Congresswoman shot in Tucson Arizona alive in hospital

@SkyNewsBreak

Reuters: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is alive and in surgery after being shot in the head - earlier reports said she had died.
2 minutes ago via SkyNews Alerts - Breaking

@Reuters: FLASH: Congresswoman Giffords still alive, in surgery, nine other patients brought in from shooting: hospital spokeswoman

US Congresswoman Critical After Shooting

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Carole Erskine, Sky News Online
US Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been shot in the head during an event in Tucson, Arizona and is in a critical condition in hospital.

There are conflicting reports from the US that she has died as a result of her injuries.
But a spokeswoman for University Medical Centre said: "She is currently in surgery. She is alive."
Nine other shooting victims are also being treated at the hospital with serious injuries.
The gunman was reportedly shot and is now in police custody.
The congresswoman was holding an event called 'Congress on Your Corner' outside a supermarket and had earlier tweeted for her constituents to attend.
She was shot at point blank range in the head and airlifted to hospital.

The scene of the shooting in Arizona
Eyewitness Andrea Gooden told Fox News: "I heard about 15 shots consecutively and quickly after that there were people racing across the parking lot to the nearby store.
"I was working across the street...there was an immediate response and within a minute the sheriff and firefighters were on the scene."
Mrs Giffords was re-elected to congress in the US elections in November, focusing on immigration reform, military issues, stem call research and alternative energy.
The 40-year-old is married to NASA shuttle commander Mark Kelly who commanded the final scheduled shuttle flight in April.
Sky's Greg Milam said: "What is not clear at the moment is how many other people have been shot.
"There are conflicting reports that 12 or 15 others were shot.
"There are questions about who could be behind this and what motivation anyone could have had."

carmen wrote:Malena - does the thread need a title edit as she's still alive??

carmen wrote:No probs Malena - it's very active on twitter. Sarah Palin has taken her website down:



PS Malena - I think if you edit the title in the actual OP it will change what we see on the Index page and on subsequent posts

@katiecouric

Hospital rpting Rep. Giffords is alive, in surgery and in critical condition. 8 people in hospital in serious/critical. Four dead at scene.

malena stool wrote:That campaign map idea seems a bit unethical....shoot all the opposition, ....

I've just checked on AOL, they are carrying mixed reports, yes she's dead and yes she's alive in hospital...

It was reported 15 shots being fired and other casualties, so it could be random rather than a political assassination attempt.

Sarah Palin advocates Violence, but her Hit List isn't Criminal
Emma Ruby-Sachs.Lawyer

Emma Ruby-Sachs.Lawyer
Posted: March 25, 2010 12:20 AM

In the wake of numerous death threats and vandalism plaguing House Democrats who voted for health insurance reform, many have been asking if the actions of Sarah Palin and other right-wing pundits cross the line from free speech into criminal speech.

Sarah Palin published on her Facebook page a list of twenty Democrats who voted for health insurance reform and who are elected in districts that used to be Republican. Their locations on a map of the United States are marked by crosshairs - a symbol that clearly refers to target practice and violence.

These targeted politicians have received death threats. Their offices and homes and the homes of their family members have been vandalized. They are beefing up security measures for themselves and those who are close to them. Sarah Palin might be to blame.

But she is not a criminal.

The Supreme Court has a high standard for criminalizing speech. Free speech, while not an absolute right, is a highly protected privilege in the United States.

Under certain narrow circumstances, the government can punish or prevent speech when "the words are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." (Schenck v. United States, 1919). This was translated in 1970 into a legal test that demands criminal speech 1) be directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and 2) be "likely to produce such action." (Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1970). As Justice Brandeis pointed out in his concurring opinion on the subject of incitement to violence, "If there is time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the process of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." (Whitney v. California, 1927).

In Brandenburg, this legal test was applied and the Supreme Court found that a call for revenge if "our President, our Congress, our Supreme Court continues to suppress the white, Caucasian race" was not criminal speech.

The saving grace for the crazy revenge talk and gun imagery used in Palin's ad is that it does not create the expectation of imminent harm. Sure, harm has occurred. There have been incidents. But the speech itself does not go so far as to encourage immediate and concrete action. There is time, as Brandeis pointed out, for reasoned discussion and debate.

It is a good thing that we don't criminalize the kind of ads Palin is producing.

First, they are expressly political. Political speech is the highest form of protected speech under the First Amendment and that is necessary to preserve democratic function. We simply have to tolerate extreme points of view in order to prevent a tyranny of the majority and repression of the minority.

Second, expressions of frustration, anger and wishes for revenge are very different from actions that violate criminal law. We punish actions because the create harm. The speech does not. The only time that we criminalize speech is when the very act of speaking so clearly and immediately leads to harm that there is really no way to separate out the act of speaking and the violence that ensues (according to a seminal essay by Zechariah Chafee Jr., Free Speech in the United States, 1948).

That doesn't mean Palin's use of violent imagery isn't offensive. She is a public figure, a former candidate for the second highest office in the country. Her words have a great effect on the public and should be chosen carefully.

