Democratic Congresswoman Shot in Arizona
UPDATE: SIX OTHERS HAVE BEEN KILLED, TWELVE WOUNDED.
UMC Hospital news conference, 4pm ET:
• 10 patients: one died — “a young child” — five critical. (This does not include other hospitals receiving victims.)
• Giffords’ condition is “very optimistic” following surgery.
NPR (updated):
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman at a public event in Tucson on Saturday. There are reports of numerous injuries and the White House said “some had passed away.”
The dead included U.S. District Judge John Roll, U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales told the Associated Press…
The suspect fired indiscriminately from about four feet away, Michaels said. A congressional official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the gunman was using an automatic weapon…
Giffords’ Tucson office was one of three damaged last March by vandals who targeted Democrats in advance of the U.S. House vote on the controversial health care legislation. A glass panel at her office was shattered, and at the time her staff said that it appeared the window had been damaged by a pellet gun.
The shooter is in custody; he is being described as a “white male born in 1988.” CNN reports that he used a 9mm Glock.
AP:
People familiar with the investigation tell The Associated Press that the gunman held in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and others has been identified as Jared Lee Loughner.
Post being updated as the story develops.
The Sierra Vista (Arizona) Herald/Review, Friday:
Waiting to change planes in Dallas, Texas, the three-term congresswoman who represents Arizona’s 8th Congressional District told the Herald/Review during a telephone interview she expects both sides — Republican and Democratic — will accomplish some bipartisanship things, but partisanship will also be at play in this session.
Giffords’ Twitter account, Saturday morning:
FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!
OMFG, I WANT OUT OF THIS STATE SO FUCKING BADLY.
If memory serves, someone tried to bring a gun to another one of her Congress on the Corner appearances last year. I can’t recall what happened. I think they took the person away before he got anywhere near her. Will look for the story.
Here it is: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/10/gabrielle-giffords-town-h_n_255656.html
Damn hamsters get through the t00bz faster. :)
While we’re watching this issue, I give you:
The world has gone mad.
I am sick to my stomach.
Sheriff Dupnik on MSNBC saying she’s still alive acc’d to his man @ the hospital w/ her.
They arrested the shooter? BBC says they did.
@Benedick is NOT Mike Lee: thank you for changing the avatar.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Welcome to the Wonderful World of Breaking News.
sickening madness. speechless.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: If it was inappropriate before it is now completely beyond the pale. This is simply terrible news.
Tucson Dem blogger reporting that shooter called out names of staffers before shooting them.
http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net/2011/01/08/giffords-attacked/
Now they’re reporting a federal judge is dead.
Is it weird that now I’m worried about the Asshole?
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Just posted an update from NPR — her office was shot at during the healthcare debate.
Hospital holding a news conference @ 1:30 MST. Spokeswomen said they received 9 victims, all serious or critical. Others were dead at the scene.
@JNOV: I ran the office shooting, and I pointedly included “Democratic” in the headline, but beyond that, I want to be careful about suppositions. We’ll know the details soon enough.
STOP: This is a mass shooting. Could this just be an average, run-of-the-mill homicidal maniac? This has happened a lot. There’s nothing on motive yet; it’s all speculation.
(I throw this out there believing that this is precisely what it looks like — an assassination with innocent bystanders. But caution is required.)
@nojo: The 2009 event I linked to above seems like foreshadowing now. As far as I can tell, they never caught the person who dropped the gun. I wonder if it was the same person or somehow related to today’s fuckard.
CJ Roll dead. Damn.
Nice guy.
This brings back memories of the Lefkow shooting a few years back.
The murder of her husband and mother-in-law (Judge Lefkow was the target, but wasn’t home) was initially billed to the credit of Matthew Hale and the World Church of the Creator, who had made threats to that end. That turned out to not be the case — a crazy guy in Milwaukee did the crime and killed himself a few days later when he was cornered by police. So jumping to conclusions is not advised.
@chicago bureau: BBC reporting that there is a child among the victims.
@chicago bureau: I agree about where this is likely leading, but right now, even the “confirmed” facts are shifting. CNN held off the death report for a long time after NPR ran with it, and soon after CNN ran it, both retracted it.
I will assume this is one of Sean Hannity’s chickens coming home to roost.
This is utterly shocking, and yet not surprising at all, I’m sorry to say. At least Boehner’s quote was classy.
@ Jamie: Oh.
BREAKING: Giffords “expected to survive” per MSNBC.
I was telling Silent Creative Partner this morning that I haven’t seen this kind of shit go down since I was growing up.
By the way: Why is the Tuscon NBC affiliate called KGUN?
From Gawker
‘the Giffords shooting should at the very least underscore the fact that, as Matt Yglesias says, “gun imagery and electoral politics don’t mix.”‘
http://gawker.com/5728545/shot-congresswoman-was-in-sarah-palins-crosshairs
@nojo: OMG no it isn’t? Is it?
Giffords read the First Amendment during Not-the-Constitution Day.
The child died.
Surgeon said Gifford was able to follow commands when admitted. Surgery went well.
@JNOV: Heartbreaking.
@Mistress Cynica: White male 22, reported in custody.
@Dodgerblue: And the other thing was that it was an extended clip, with (at least insofar as I heard) 18 shots fired.
The shot that hit Giffords went through-and-through, in the head (the brain, specifically). She could survive, but “recovery” could be a very thin reed.
