the candidate appeared on a map of House Democrats "targeted" by Palin in 2010. The map controversially used actual target markers on locations these Democrats lived and listed their names.

[Toups]

I think they said 9 years old, not months. Still sad though.

[Scotty]

And to think that this unstable nutjob could have been only a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States, the most powerful country in the world.

[Scotty]

Yes, very sad. And that is why these conservative Republicans like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Ann Coulter, and others are doing more damage to this country than ever before.