It’s my guess that this subject will and should occupy our minds today. The last thread’s comment section has gotten very long, so I figured we need a new open thread.
Share your links and anything else you learn today. There is no sense of attempting to change the subject, nor should we.
Statement from U.S. Navy Captain Mark Kelly
“On behalf of Gabby and our entire family, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the people of Arizona and this great nation for their unbelievable outpouring of support. Gabby was doing what she loved most – hearing from her constituents – when this tragedy occurred. Serving Southern Arizonans is her passion, and nothing makes her more proud than representing them in Congress.
“Like all Americans, we mourn the loss of Gabe Zimmerman, a fine man and beloved member of Gabby’s team, Judge John M. Roll, Christina Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck, and Dorwan Stoddard. We must never forget them, and our prayers are with their families. Our hearts go out to everyone injured yesterday; we hope and pray for their quick recovery. We also extend our thanks and appreciation to all of the first responders, medical personnel, law enforcement, and Arizona citizens who acted swiftly yesterday and continue to assist our community through this tragedy. Many stories of heroism are emerging, and they are a source of strength for us during this difficult time. We are forever grateful.“Many of you have offered help. There is little that we can do but pray for those who are struggling. If you are inspired to make a positive gesture, consider two organizations that Gabby has long valued and supported: Tucson’s Community Food Bank and the American Red Cross.”
Community Food Bank
3003 S Country Club Rd # 221
Tucson, AZ 85713-4084
(520) 622-0525
American Red Cross, Southern Arizona Chapter
2916 East Broadway Boulevard
Tucson, AZ 85716
(520) 318-6740
Filed under: Uncategorized |
--Graphic by Freedom Fairy
"This is not culture. This is not custom. This is criminal."
Uppity Woman 
I guess somebody better tell the nutroots. I’m sure they will be surrounding her house and “helping” her change her mind, because like I said, they hate their own reflection in the right. Looks like this nutcase had a little bit of both of them in him.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/jared_loughner_alleged_shooter.php
Ooops.
now maybe these crackpots on both sides will examine themselves instead of everyone else.
I feel sorry for these twitters. they will be dragged through the mud.
Gabby has a fine spouse. I’m glad that he made a statement.
Capt Kelly’s statement was very nice. So glad that he made the suggestion that people who want to do something concrete donate to the Food Bank or Red Cross.
His description of her loving to meet with her constituents and her passion for serving them – lovely!
Thoughts and prayers for them all.
Patricia Maisch on Fox now
What a beautiful, heartfelt – other people statement, and a continuance of exactly what Gabrielle Giffords was doing up until the moment she was shot.
What she stands for is making a broader impact – not to mention flushing all of the “extremists” right out into the open.
“not to mention flushing all of the “extremists” right out into the open.”
And there are SO MANY of them commanding the airwaves. This is the real travesty. Now we must keep them out there and naked in their hatefulness – on both sides.
OT – But WTF?
Ashley Turton, director of congressional affairs for Progress Energy, was found dead in a burning car Monday morning in Washington.
Turton’s husband is White House deputy director of House legislative affairs, Dan Turton.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/paul-duggan/-the-wife-of-a.html
Authorities said her death appears to have resulted from a low-speed crash, an unknown medical condition, the fire, or some combination of the three.
*************************
What??
The Arizona Republic ran profiles of each of the victims, plus Patricia and the others that helped out… front page. Usually the AzRep leans toward garbage, but they did a fine job today.
I have a cousin who posted the OMGITS P****’s FAULT crap, and I squashed it. Not to defend SP, but to knock off the unjustified finger pointing. Seriously, isn’t enough enough?
What she said.
FF – unfortunately, this whole lone gunman’s actions is starting to be spun by the media, politicians and government agencies into being instigated by “A Mistrust of Government” “extremist” causal effect.
I follow certain people like Maryam Namazie’s protests against Islamist Extremists and Sharia Law, but would no more consider joining a communist or atheist identified “movement” than I would the marketing manufactured hype of Hope and Change or the Grizzly Bear “movement.”