@chicago bureau: I’m seeing reports on Twitter that one or two others are in custody.
Per TP:
Giffords’ surgeon said during a press conference that Giffords is out of surgery. “At the current time period I’m very optimistic about recovery,” he said.
Sarah Palin is in with this:
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.
We’ll see how that stands up to the light of day. Mark it, for the moment.
@Dodgerblue: I’ll trust Twitter as far as I can throw it on a story like this.
@chicago bureau: Everybody’s off the rails today. NPR was sourcing the local sheriff’s office on the early death reports.
So, about all those folks at the hospital: Who’s getting the bills?
@chicago bureau: She’s Jewish, btw.
@nojo: Baby steps back to humor, Fearless Leader. Baby steps. (It’s a fine line. I think you’re on the good side of it.)
@Dodgerblue: Sheriff said they were executing “a number of search warrants.” Gawker(!) identifies the shooter as Jared Laughner.
Oh god, Shep said they’re going to air the shooter’s videos.
Why why why do they do this?
@chicago bureau: Humor? I’m fucking serious. Who pays the hospital bills for victims of a slaughter?
@chicago bureau: Tweeps reported she was alive before NPR and CNN did…
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Wait, what? I might actually want to see this. It might be a clue. I want answers.
@nojo: I’m sure that’s Jan Brewer’s #1 concern right now. I, too, and fucking serious.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: 24 hours a day to fill, and no solid facts to report.
@nojo: I thought you were going for a government health care angle (and, to answer the question partially, the hospital is at the U of A). If I had you wrong, I’m quite sorry.
@chicago bureau: Here’s humor:
To answer this week’s poll: Yes.
@nojo: I’m sure part of it will be covered by Medicaid and part by the state since UMC is part of the University of Arizona.
@chicago bureau: Fuck Talibunny. There is the blood of 17 people on that twat’s hands. Fuck her to come out with a message like that after putting a bullseye on Giffords, and campaigning for a candidate who had a fundraiser of inviting people to a shooting range to “target Gabrielle Giffords.”
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Why? To encourage the other teabaggers to assassinate their Congresscritter and federal judges?
I think that Judge Roll is the first federal judge killed since Judge Wood was murdered in San Antonio in 1980 or so by Woody Harrelson’s dad. Does anyone know why Roll was there? Random coincidence?
@chicago bureau:
Sarah must be beaming. Giffords was on her SarahPAC Target map during the elections.
Nancy Pelosi going forward with her scheduled constituent event at 2 pm PST. Can only imagine how many SFPD and federal marshals will be with her. Given our city’s sad history, the SFPD don’t fuck around in protecting the elected officials.
MSNBC sez Black Eagle to make remarks in a few minutes.
@chicago bureau: Joke #2:
Palin would have asked Dad to help with the bolt.
His Youtube profile is in the past tense.
Sorry — I’m referring to Jared Lee Loughner.
I can’t wait to hear the theory of his defense at trial.
@SanFranLefty: Well, if the news coming in about the shooter is right (really tentative on that), he was a nut about currency. That could be totally wrong, but how that connects to the Judge who passed away (if at all) is unclear.
Here’s the thing — there was a sign out front with her name on it. The guy knew that shooting her would be nothing else but a political attack. There are only two possibilities — a random guy wanting to go out on a blaze of glory and choosing a really, really high profile murderous rampage, or a calculated, intentional assassination.
@Dodgerblue: Citations to the Declaration of Independence?
My stomach is hurting. I found out about this while I was in line at the grocery store (courtesy of Cynica’s FB update) and I haven’t stopped shaking.
NASA flew Giffords’ astronaut husband Mark to Tucson – he is in training to command the next space shuttle mission in 10 weeks. Fair guess to say someone else will be flying that bird.
Ah, God bless us. Dear God, bless us all.
What’s the sourcing on Loughner? Everybody’s quoting everybody else, but nothing official-ish.
Black Eagle said that “Gabby Giffords was a friend of mine,” before switching back to the present tense. Either it was an unfortunate slip or they wrote it when they thought she was not going to make it.
Jesus.
@nojo: I’m with you there. This year can’t get much worse. Can it?
@SanFranLefty: Blood of 24 people. Six dead plus 18 injured.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/08/20110108arizona-giffords-brk.html
@chicago bureau: Heard that too. Probably a slip. A lot of the people talking about her keep slipping into the past tense.
I was watching a Pima channel, and people were saying Gerald then Jared. There’s also some confusion about his last name. Laughner or Loughner.
@karen marie has her eyes tight shut: Okay, found an AP story with the info. Post updated.
@nojo: Eyewitness, one of the guys who tackled the shooter, said it took the EMT crew 30 minutes to get to the shooting site.
@chicago bureau: Must have been a full metal jacket bullet and not a hollow point designed to expand upon impact. I understand they recovered a Glock 9mm on the scene, which would be either a full size 17, compact 19 or subcompact 26. The magazine on a the Glock 17 and 19 (which is the model I have) holds up to 15 rounds. You can also buy extended mags for the Glock that hold up to 33 rounds.
http://www.glockworld.com/item/42680_Glock_High_Capacity_Magazine_Glock_MF17033_G17_Magazin.aspx
Rep. Trent Franks went with “jihadist terrorists” in talking about security issues generally regarding congresspeople, now on MSNBC. And how about some Representatives have concealed carry permits.