On the other hand, if we really wanted to hold politicians to a higher standard of speech, we'd have more than just one member of the Republican party to worry about.

@brianstelter: Ariz state senator Linda Lopez: "We just heard that she is responding to commands. She made it through surgery."”

@JournoDanny
Gunman named as Jared Laughner. #giffords

carmen wrote:Latest tweet:

@brianstelter: Ariz state senator Linda Lopez: "We just heard that she is responding to commands. She made it through surgery."”

fingers crossed for her

@JournoDanny
Gunman named as Jared Laughner. #giffords

@fieldproducer

Hospital spokesman confrims a nine year old child was killed in the shooting

Representative Gabrielle Giffords on Violent Political Rhetoric, March 2010
January 8, 2011 in Students
“Are you afraid? Are you fearful today?”

“You know, I’m not. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months. Our office corner has become a place where the Tea Party has congregated. And the rhetoric has become incredibly heated. Not just the calls, but the emails, the slurs. So things have really gotten spun up. But you gotta think about it. Our democracy is a light, a beacon really around the world because we effect change at the ballot box, and not because of these outbursts — of violence in certain cases, and the yelling, and it’s just … you know, change is important, it’s a part of our process, but it’s really important that we focus on the fact that we have a democratic process.”

“I think it’s important for all leaders, not just leaders of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party … community leaders, figures in our community to say, ‘Look, we can’t stand for this.’ I mean, this is a situation where people really need to realize that this rhetoric, and firing people up, and even things … For example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. And when people do that, they’ve gotta realize that there’s consequences to that action.”

“In the years that some of my colleagues have served, twenty, thirty years, they’ve never seen it like this. We have to work out our problems by negotiating, working together, hopefully Democrats and Republicans.”

–Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, March 25, 2010.

Below is a transcript of a YouTube movie titled "My Final Thoughts: Jared Lee Loughner." Based solely on Twitter chatter and Google searching, I've arrived at (jumped to?) the conclusion that Loughner was the shooter at today's attempted murder of AZ Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and murders and attempted murders of 11 others.

The YouTube movie is text-only, like a PowerPoint slide with instrumental music. It was uploaded to YouTube by user "Classitup10" on Dec. 15, 2010. I transcribe it and upload it here to my website as a reference source for those seeking information about today's events. I abhor all violence, and I abhor all rhetoric that fuels violence.

I wish a complete and quick recovery for Congresswoman Giffords and all injured today, and my heart breaks for the families of those whose lives were lost.

Jan 8, 2011

My Final Thoughts: Jared Lee Loughner.



Most people who read this text forget in the next two second!



The population of dreamers in the United States of America is less than 5%!



If 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 is the year B.C.E. then the previous year of 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 B.C.E. is 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,619 B.C.E.

987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 is the year in B.C.E.

Therefore, the previous year of 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,618 is 987,123,478,961,876,341,234,098,601,978,619 B.C.E.



If B.C.E. years are unable to start then A.D.E. years are unable to begin.

B.C.E. years are unable to start.

Thus, A.D.E. years are unable to begin.



If A.D.E. is endless in year than the years in A.D.E. don't cease.

A.D.E. is endless in year.

Therefore, the years in A.D.E. don't cease.



If I teach a mentally capable 8 year old for 20 consecutive minutes to replace an alphabet letter with a new letter and pronunciation then the mentally cpaable 8 year old writes and pronounces the new letter and pronounciation that's replacing an alphabet letter in 20 consecutive minutes.

I teach a mentally capable 8 year old for 20 consecutive minutes to replace an alphabet letter with a new letter and pronunciation.

Thus, the mentally 8 year old writes and pronounces the new letter and pronunciation that replaces an alphabet letter in 20 consecutive minutes.



Every human who's mentally capable is always able to be treasurer of their new currency.



If you create one new currency then you're able to create a second new currency.

If you're able to create second new currency then you're able to create third new currency.

You create one new currency.

Thus, you're able to create a third currency.



You're a treasurer for a new currency, listener?

You create and distribute your new currency, listener?

You don't allow the government to control your grammar structure, listener?



If you create one new language then you're able to create a second new language.

If you're able to create a second new language then you're unable to create a third new language.

You create one new language.

Thus, you're able to create a third new language.



All humans are in need of sleep.

Jared Loughner is a human.

Hence, Jared Loughner is in need of sleep.



Sleepwalking

If I define sleepwalking then sleepwalking is the act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep, of which one is unaware upon awakening.

I define sleepwalking.

Thus, sleepwalking is the act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep, of which one is unaware upon awakening.

I'm a sleepwalker - who turns off the alarm clock.



All conscience dreaming at this moment is asleep.

Jared Lougher is conscience dreaming at this moment.

Thus, Jared Loughner is asleep.



Terrorist

If I define terrorist then a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.

I define terrorist.

Thus, a terrorist is a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.

If you call me a terrorist then the argument to call me a terrorist is Ad hominem.

You call me a terrorist.

Thus, the argument to call me a terrorist if Ad hominem.



Every United States Military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix is receiving one mini bible before the tests.