A movement of Just the Facts would a be nice change – whereby demand for a trustworthy government made up of politicians with a record of accomplishments that have had an actual positive impact on this country – in jobs, socio-economic security and protection of the Constitutional and Human Rights of People – especially female people — is the only thing I am interested in.
For it to even be insinuated that people expressing outrage over being utterly controlled by two identical political parties, who both – regardless of ideologies – exploit the hell out of people desperate for real leadership and constantly justify diminishing our constitutional structure, while shamelessly participating in the failed and corrupt management of our country – is what “is inciting extremists” is convenient scapegoating, imo.
It is leadership failure and political corruption that has made “extremists” out of people – the same people they turn into “extremists” to get elected are THE SAME PEOPLE THEY WANT TO SCAPEGOAT AS EXTREMISTS FOR TRYING TO HOLD THOSE THEY ELECTED ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PROMISES MADE TO GET ELECTED.
In the meantime, political leaders – no matter their “extremist” ideologies and who they incite – get a pass as being “the victims for just trying to serve our country” ?
P.S. Gabrielle Giffords is excluded in the above.
She was a moderate through and through – which we hardly recognize or can hear anymore just how damned sane that actually is.
Gabrielle Giffords IS a Moderate, and, will be back.
She continues to hold her own, Herlo. Bless her.
It’s true that blue dogs were targets in the election, but what everybody is forgetting is they were targeted by the left too. both sides put extremist whackos up against them in primaries and in the GE. So the left needs to cut the Boo Hoo crap. You can go to any of those nutroots sites and read bad shit about her because she didn’t toe their line.
I’m sure the last two days were “scrub day”.
Three Years in PRISON for Tom Delay!
Also FOX reporting Psycho Killers parents have “barricaded” themselves in their home and are not letting the FBI come in
The family put a 4 x 4 across the front door to barricade it. For all we know, they were afraid hostile people from the community were going to go there and harm them. Considering they knew how off the wall their son was, they were probably already living jumpy, frightened lives. They did let the FBI in after one of them went around the back to talk to one of them. I feel sorry for his parents at this moment. look what they spawned, God knows how they feel. And the press is probably all over their property like the vultures they are.
DELAY! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Scum!
I hope he drops the soap. But don’t worry. He’ll be out in a few months. These thieves have strings to pull. They find a way to take care of themselves no matter what, while they screw you.
Ewwwwww – Soap on a Rope with strings to pull! Ewwwwww…..
hope it is full of knots.
I feel badly for his parents too Uppity – but it SEEMS clear they knew he was a wacko – and as you say – maybe afraid of him. But, but, but….
And, he IS an “adult”
TheHerlocaust, on January 10, 2011 at 3:36 PM said:
“A movement of Just the Facts would a be nice change – whereby demand for a trustworthy government made up of politicians with a record of accomplishments that have had an actual positive impact on this country – in jobs, socio-economic security and protection of the Constitutional and Human Rights of People – especially female people — is the only thing I am interested in.
For it to even be insinuated that people expressing outrage over being utterly controlled by two identical political parties, who both – regardless of ideologies – exploit the hell out of people desperate for real leadership and constantly justify diminishing our constitutional structure, while shamelessly participating in the failed and corrupt management of our country – is what “is inciting extremists” is convenient scapegoating, imo.”
Your Just the Facts idea is brilliant and exactly what this country is starving for. I hope you run with that idea and let us know what we can do to support it.
FF I’m sure we will be learning more about this creature and his family’s relationship with him. It won’t be pretty. It never is. They knew. It’s not possible not to know.
I did a new post on Tommy.
COMPLETELY O/T – why are plain old area rugs and basic wall sconces so friggin’ expensive!!!!!
I’m going to have to skin the dog and use a torch
FF- ROFL! I had the same trouble. Finally ended up getting three beautiful homemade braided rugs at an auction for 1/3 of what I would have paid for brand new machine made in China polyester/nylon crap. One rug needed to be stitched- but I know how- Mom used to make braided rugs.