It may just me hearing a dog whistle, but: DUDE.
@Dodgerblue: How is that possible? It was in a shopping center, for Christ’s sake. I’m not buying the “half-hour” estimate for a second.
@SanFranLefty: No one knows why Judge Roll was there. He’s been getting death threats because he denied a summary judgment motion in a civil rights lawsuit filed by reps of illegal immigrants. But reports that the shooter was calling out the names of Gifford staffers as he shot them indicate to me that Gabby was the primary intended target. That and the fact that no one seemed to know Judge Roll was there ahead of time.
Oy. The AZ Repub spells it “Laughner.” The sheriff holding the press conference I watched said that the suspect had been involved in at least one incident with the popo since he turned 18. Said it was of a minor nature.
@chicago bureau: Jan’s slipping tenses as well. Perfectly understandable.
@chicago bureau: AZ is BIG.
@redmanlaw: Is that extended magazine legal, or is it easily available on the gray market?
@chicago bureau: I could go either way with that. Tucson is a clusterfuck when it comes to traffic. On a normal day, UMC is roughly 20 minutes away from the site of the shooting. The only freeway is I-10 which has been under construction to widen it for several years now.
On the other hand, the TV is showing medical helicopters at the scene so surely some were able to be airlifted quicker than that.
@chicago bureau: Everything is legal at a gun show.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: If he was getting death threats, wouldn’t the Marshals have a detail on him? Particularly after the Humphrey-Lefkow shootings — the Marshals beefed up their standards (at least I believe they did) in response.
@Dodgerblue: all other sources say that she and others were mede-vaced out by helicopter.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Sounds like perhaps a random coincidence of him going grocery shopping, unless he was coming to say hi to her.
@nojo: She’s gonna make me cry. Say what you will about her politically and Lord knows, I disagree with her about a lot of things, but Jan is a sweet lady and loyal to her friends regardless of party affiliation.* I think she’s 100% sincere here.
*A Dem friend of mine is her GC and insisted on appointing him to that position despite getting flack from GOP insiders when she assumed the office.
MSNBC: Judge lived in the neighborhood, “stopped by to say hello”.
More Target rhetoric from Arizona Republicans aimed at Giffords via BlogforArizona.com
@chicago bureau: Oh, absolutely. The marshals don’t fuck around. When Judge Bolton started getting death threats over the SB1070 litigation, they were all over the place. I went to the O/A on those lawsuits and there were at least 7 marshals in the courtroom itself, including the U.S. Marshal, who was right next to her on the bench.
But what the protocol is for protection on the weekend away from work is unknown to me. It may be up to the individual judge.
If one can tell anything from his youtubes the shooter would seem to have standard-issue 60s hippy tastes as far as reading is concerned. He would also seem to be mostly bonkers. Very Unibomberish. There are Paultardian currency obsessions and antigovernment stuff but its mostly of the tinfoil variety – I see through the conspiracy that engulfs us. By which I mean more tinfoil that Ron Paul. I’d doubt much of a Beck influence. It looks more like a Matrix-style suicide-by-cop.
Given the report that Gifford was shot from the back, she apparently has pretty good odds for survival.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bal-te.brain05oct05,0,2310918.story
@Dodgerblue: You think they were dragging their asses in hopes Gifford would die before they got there?
@chicago bureau: Depends on where you’re at: “Not Legal In the States of: California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York ” Check your local laws. Your mileage may vary.
Some RW/gun/”patriot” blogs are expressing condolences and also hoping he’s not one of them. One bunch says that it “has” to be a cartel hit or the Central American gang MS 13.
ADD: Mrs RML says that Sullivan is reporting that Palin sites are stripping inflammatory materials
Off to get the kid at the ski area.
@redmanlaw: CNN says a Glock 9mm handgun was recovered at the shooting scene.
Why does the Arizona Republic have a higher body count than any other news outlet?
“@weareyourfek: Today, John Boehner, is when you cry.”
@Dodgerblue: Oh, frustration with socialism:
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/did-scott-brown-ascribe-austin-suicide-attack-to-the-voter-frustration-that-got-him-elected.php
That or, given the Supremes rulings about corporations having the same rights as humans, he was defending property rights of insurers’ threatened by her votes for health care reform.
Or, given Scalia’s recent twisted expression of psychopathic hate, Gifford didn’t qualify as a human being entitled to any protections under the law, though her husband could sue for destruction of value of chattel. If it goes to the Supreme Court it would get Scalia’s favorable attention.
@FlyingChainSaw: I’m wondering if the Repubs are scared that the teabaggers will come adter them for treason.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: They may want to live their lives like normal human beings. I think they should have the right to do that, don’t you? They won’t be able to now, that’s for sure.
@FlyingChainSaw: Wait for the “necessity” defense.
@SanFranLefty: Conflicting news reports all day, many properly sourced, but later retracted or revised. Depends on whether you talked to the sheriff’s office, or the FBI, or the hospitals.
@Benedick: Afraid to watch his youtubes.
@Benedick: But, of course, if he’s reading 60s materials, he could be a dirty hippie OR he could be thinking “this is where this country is going” and then reaching for the weapons.
If you believe his reading list as repeated hundreds of times by now, he was reading both the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. He can’t be hitting for the commies and the Nazis at the same time.
@Benedick: It seems everybody’s rushing to post fake Facebook pages, which Facebook is rushing to take down.