Jared Lougher is a United States Military recruit at MEPS in Phoenix.

Therefore, Jared Loughner is receiving one mini bible before the tests.

I didn't write a belief on my Army application, and the recruiter wrote on the application: None.



The majority of citizens in the United States of America have never read the United States of America's Constitution

You don't have to accept the federalist laws.

Nonetheless, read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.

You're literate, listener?



If the property owners and government officials are no longer in ownership of their land and laws from a revolution then the revolutionary's from the revolution are in control of the land and laws.



The property owners and government officials are no longer in ownership of their land and laws from a revolution.

Thus, the revolutionary's from the revolution are in control of the land and laws.



In conclusion, reading the second United States Constitution, I can't trust the current government because of the ratifications: The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people byt controlling grammar.

No! I won't pay debt with a currency that's not backed by gold and silver!

No! I won't trust in God!



What's government if words don't have meaning?

Is Violent Rhetoric Behind the Attack on Giffords?
By Nathan Thornburgh Saturday, Jan. 08, 2011



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.
It's impossible to know this early what the motivations for the attack were. Was the alleged shooter — who, according to the AP, has been identified as 20-something named Jared Laughner — angry about immigration? Or perhaps another hot-button issue? Last March, at the height of the health care reform battle, Giffords' office was vandalized. She mentioned in an MSNBC interview that a Sarah Palin mailer had depicted her district in the crosshair of a gun sight. "They've got to realize there are consequences to that," she said. "The rhetoric is incredibly heated." The corner next to her office had also become, she said, a popular spot for Tea Party protests.
(See "40 Under 40: The Rising Stars of American Politics.")

For almost a year now, Arizona politicians have been grappling with rising anti-immigration sentiments, inflamed by reports of crossborder violence. National media attention, with its attendant voices of hysteria, only added to the churn. Pundits spoke gravely about a wave of violence, born in Mexico and now flooding Arizona. Arizona's two most famous politicians fueled the fury. Republican Senator John McCain, facing an unexpected reelection challenge from the right, ran a campaign obsessed with crossborder crime. And GOP Governor Jan Brewer, who invited the national spotlight by championing strict anti-illegal immigrant legislation, talked of beheadings in the desert.
The only problem with all this talk about a massive crossborder crime wave is that it wasn't true. Phoenix had not become one of the world's kidnapping capitals. Crime rates in Arizona had been steady or even fallen in some areas. There had been no beheadings in the desert. There were plenty of deaths there, but they were pathetic and meek tragedies: impoverished border-crossers, abandoned by their heartless guides, dying of exposure and dehydration.
(See the top 10 American political prodigies.)

But the idea of a state under siege took hold. When I was on the border last year reporting on the murder of rancher Rob Krentz, I talked to many who sincerely believed that they were under attack. Krentz's murder was a terrible event, but it was an isolated event. The relatively small number of home invasions, holdups and other crimes deeply disturbed border communities, but only because they had been living in such calm for so long. Their crime rates still don't match most cities in the states.
(Comment on this story.)

The supermarket meet-and-greet where Giffords was shot was actually a testimony to just how safe southern Arizona is. As a press release from her office last week put it, "'Congress on Your Corner' allows residents of Arizona's 8th Congressional District to meet their congresswoman one-on-one and discuss with her any issue, concern or problem involving the federal government." Not exactly the kind of event a politician would hold in a war zone.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2041408,00.html#ixzz1AU37MLWw

Gabrielle Giffords’s district office vandalized last year
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Rep. Giffords's Tuscon office was vandalized after she voted in support of the health care law. | AP Photo Close
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 1/8/11 5:21 PM EST



The office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was vandalized last year following her vote in support of health care reform and she has talked openly about the extreme nature of the local opposition in her south Arizona district.

The glass front door in Giffords’ Tucson office was shattered last March, immediately after passage of the legislation, and her spokesman said that staffers there were “a little bit shaken” to arrive at work and see plywood covering the glass.

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Giffords said at the time that she was not fearful, but noted that her office had become a gathering point for tea party protests.

“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months,” she said on MSNBC.

In the same interview, she added: “They really need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up, and, you know, even things for example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. When people do that, you gotta realize there’s consequences to that action.”

In August, Giffords talked light-heartedly about the anger she aroused.

“When you represent a district — the home of the O.K. Corral and Tombstone, the town too tough to die, nothing’s a surprise,” she said, according to a New York Times column, which noted that “irritated conservatives” had been following her around.

But that same month, Giffords’ aides called the police when someone at a meet-and-greet she was hosting at a Safeway in the border town of Douglas dropped a gun.

“We have never felt the need before to notify law enforcement when we hold these events,” spokesman C.J. Karamargin told the Arizona Daily Star

“Yelling and screaming is counterproductive,” Giffords said to her angry constituents at the meeting.

On his way to the University of Arizona hospital Saturday afternoon, the congresswoman’s father, Spencer Giffords, was asked if his daughter had any enemies.

“Yeah,” he said, according to The New York Post. “The whole tea party.”



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47258.html#ixzz1AUKYHfie