Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and killed during an open meeting with her constituents today. Already, recriminations are echoing through the blogosphere, although motive has not yet been established for the shooting.
The shooting is to be deplored, regardless of the motivation. If the shooting was political in nature, it needs to be shouted from the rooftops, that in our country, political differences are settled by the ballot box and not the barrel of a gun.
Dr. Steven Rayle, a former emergency room doctor who now works in a hospice, said that he had witnessed the shootings. He said the congresswoman was standing behind a table outside the Safeway greeting passersby when the gunman approached her from behind, held a gun about a foot from her head and began firing.
I fully expect the knee jerk, gun ban crowd to be out shortly. As horrific as this crime is, there is no harm in waiting until all the facts come out before anyone starts assessing blame, other than that which would naturally fall to anyone who would commit such a vile and evil act as this assassin did.
Ms. Giffords was a motorcycle enthusiast, married to a former NASA astronaut and Navy pilot, Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly. Rest in peace, Ms. Giffords. Our prayers go out to her family and friends.
Update: According to a hospital spokesperson, she is alive but in critical condition.
H/T Memeorandum
Posts
Glad to hear she may well pull through, despite being shot in the head. Only last week the media was used to advocate the execution of Michael Vick for killing dogs. Last April Republican Congressman Paul Broun used the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: "Fellow patriots, we have a lot of domestic enemies of the constitution, and they're right down the Mall, in the Congress of the United States – and right down Independence Avenue in the White House that belongs to us. It's not about my ability to hunt, which I love to do. It's not about the ability for me to protect my family and property against criminals, which we have the right to do. But it's all about us protecting ourselves from a tyrannical government." The year before, this same Broun singled out then-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, as one such "domestic enemy of the constitution". He was re-elected last November with 67% of the vote. As a teacher of 20th century history here about 7 miles from Dachau in Germany, I know all about how self-serving demagogues like Palin will sacrifice people's lives for their own ends and use God and patriotism to justify it.
ReplyDelete"I know all about how self-serving demagogues like Palin will sacrifice people's lives for their own ends"
ReplyDeleteYou might want to stop by Politico:
One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did.
“They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers,” said the Democrat. “Just like the Clinton White House deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”
Now, tell me again about "self-serving demagogues".