Ah, the New Millennium.
@SanFranLefty: AZ updated their story
Initial reports had emergency crews treating five to seven people at the scene; authorities said later the tally was much higher because some of the wounded took themselves to the hospital.
They also changed the name of the suspect to Loughner.
@nojo: Yeah. Saw that. It’s pretty dicked up.
@texrednface: That’s horrifying.
@chicago bureau: Absolutely. I wouldn’t blame them at all. I knew a former asst. AG who had a protection detail after a drug defendant shot her brother while he was at her house. She chafed at the 24/7 intrusion on her life. There are few people who would put up with that if they didn’t have to. And, if memory serves, there are less intrusive options available to federal and state protectees (e.g. BP vests, panic buttons, home alarms).
Local ABC affiliate is saying the threats were in 2009, so the protection may have expired by now.
From NYP:
The congresswoman’s father Spencer Gifford, 75, was rushing to the hospital when asked if his 40-year-old daughter had any enemies.
“Yeah,” he told The Post. “The whole Tea Party.”
He added that politicians constantly faced danger.
“They always get threat[ened],” Gifford said, sobbing. “We don’t really have any information. The police department was supposed to call us but they didn’t.”
Sheesh. No one clicks my links? ::weak smile::
@Dodgerblue: That’s the only reason Agent Orange didn’t congratulate the gunman. In the end, the Koch Brothers will be enjoying the opera in Vienna and chatting about the trip to Courmayeur the next morning for a little skiing and paid-for hacks like Agent Orange will be dealing with suicide bombers in their Congressional offices. Why do you think he is so shitfaced all the time and bursting into tears?
OK. The youtube video (text captions only — no actual video, or audio) starts off by talking about “conscience dreaming.” It then says that “the majority of people, who reside in District 8 are illiterate — hilarious.” And then he talks about grammar for some reason which passes understanding (and his grammar is profoundly messed up, as it is). Then talks about mind control and brainwashing.
Zero Hedge (linked above by Dodgerblue) now has a screengrab from his Myspace page — a picture of a U.S. history book with a pistol on top of it with the caption: “United States History — 1/08/2011.”
If all of that checks out — and some of it could be faked on the fly by people with sick minds — he knows the district number for his residence, he called half of the people in that district illiterate (perhaps, the same half that voted for her), and talks about mind control and brainwashing.
What could that possibly mean except an assassination? I’ve allowed myself to entertain the possibility of an insane man with no desire but to kill a lot of people and get a lot of attention for himself, but with no political motive. I can’t do that any longer — this was a premeditated assassination and the motive — assuming all this checks out — was based on her politics.
I’d love to be proven wrong on this, but the pieces that are falling together suggest that I won’t.
@JNOV: I can’t bring myself to watch that guy’s ranting videos.
The Keith Olbermann Umbrage Hour will have a special edition at 8pm ET.
@nojo: The Keith Olbermann Umbrage Hour
Perfect.
Via Weigel: Last Congressional assassination?
Leo Ryan. Jonestown.
@JNOV: I saw them. The only one of the three Arizona congresspeople on that list that won re-election was Giffords.
@SanFranLefty: How many of the elected representatives on Talibunny’s hunting map have actually been shot at?
@nojo: Necessary TJ for my Sanity /
I was just thinking the other day that the phrase “drink the kool-aid” really unfairly maligns the Big Red Pitcher. It was, after all, Flavor-Aid that the cult members drank.
/TJ
Local reporter saying FBI agents being diverted from BCS game here in the Phoenix area and sent to Tucson now.
@FlyingChainSaw: You mean the map that is being scrubbed off the tubez? I don’t know. I know that several offices were shot at (including hers).
NYT now has a link to the Vows column about her wedding to the astronaut.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: University of Arizona postponed today’s men’s b-ball game against The Tree.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I still say M&M’s instead of Reese’s Pieces.
Meanwhile, more notes on the Facebook Wars, via Twitter reports: Wingnuts are rushing to post FB pages that paint shooter as a Deranged Libtard. Exercise great caution — either way — about attribution.
ADD: the second Youtube video talks about how a “mind controller” would be able to dictate what everyone believes, and what religion is. It’s unclear whether he’s talking about himself (delusions of grandeur) or about the government — though he did list Animal Farm and Brave New World as books he liked, so I’m leaning towards the latter.
[BIG HUGE CAVEAT — I’m going off the website Dodger linked. This could be complete and utter falsehoods, made up on the fly by somebody who is a total idiot looking for free airtime.]
[ADD: Yeah, what Fearless Leader said. I think that, if anything, this website might be right because it was posted just after the guy’s name was released. But some of the newer stuff — the gun atop the history book, for example — might be completely unreliable.]
Breaking news always amounts to a graduate seminar in Epistemology.
@Dodgerblue: How would that argument work? He just happened to be carrying (AZ is an open carry state, n’est pas?) and Gifford made a furtive move and he had to defend himself by opening up a fusilade on the crowd, each member of which could at that point only be assumed to be a co-conspirator in Gifford’s attempt to kill him?
Pick yer poison: Don Lemon or Luke Russert?
@SanFranLefty: Worth enumerating and posting someplace – like Stinque. Could it be the Congresspeople who’ve come under attack have grounds to form an attack and sue the Talibunny’s now expansive estate? After all, she made that money by exciting racial and political hatred among the stupid.
