Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Shot

This is hardly "light" but there is no forum for "shocking and disgusting" and I'm upset enough I have to say something.

The Congressperson representing my Arizona district was shot dead today at a public "town meeting" with constituents. She was a moderate Democrat with a military husband who was in Afghanistan during the recent election which she was popular enough to win in a swing district despite it being a bad year for Dems.

I, for one, think the country will miss her.
 
Title edited  to update status of the Congresswomen.

Isn't she ( wasn't she) married to an Astronaut?

Yes, regardless of party affiliation, we cannot tolerate such heinous acts.  I was shocked to see the news alert.  A tragedy indeed. 
 

Michael Hoffman


Isn't she ( wasn't she) married to an Astronaut?

That rings a bell but I don't usually follow AZ politics closely enough to say for sure (I still vote in SF but most of my neighbors are fulltime Arizonans). I just recall hearing about him being in Afghanistan during the campaign--or at least I think I did.

At 3:04 ET, there appears to be conflicting reports on whether she was killed.  I certainly hope not.

At 3:48, it's reported she's alive and in surgery.  My wish is for the best.

R.I.P. to the six that died and prayers for the others still battling.
The latest report is that the gunman might not have acted alone.
That boggles my mind.

Folks,
PLEASE get you facts right in matters of this importance.
As of 11 PM MST she is very much alive and the Dr's are optimistic. Yes, she is married to an Astronaut. Yes, police are looking for a "Person of Interest". One of the people killed was a 9 year old girl, another was a respected Federal Judge who just stopped by to say hello.

Foodbme


Folks,
PLEASE get you facts right in matters of this importance.
As of 11 PM MST she is very much alive and the Dr's are optimistic. Yes, she is married to an Astronaut. Yes, police are looking for a "Person of Interest". One of the people killed was a 9 year old girl, another was a respected Federal Judge who just stopped by to say hello.

You really should be scolding the national media, not RF'rs who repeated what they heard from the same "reliable media sources" ... all of the above misinformation was reported as fact by a trigger happy press (including the report of her death by NPR).

Her Husband is to be the Command Pilot for the last Shuttle mission set for later this Spring. His twin brother is the current commander of the Int. Space Station.
   While we differ in politics, her performance in her job as a Congresswoman has been without any negatives at all IMHO. She is a well respected and admired woman as seen from all points of the spectrum. Our Prayers for her complete recovery  will continue.
  The person who did this is a Madman. So Far it appears to be the act of one Lunatic. I hope that he acted without support of any fringe-radical terrorists or criminal elements, but time and investigation will tell.
 

The entire thing is a mystery to me.  What motivates a person to do harm to others in the way he did?  He shot and killed 6 folks including a 9 year old girl for what???
 
He is one of the most disgusting folks on earth.  There is absolutely nothing that justifies his action.  I am sure that justice will prevail but regardless, that will not bring back the life of six killed and 13 wounded seriously.  His egotism is beyound forgiveness.  Death is not enough.  How about taking him to the local deli and slicing him off 1/1000 of a inch at a time in alcohol.
 
The entire thing is awful to me.  It appears that things like this is happening across the USA weekly.  WHY??
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Seriously?  You don't know why?

Nancypalooza


Seriously?  You don't know why?

Are you trying to imply something?  Want to share?

jman

Nancypalooza


Seriously?  You don't know why?

Are you trying to imply something?  Want to share?

I will. He's insane.

Years ago they would lock up insane people before, not after, they commit insane acts like this.  But that was years ago in a different world.

Foodbme


Folks,
PLEASE get you facts right in matters of this importance.
Snipped

Foodbme, for more than 2 hours national media outlets reported her dead. I had it on my dvr for at least that long.
 
You shouldn't be jumping at people that are telling what national sources are telling us.

Isn't it ironic that one of the issues that the accused had was his disdain for our government but quickly used the virtues of it to protect himself by "lawyering up" immediately?

MikeS.

Foodbme


Folks,
PLEASE get you facts right in matters of this importance.
Snipped

Foodbme, for more than 2 hours national media outlets reported her dead. I had it on my dvr for at least that long.

You shouldn't be jumping at people that are telling what national sources are telling us.

I watched several AZ TV stations for several hours shortly after it happened and I never heard any of them report that she was dead.
The "National Scoop Hungry Media Types" are more interested in being the first to report bad news and less interested in getting the facts right.
The local news tonight (11PM, MST) reported the shooter will arraigned Monday on several counts of Murder and Attempted Murder. 

Foodbme




The "National Scoop Hungry Media Types" are more interested in being the first to report bad news and less interested in getting the facts right.
 
What an absurd and ignorant generalization.  Instead of being kind about teh confusion caused bya  breaking story you defend your rudeness by blaming the national media. Ignorant and uninformed besides being rude. But typical of many of your comments.
 
We need to be kinder here...
 
Now you can make a snide or rude comment about me. Go for it dude.

Sorry Foodbme ... Fact is major news organizations did get it wrong:
http://www.poynter.org/la...ble-but-not-excusable/
http://www.mediaite.com/t...nk-shooting-in-tuscon/
... just to get the facts straight on the misreporting.
 

Regardless of whether or not any news organization PREVIOUSLY got the story wrong, could we, perhaps, change this thread's title to reflect that Rep. Giffords is not, in fact, dead?

Several news sources reported Giffords dead initially. I don't think it is an arguable point or anything to get critical about. However, can't a mod go in and fix the thread title to diffuse the discussion?
 
Alive, it is still a severe tragedy for her because we don't know her prognosis yet, and there were SIX other innocent people who died.

The Travelin Man


Regardless of whether or not any news organization PREVIOUSLY got the story wrong, could we, perhaps, change this thread's title to reflect that Rep. Giffords is not, in fact, dead?

yes, please, change the thread title - it's extremely disconcerting to see it.

I agree-------she needs all the POSITIVE energy --and prayers--that she can get and this title is definately not that! 

joclyn

The Travelin Man


Regardless of whether or not any news organization PREVIOUSLY got the story wrong, could we, perhaps, change this thread's title to reflect that Rep. Giffords is not, in fact, dead?

yes, please, change the thread title - it's extremely disconcerting to see it.

Note to BT:
As the original poster, you should still be able to (in this version of software) to edit the title as well as the message body.

Yes- please change the thread title- I thought perhaps she had taken a turn for the worse...
This is an awful situation-
our whole political climate needs to change for more civility...IMHO
Everyone is entitled to their beleiefs-
it's a shame this nutjob had an automatic weapon to make his craziness concrete.

I changed the title of the thread a few minutes ago. It now reflects the actual status of the situation. God Bless this woman and her family and comfort the families of the dead and wounded victims who were with her.