As for the wall sconces- it’s crazy- and all made in China as well. We are down to one left to replace.
No Chit Mom – i finally found a sconce I KNIND OF liked on Ebay – made an offer, he countered, I countered LESS and he sold it – under $20 and had it listed for twice that plus shipping. It would not have been my first choice – but these days my wallet dictates my taste!
I sold some antique china sconces on ebay a few years ago. People fall all over themselves for them.
OT – but I am now wondering, based on my former tenant’s behavior, if I should contact the Judge who will be hearing her case for fighting in public. After she moved she wrote a lengthy diatribe to my friend and was completely over the top.
Is SHE the “type” to go off on an innocent? I believe so.
Yeah and he’ll be forced to disclose your statement. And then she will be free in a day or two and pay you a visit. Do yourself a favor FF. Leave it. The law is always on the side of people like that.
Once she harms someone then they will do something. Till then, don’t let it be you. Keep your gun loaded and if she heads to your house again, turn her into a strawberry barrel.
I hate to tell this story – I really do.
But the mother of the freak – just like this one’s – that murdered my niece’s 1/2 brother and sister – knew the f*cker was crazy – and had seen his writings about doing it in his journal. She Stayed silent!
He decapitated a beautiful girl, cut off her hands and murdered a young, wonderful boy – who they think followed to protect his sister – and the freak refused to tell what he had done with the “trophies” of her body parts – which have never been found.
Parents that protect these sickos should go to jail!
My parents protected one in our house……. I have known or listened to the personal stories of more victims than most would care to know about – whose parents protected these sick monster freaks at the expense of those that they were victimizing!
In such cases – parents are accomplices more than “loving parents” or fearful victims. They have the “Authority, as Parents,” more than any other to have these people committed! imo.
I blame the parents that “protect” these people, friends that see the signs and ignore them, the idiots that find them “amusing” on social networks and a system that doesn’t want to deal with them – as much as these sickos for committing the acts they commit!
Sorry, but that’s the way I feel.
Just thought I would ask….. :-0
This bears repeating:
“A movement of Just the Facts would a be nice change.” That’s the way it used to be. Now? Spin to the spin on the spin until everyone’s whipped up and confused.
Side Note Dept: the stupid Pima Co. sheriff made a comment equating Saturday’s events with the events in Tombstone over 100 years ago. An acquaintance of mine who is a history professor at Georgetown picked up on the stupid statement and wrote an article (“Even Tombstone Had Gun Laws” on Politico) about this, bringing up the political leanings of the Earps and Clantons, the Civil War.
What killed me was her lead in: “The irony of Dupnik’s remark is that Tombstone lawmakers in the 1880s did more to combat gun violence than the Arizona government does today.” Reading the rest made my head hurt and ask “What?” Good grief. The concept of “gun control” in that era was making sure you hit what you aimed at. Bottom line? Enough of everyone’s fingerpointing and pontificating and $.02 and all this garbage.
To the self-serving politicians and coumnists and all those spouting high sounding rhetoric: let’s fix the damn problems, starting with politicians and Congress and move on to mental health (one might say they’re all one and the same), and go from there, instead of piling more blahblahblah on everyone else’s verbal vomit.
(steps off soapbox with the disclaimer that this is NOT aimed at anyone here… it’s just me ranting)
FF…leave it alone.
If I lived in an open border state I’d want to be able to carry a gun too. Sorry, but it’s true.. Tombstone didn’t have to worry about that.
Excellent points Allie – my comment had a lot more about the very kinds of examples you so astutely provided, but it was just too long, so I edited it.
There is BS “Irony” spewing out of this whole event like blood from a horrible wound – the horrible wound that it is.
The road is narrow. It is so easy to get caught up in rhetoric that all sounds so good – designed to speak to what we want to hear – only to discover that, behind the scenes, it’s one more “Walk This Way” – promoting an ideological agenda just as narrow-minded as they accuse the far Right or far Left as having.
It’s easy to make something sound so “right” – but the facts – the results – tell a whole other story.