@JNOV: Oh God — the last thing we need, as a nation, right now, is having somebody like that saying that “this is the end result of” etc. etc. etc. We’re spitballing here, admittedly on facts which might be anything but facts. Keith might draw the conclusion without any caveats, or restraint — bang, done-and-dusted, c’mon up Ms. Palin and pick up your prize.
Department of Talk About Shitty Timing for Anti-Government Sentiment:
Citadel cadets reenact Confederate attack on U.S. Navy ships at Fort Sumter.
Jamie Sommers — if you’re still out there — what are the rules on initial appearances for those placed under arrest in Arizona? This guy might get a perp walk and an arraignment, at which point we might actually hear from the man.
@chicago bureau: I was referring to Nojo’s name for the show. I’ve been tired of Keef for some time.
I, however, as a regular human being, am allowed to let the arrows fly. Who would have predicted some shit like this would happen? We did in the summers of ’08, ’09 and ’10 when this bullshit was spewed non-fucking stop. Well, hooray for the crazies. They win.
@SanFranLefty: The Citadel is a racist mess.
@chicago bureau: Don’t you think this will be a federal prosecution from the start by the US Atty’s office given the dead judge and injured Congresswoman? Though I would imagine they’d have to bring in a judge from another state or circuit because of recusals.
MSNBC: Videos are “all just text with music behind them”. I blame iMovie.
@SanFranLefty: Pima County Sheriff has him in custody, so I presume he has to be brought before the state justice system first.
Tweet deleted, but we’ve got screen caps.
@JNOV: Yesterday, a political footnote. Today, a historical artifact — even if the facts aren’t as cut and dried as might be possible.
Boy oh boy: don’t you think for a second that she, after a month or so, won’t say something to the effect of “they’re trying to make me out as an evil monster, but what they really want is to TAKE YOUR FREEDOM AWAY!” I say that it will happen. No doubt. Bet the house on it.
@JNOV: Dude is saying he was being satirical.
@chicago bureau: 24 hours for the initial appearance in state court. That would cover the civilians. Charges relating to fed employees (J. Roll, Rep. Giffords and her staffers) covered under federal law which says only “unnecessary delay”.
I’d guess that they’d get him into state court first to have something to hold him while awaiting a judge from a different district. I’m guessing taking one from Phx is insufficient since Roll is the Chief Judge.
@SanFranLefty: Yes. The head of the FBI is said to be flying to the scene to help with “coordination,” which I think is a euphemism for “taking over so the local cops don’t fuck it up.”
@FlyingChainSaw: Worse. He had to shoot her to save America from treason. The 9 year old girl is a casualty in the fight for freedom. Etc.
CNN is reading a letter from the Tea Party, so I’m switching to football. I’ll get my news here.
JNOV — just saw your retweet. I think this is the definitive answer from Twitterstan: “no lefty sites were scrubbing today…”
@nojo: DERP.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Hmmmm. Let’s see if the USSS trusts the Twitters.
Yes I was trying to be sarcastic. But it backfired on me!! I’m an idiot
Fucking amateurs.
@chicago bureau: Yep. We’re on the same page here. Courtroom filled with his patriotic supporters. Be funny if they t hink the “open carry” law applies in federal court.
@JNOV: Well, the US is trying to get the twitters of the Wikileakers…
@Dodgerblue: I can see Hannity and Savage howling out this theory on their shows with all sincerity.
What’s the treason angle – her votes for stalinist health care schemes?
And now I have a migraine.
Oh, so this kid lived with his PARENTS?
There are a LOT of layers to this onion, aren’t there?
@FlyingChainSaw: I guess so. Apparently her office got vandalized when that was a hot issue. I don’t know that much about her but it looks to me like she was not in the liberal wing of the party. Married to an astronaut. Jesus H. Christ, this is depressing.
@chicago bureau: The Media Campout Begins.
I was living a quick highway trip from Springfield during the relevant school shootings some years back. The satellite trucks pull up and make a helluva noise.
@karen marie has her eyes tight shut: The past tense is weeeeeird. Creeped me out even more than the second video that comes up in the playlist – and it’s pretty fucking creepy.
@Dodgerblue: Voted against Pelosi as minority leader the other day, won her district by 1 percent last November.
@JNOV: Yeah. I went further back to his older tweets, and I believe him now. Poor dumbass.
@Dodgerblue: She is reported as good on wimmins issues.
@Dodgerblue: Anyone who is to the left of Julius Streicher is a target these days.
@FlyingChainSaw: Yeah, and look what happened to him.
Am about to kick Dahlia Lithwick’s ass if she doesn’t clarify what this tweet is about.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Yeah, me too. Time for a break. Shit, this is a fucked up day.
Oh, fuck — according to FDL, she was shot from behind and bullet exited her forehead.
Not good.
I want someone to print out Palin’s RELOAD tweet and make her eat it on national television.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I’m screaming inside! I need to lie down.
@JNOV: @TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Yeah… not the time to just put that out there. She needs to STFU. Also, I love that in response to someone saying he was uncomfortable with that tweet, she said she wasn’t trying to make a point. O,RLY.
A thought here about John McCain. He, more or less, created the Palin machine. If the line can be drawn back to her, it inevitably leads to him.
@chicago bureau: I guess this means the Marshals should be a little more wary of those covered in Cheeto dust.
