Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) Shot In Head

[Tinker]

[Mattmovies]

Mark Ames does a fairly good write up of events without evoking too much political stuff:

Ames wrote the book, Going Postal, and did heavy research on rampage shootings and assassinations. He makes a good point that this is a bizarre hybrid of 60s assassination with 80s rampage. Something that appears to be new, in a sense.

Not on this forum, but quietly at home, I've been offering that I thought this might have started as an anti-authoritarian misogynist attack. This idea based on that fact that he spoke at one of Giffords' events, asking her a question. As I guessed, it was some kind of philosophical gibberish type question that a Congresswoman can't really answer in a public forum. To some extent the question about whether government matters if words don't matter isn't gibberish, he could have gotten some answers if he read Socrates, but that's not something Giffords could address in that kind of forum. Feeling blown off and being violent minded, he targeted her specifically. I'm guessing her gender actually had more to do with this than politics, though he may have used some form of politics to try to justify himself.

I'm not convinced that there's no motive and he's just crazy.

It's the rampage part that's weird. Does anyone know if he was rushed by attendees and started firing in their direction, or if he started firing at the audience and then got rushed?

[cincinnatus]

[Mattmovies]

You know I've only got two degrees of Kevin Bacon.

[Mr. Perfect]

[noddy]

mr p - are you really surprised that a mass slaughter using guns, might trigger some discussion about guns and the reasons people have them and need them, and it involves the politicians who make them the primary focus of their identity...

if someone is smart enough to wedge the right wingers on suburban/rural lines like happened over here, you will end up with a situation where the rural tea partiers no longer support the need for nihilist suburbanites to own millitary weapons.

[Tinker]

[Mr. Perfect]

I appreciate the compliment, but I can't take credit due to craftiness, the simple fact of no evidence linking this fellow to Palin or the tea party is what did you in.

[Mr. Perfect]

[noddy]

[Mr. Perfect]

[Demon of Undoing]

[noddy]

[Milo]

[Mr. Perfect]

[Mr. Perfect]

[noddy]

[Ibrahim]

I'd always dismissed anyone who took partisan politics too seriously as a bit of a simpleton, but I neglected to realize how amoral they are. The main emotion that these killings provoked in such people was obviously enthusiasm and excitement. They'd have a new excuse to play their games this week. A bit like when video games release a new level for download, except in this case a nine year old girl was shot and killed.

[noddy]

[Mr. Perfect]

You could be right Ib, Paul Krugman is a very bad man.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opini ... an.html?hp

[Mr. Perfect]

[Ibrahim]

[Mr. Perfect]

An admission like that coming from you is real progress in my favor.

[Ibrahim]

[Mr. Perfect]

Well I wouldn't want you to think anything different. The more disgusted you become with partisan politics the less influence you will exert over it, to my benefit. I'm pleased as punch about that.