It takes courage to look at the facts and report them as they are. It means looking at the fact that we have all been fooled – no matter what ideology we have followed – and we went along with being fooled.
What was the payoff in keeping on believing in a system that’s been broken for a long, long time and/or electing people, groomed largely from the same political parties and ideologies that led us down the very path we are on?
It means confronting the system. It means facing the truth about what really made an accomplished political leader like Hillary Clinton such a threat or one of the most successful presidents of all time like Bill Clinton so hated?
Results? Or obsessions with ideologies that apparently could care less about actual results?
Call it partisanship or whatever, it’s obsessions with shit that really doesn’t matter and refusing to gauge results, based upon real leadership, rather than projections of oneself onto some self-serving professional politician that knows exactly how to play “ideological” followers, thus the political “game” to survive.
We have believed and believed and believed in the Integrity of Political Leadership and accepted the fact that it is an exception rather than the rule. Change is messy and the thought of how broad-sweeping it needs to be is frightening as hell.
It is so much easier to BE SOLD on what WE WANT TO HEAR – rather than actually get out there and fight for what we know is right. That takes involvement, effort and the ability or willingness to look at both the landscape and what it has grown, rather projecting an ideological stance onto an “if only” portrait of a Garden of Eden – that is actually infested with ideological, venomous snakes that will bite their “average” admirers and supporters in a heartbeat.
Their voting records are WHO they are – and they largely do not reflect the promises made to the Average America Citizen that they promised to protect first and foremost.
Our “leaders” incessantly LIE, their records prove it and they do not deserve the “TRUST” of the American People. THAT’S A FACT.
Shrinking back from them telling that and holding them accountable to THAT FACT only allows them to spin those that try into accusing the entire country of being violence-inciting, anti-American “trouble-makers”.
Bush-Cheney successfully did that and look at what it cost us all in the long run – more of the same and worse.
Shrinking back from telling them that and notholding them accountable to THAT FACT only allows them to spin those that try into profiling us all that have had enough into violence-inciting, anti-American “trouble-makers” to keep us manageable and afraid of their power.
I should have said.
(That’s my rant)
Horrible story, Herlo and yes, the parents do often tend to protect their little Precious at the expense of everyone else.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20110109/gabrielle-giffords-brain-injury-faq
It does sound like Giffords will make it from
WebMD. She wiggled her toes and showed two fingers on commands. Another story said she gave a thumbs up sign.
The WebMD link gives a thorough, 3-page explanation of what has been done and as I said, she would unbergo a medically-induced coma to aid healing (elaborated on by WebMD.)
Oh, and this AM, ABC reported a WOMAN prevented the gunman from reloading. Fancy that.
Her – what a very sober and real “rant.” You should post that everywhere – and we can help. AND it should go to every elected official in the US!
WELL SAID, and Thank You!
Class act, Captain Kelly. Prayers for you, Rep Giffords, those sustaining injuries, the dead and their friends and families.
Thanks FF (I think) Sort of messed up that ending there – twice! lol
In your case FF with the former housemate, Geeze, only you know how “volatile” she is. I don’t put up with a lot today – to a fault, I think. I’m still getting my legs on that.
There are two kinds of “go off”.
My go off is, I get things off my chest pretty quickly. I tend to call bullshit, bullshit these days as I see it. My opinion and experiences of a situation count just as much as the other’s.
Several years ago I had a similar experience as you. It caused me to add “lifestyle as a drug head” to my list, along with threats and violence, that I won’t put up with in “my space”.
I’m a 911 gal today, damned proud of it and people know that about me — today.
I don’t use it to “retaliate” or try and get someone first or back or involve myself in something that could cause me more harm than trying to safely solve the problem – like disengaging completely – and that’s pretty well known about me too.
But, that’s where my 911 reputation serves me so well, I think. I brag about my position on people who would use intimidation or threats as a means to scare me.
Here’s my position today, which is similar to what it’s always been: “I scare easily.”
(But, today, I would call 911 and let the Police inform the person that they succeeded in scaring me 😀 It either stops or I have at least begun an official record of past behaviors, in the event there’s a next time)