@Dodgerblue: Well, I am not as interested in Streicher as the millions of people he inspired to pure evil and madness. The psychoconservative right has long passed the pole marker defining it as a cult. This is about the point at which cults either implode as accusations of insufficient purity or dedication to the cult provoke purges and assassinations – or they consolidate power and become institutions like the mormons, scientologists or nazis.
@RomeGirl: Barrack Obama’s Twitter account has 27,000 followers now. Would that be a good start? Barrack and me go way back.
@nojo: Update: She voted for John Lewis. This incomplete News Nugget brought to you by Our Nation’s Cable Journalists.
OK. I’ve been working on the first movement in scene one. Problem is to find a way to make a total asshole be the hero.
@JNOV: Darling, I always click your links.
@nojo: There’s an outsider art element to his youtubes that makes me think they’re authentic. You can’t fake their idiot poet element. He’s not so far off T.S.Elliot. He has a very elaborate theory re BCE and something he calls ADE – if I remember aright. I would bet baked’s next gay marriage flower budget he’s not a winger.
I could be wrong but I don’t think this is a harbinger of the apocalypse so much as it is an indictment of Wayne La Pierre’s lobbying industry.
And also living in AZ. This is the banality of banality. And boredom. And nothing on TV. And no one to date. And being a man. And how come I’m not happy? Charmin is cute. Lindsay left rehab.
And it was never better before. See aspoldin heads in Sarajevo, 1914.
@FlyingChainSaw: Yezz. PLEASE COMMENCE.
And we all need to chill.
Special Instant Lottery: How quickly will I shut off Ed Schultz?
Time!
Official iPhone Ruling: 2:00.1. Although I’m not sure Wolf is an improvement.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I’m friends with a local federal judge and went to a party at her house a couple of years ago. She was then presiding over a Mexican Mafia case and there had been threats. There were US Marshals about every 50 feet lining her driveway and about a dozen of them around the perimeter of her back yard, all very grim looking.
@Dodgerblue: Do you know how long she had protection? Local news is reporting that Judge Roll had protection for only a month back in 09 when the threats came in.
@FlyingChainSaw: So which way do you see them going?
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Not very long.
Candlelight vigil at the capitol at 6pm. Should I go?
LAT sez shooter was a vet who fought in Afghanistan. Shit.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Yes, unless you think some idiots would show up there and be disrespectful. Because if I were there and that happened, I’d have to have my fingernails physically removed from those peoples’ faces.
You know things are bad when a federal judge gets shot and it shows up on page four.
(Oh, and @nojo: Ed is coming perilously close to Going There. I’m on the fence as to hanging in with him much longer.)
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: If it was Eugene, I’d go. Getting around Sandy Eggo is more complicated.
@chicago bureau: I’m actually in sympathy with Ed on this one, but the more you want it, the more you have to hold back. Which is one reason why I’m not blogging for Firedoglake.
@SanFranLefty: All the talk about how America Does Not Do It This Way in the last four hours might suppress meatheads who would say that she had it coming. But you had best believe that there are numbers on that page right now, even though they are all laying low at the moment.
Statement from Chief Justice Roberts:
“The violence in Arizona today has senselessly taken five lives and inflicted tragic loss on dedicated public servants and their families. We in the judiciary have suffered the terrible loss of one of our own. Chief Judge John Roll was a wise jurist who selflessly served Arizona and the nation with great distinction, as attorney and judge, for more than 35 years. I express my deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his children, as well as the other victims and their families. Chief Judge Roll’s death is a somber reminder of the importance of the rule of law and the sacrifices of those who work to secure it.”
OK. I’m taking the dog for a walk, digging up a candle and heading out.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: FULL REPORT REQUIRED PLZ KTHX
@chicago bureau: Will do but I have no smartphone so I can’t live blog
Jesus Christ, news reporting suspicious package at Gifford’s Tucson office.
@SanFranLefty: The Selfless Patriot Defense shaping up nicely.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Can you text? I’ll give you my number in the sandbox.
@FlyingChainSaw: Just checked. You’re right, BarrackObama has 27,073 followers. I am curious how many of them think they’re following POTUS.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Text Nojo and he can put your updates “above the timestamp,” so to speak. That’s what I used to do pre-smart phone. (And what I would have to do now since I can’t log in via iPhone anymore).
Murdered staffer was engaged. There’s no happy story in a slaughter, but the details are gut-wrenching.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Or you can just collect your thoughts, email me, and I’ll post them later. If you can somehow grab a photo, more’s the better.
@nojo: Which staffer? I thought two of them were killed (District Director and another staffer).
@SanFranLefty: Wonder if Roberts stops to think what ‘Militia’ means.
@Dodgerblue: Getting crazier and crazier for a while until, finally, the GOP will just fuse with the neonazis and militia groups, discouraged libertarians and Constitution Party lunatics into an enlarged, psychoconservative party that espouses a totalist doctrine that defines itself as a standing insurrection.
At that point the Koch Bros of the world will have to decide do they really want to face off against a US AG who can make hay of charges of funding a seditious cult that is arming itself to attack a sitting administration. They might not like that. When the money leaves the pros evacuate the stage and all this is left is pure psychopathic fury with no leadership and nothing left to lose.
It is in some ways heartening to see the Chafees, Jeffords, Specters and Giffords, etc. leaving the GOP over the years but it increasingly left the party open to exploitation by the craziest and most psychopathic and left it open to be bought by any gangster with a selfish agenda. This was always the case but whenever one of the old guard joined the Democratic Party, there was one less Republican member of Congress to stand for sanity in the GOP and reject its manipulation by gangsters.
In the end, it might have been better for this crowd to have stayed inside the Party and attacked the cancer that has metastisized.
@SanFranLefty: Didn’t catch the name — “social worker” was mentioned in passing.
(CNN: Suspect was never in Army.)
@nojo: w/r/t Army – that’s a relief.
ADD: Arizona Republic says it was the community outreach director who was killed, the district director and another staff person were both shot but expected to survive. They’re still saying 18 injured.
@FlyingChainSaw: I donno. If I were a Repub who courted / lied to the teabaggers to get elected, I’d be concerned about getting offed by some crazy white male who figured out that he’d been taken for a ride. There’s a difference between admiring a hyena in a zoo and inviting one into your home.
@SanFranLefty: With a Jewish name. Just fucking great.
Cantor: House postponing all action next week. Including, you know, that thing…
@nojo: Not journalism’s finest hour. When Mrs RML told me that NPR was first up with the death report, I asked – “but do they have it right?” I spent the afternoon installing a tool box on my pickup truck since I knew Mrs RML would spend the day glued to the tube and the webz.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Figures cultists would go for the cut-rate product. Also – what the hell is the FBI doing at the goddam BCS game?
One of my IRL political friends knew the congresswoman from her work in AZ.
BTW, a lot of the RMLs’ former journalism colleagues are being called in to work over at the Tucson paper. One reporter who used to work for Mrs RML said “I always think about what [Mrs RML] would want me to do. I wish she was here directing the coverage.”
@Dodgerblue: Oh, yes, and these maniacs should never have been given the chance to be influential in Congressional races. That’s why it was important for the non-crazies to stay in the party and keep the hyenas and their friends on the sidewalk. The TP people feel owed something now and have expectations of performance for their endorsement. They’re all but threatening to assassinate the naked senator from Massachusetts for voting to the left of Streicher on stuff.
@redmanlaw: Yeah, you want a steady hand in the newsroom today…
NPR was sourcing the sheriff’s office for the death report. I really can’t blame them for running with it.
ADD: The Sheriff was saying “five deaths” for about ten minutes into his news conference just now, until somebody corrected him with six.
Sheriff: “We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.” We now hand over the next hour to wingnut bloggers.
@nojo: REALLY?! Right fucking on, Sheriff!
From our reporter at the vigil: Bagpipes.
@Dodgerblue: Don’t make me cry.
@JNOV: He also called out “vitriolic rhetoric” on radio & TV.
I’m in sympathy with him, but I’m seriously questioning the quality of info coming out of his office today.
WaPo tweet via Mrs RML: “According to law enforcement sources, Jared Loughner, the alleged Arizona gunman who shot Rep. Giffords and killed five others, including Federal judge John M. Roll, used a Glock 19, a semi-automatic pistol that was legally purchased on Nov. 30 at Sportman’s Warehouse in Tucson.”
@redmanlaw: With optional magazines for up to 33 rounds.
@Dodgerblue: More from the vigil: Our intrepid reporter spotted Code Pink members, local Mayoral candidate, State Demo Party Chair.
@JNOV: The Pima County Sheriff is very different from Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio.
@nojo: I’m seriously questioning the quality of info coming out of his office today.
Yeah, if he was the guy I saw on TV, he was a mess. Understandably so, but still.
BREAKING HARD: NYT sez there is a second suspect being sought by law enforcement.
NYT reports a second suspect being sought.
The last time I felt “they’re coming after us now” was after Kent State. Neil’s song sums it up perfectly. But “they” at Kent State were the government . . . .
@Dodgerblue: Jinx. You owe me a martini.
ADD: White man in his 50s. So that’s about what, 50% of Scottsdale?
From the Sheriff’s presser, per NYT:
Mr. Dupnik called the shooting a “very sad day for Tucson” and a “horrendous, horrendous, senseless, unbelievable crime.” And then he blamed the crime on the rhetoric — presumably political rhetoric — in the country.
“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government,” he said. “The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
Mr. Dupnik said it is time for the country to “do a little soul searching.”
He added: “The vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business … This has not become the nice United States that most of us grew up in.”
Later, he said: “It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. That’s the sad thing about what’s going on in America: pretty soon we’re not going to be able to find reasonable decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
@SanFranLefty: @Dodgerblue: Sheriff sez “person of interest”. But I need a second source for anything the Sheriff sez…
@Dodgerblue: In a way, they kind of are the govt. They elected people who supposedly represent their take on how we should live and die in this country. True fucking patriots watering the tree of liberty with the blood of nine year olds…
@nojo: True dat.
Two perhaps unrelated points:
Did you see the Army released a statement saying the alleged gunman applied to join the Army but was rejected?
I’ve noticed that the “he was just a mentally ill deranged person” is quickly becoming the RW narrative on this. Perhaps it’s true. But I know a lot of people with mental illness, including big-bad-scary schizophrenia, and I don’t see any of them capable of something like this. That sort of excuse and rhetoric just further stigmatizes mental illness.
OK, our President weighs in with a glare at the Talibunny, empress of hate.
@SanFranLefty: Right, but they are at the edge of the bell curve, just waiting for Rush and Hannity to tell them what to do next. The Adkisson Brigades aren’t mustered formally but inspired one by crazy one.
@SanFranLefty: Scapegoating the mentally ill is a beloved pastime in this country.
@FlyingChainSaw: And easy to manipulate. The NYT online edition has a photo of the shooter, an unremarkable looking young guy.
Everybody’s oohing and ahhing about the Pimo Co sheriff’s comments, but the doc at the news conference made it sound like Giffords has a very serious brain injury, that her survival is not yet certain and that only limited recovery is about the best we can expect.
Jamie – special election or governor appoints to eventually fill the seat?
@SanFranLefty: I noticed the statement but didn’t mention the reason for rejection — I’ve switched to the iPad, so slower typing.
SPLC’s Potok doing a good job connecting ramblings to specific Radical Right ideas — including sourcing some obscure items I’m not familiar with.
@FlyingChainSaw: I think this is the URL:
http://twitter.com/BarrackObama
Rep Giffords on the vandalism of her office and the political climate during the health care debate.
If you’re feeling meta right now, the Brits have rounded up a “US Media Reacts” column.
@SanFranLefty: Thanks. Mine keeps pasting with a hash in place of the directory.
OH FUCK YOU!!
Arizona’s GOP chairman, Randy Pullen, said party members are “deeply saddened and mortified” by the shooting.
“MORTIFIED”????
Do you know what that fucking word means?
@Dodgerblue: Ironically, the iTunes just popped up “Looking for a Leader” by Neil. Since I’m a little bit more into the Lady-Bits/Feminism world than the general public, not everyone may know that Gabby Giffords was consistently touted as someone who would be the first or second female president of the United States, and most likely the first Jewish president.
To quote Mistress Cynica: “Pour me another drink, would you, darling?”
@SanFranLefty: They do. They’re ashamed that he got caught.
@Dodgerblue: Where’s their boy Psycho Jesse ‘The Rifleman’ Kelly who posed in gun porn poses for the election Giffords won?
@SanFranLefty: I wonder if she shooter knew that. i hope that the FBI got to his hard drive before the locals had a chance to wipe it.
I’m back. Uploading piss poor photos now.
@FlyingChainSaw: Taking a Leatherman tool to his hard drive.
@nojo: SPLC FTW! They’re also suing on behalf of Birmingham City schoolchildren who have been maced “to enforce basic school discipline.”
@nojo: BTW, I demand a recount.
@FlyingChainSaw: Typo, babe. Jesse Kelly was her opponent. Mark Kelly is her husband the astronaut.
Via Weigel, a Giffords irony I’m not sure we’ve noted yet:
“As a gun owner, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. In February, I was proud to sign the Amicus Brief in District of Columbia v. Heller asking the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court ruling that overturned the long standing DC gun ban.
This is a common sense decision that reaffirms the Constitutional right – and Arizona tradition – of owning firearms. I commend the Court for ruling in favor of restoring our right to bear arms.”
@SanFranLefty: 2011 events don’t qualify for 2010 awards. But I suspect that’ll be one of our evergreen categories — more fun than bothering with columnists we ignore the rest of the year.
@nojo: I’ve never made an ad request before, but would you mind getting rid of the handgun/gun school ad on the homepage?
@JNOV: I’m getting Groupon. You’ll need to get me the advertiser’s URL, so I can zap it. (I’m not allowed to click on ads, even when they appear.)
@JNOV: @SanFranLefty: Ad zapped.
Programming note: Vigil photos now arriving; posting shortly.
@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Can I nominate MARK Kelly right now?
@SanFranLefty: And relieves those egging on deranged people of their responsibility. That’s what pisses me off.
Oh vomit:
During his campaign effort to unseat Giffords in November, Republican challenger Jesse Kelly held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle. Kelly is a former Marine who served in Iraq and was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event. “I don’t see the connection,” between the fundraisers featuring weapons and Saturday’s shooting, said John Ellinwood, Kelly’s spokesman.
Vigil photos posted. Shall we move to a fresh thread?
@SanFranLefty: No. She will be back.
@nojo: Further irony: she owned a Glock.
Double vomit – did you see that tool’s campaign banner-ad? Holding his M-16 across his open crotch; I *wonder* what he’s going for…
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! Sen. sENEMA has a career ahead of her in giving designer psychedelic enemas to trust-fund…
MANCHUCANDIDATE • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! @¡Andrew!: She thought three's company. Nope.
¡ANDREW! • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! Gawd hates SIN, specifically Kyrsten SINema.
¡ANDREW! • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! So long, Senatard Glitter-trash. I hope she knows how much everyone H8s her :0)
¡ANDREW! • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! The racist kleptocratic MSM is really gonna have to crank up the bread and circuses now that their…
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! @¡Andrew!: Ted Kazinski Sec of Interior Only the DEAD are extreme enough to serve in DONNIE…
¡ANDREW! • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! @FlyingChainSaw: Department of Health & Human Services: Charles Manson Defense Secretary:…
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¡ANDREW! • TRUMP: MACHINE GUNNING ORPHANAGES AND CONVENTS BY ME IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND SOMETIMES IT MAKES ME ERECT WITHOUT PHARMACEUTICAL ASSISTANCE! I cannot wait for the Republinazi MAGAt trash to DEMAND that $hitler be allowed to be president…