Tucson Shootings -- January 12

New York Times: "President Obama landed in Tucson on Wednesday afternoon, and immediately headed to the hospital to see Representative Gabrielle Giffords and other people injured in the shooting on Saturday." AP update here. ...

... Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Obama will focus his speech at a memorial service in Tucson on Wednesday evening on the victims of the attack and on the idea of service to the country, avoiding any overt commentary on the debate over violence and the nation’s political culture. Instead, Mr. Obama ... will call for unity among Americans, while trying to honor the victims, including their service to government, as an example to all Americans. He will share the anecdotes about the victims that he has learned during private phone calls to the families, aides said." President Obama will speak at 8:00 pm ET. ...

... Politico: "Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Justice Anthony Kennedy will accompany the Obamas. Also flying on Air Force One will be House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and five Arizona Republicans: Reps. Paul Gosar, Trent Franks, Ben Quayle, Dave Schweikert and Jeff Flake." CW: you remember Ben Quayle, a/k/a porn star "Brock Landers," who ran an ad in which he said, "Barack Obama is the worst President in history." (Scroll down on this page to see part of the ad; Andy Cobb's remake, below the Quayle ad, is even funnier.) Should be a fun trip.

UPI: "Doctors said Wednesday they're encouraged by the progress made by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.... Dr. Peter Rhee of the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., said Giffords still is in critical condition but is making more and more spontaneous movements -- even fixing her hospital gown on her own." ...

... Mike Orcutt in Scientific American on how Gabrielle Giffords survived: the "nature of her injury" & "prompt emergency care kept her alive."

Juan Cole: "Sarah Never Does Anything Wrong.... Palin has a long history of using violent rhetoric and then denying it." Thanks to Jeanne B. ...

AND the Politico headline is, "Palin charges critics with 'blood libel.' Sarah Palin released a video statement Wednesday calling the rush to pin blame on conservatives for the Tucson shooting 'reprehensible' and a 'blood libel.'" I'm not going to post the nearly 8-minute video because I don't want to do anything to encourage Palin, but the Politico article includes the video. ...

... Sarah Palin just can't seem to get it, on any front. I think she's an attractive person, she is articulate.  But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what's going on here. -- James Clyburn, House Assistant Leader (D-SC)

Since the next two bloggers comment on Palin's appearance, I've posted this screenshot, but no video!

CW: Hair combed, check. Lipstick neutral, check. Funereal gray suit, check. Flag pin, check. Fireplace, check. Silver-framed B&W photo, check. American flag on the right of the screen, check.

     ... Greg Sargent: "... the obvious care that went into making this video ... demonstrate ... that Palin and her advisers knew this was a potential make-or-break moment.... Palin, of course, has long taken her case directly to supporters via Twitter and Facebook, while not permitting herself to be exposed to any journalistic cross-examination. Utilizing a pre-taped video message is a new twist on that strategy.... Her core accusation on the video ... actually accuses [her critics] of expressing concern and outrage about the shooting ... in an effort to do nothing more than damage her politically": The key sentence: "But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn." ...

     ... Balloon Juice: "Palin’s toned-down appearance and scripted delivery show that she wants to adopt the appearance of reasonableness... The setting is presidential, but the message is classic Palin, lashing back at her critics. She was clearly hoping to show 'gravitas', but that’s more than set dressing." ...

Today has been set aside to honor the victims of the Tucson massacre. And Sarah Palin has apparently decided she's one of them. -- Josh Marshall of TPM

     ... Andrew Sullivan: Palin "can see absolutely nothing awry in the inflammatory and violent rhetoric she and others have deployed so aggressively in the past two years. Nothing. The attempted assassination of a congresswoman after relentless demonization of her, after her opponent brandished an M-16 at a campaign rally, after a brick was thrown through her campaign window, after she personally complained about Palin's own metaphorical cross-hairs on her." ...

     ... Garance Franke-Ruta of The Atlantic: "Anyone still wondering whether political debate in American would change in the wake of the shooting of 20 in Tucson ... got their answer this morning as Sarah Palin delivered a resounding no. The blood libel is an anti-Semitic myth dating to the middle ages that Jews murder Christian children to use their blood in religious ceremonies; it served as the basis for centuries of genocidal persecution." ...

     ... Howie Kurtz of the Daily Beast, who a few days ago defended Palin, now writes, "Had Palin scoured a thesaurus, she could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."

     ... CW: John Nichols of The Nation notes that Giffords is Jewish. Nichols doesn't say so, but I'm guessing Palin is using the "blood libel" accusation against her detractors to equate herself with Giffords -- "See, we're both victims. Maybe I didn't get a bullet through my head, but 'the evil-doers' are mean to me, too." This false equivalency, if that's the intention, is disgusting on so many level. Update: okay, I'm in good company:

Palin’s comments either show a complete ignorance of history, or blatant anti-Semitism. Either way, it shows an appalling lack of sensitivity given Representative Giffords’s faith and the events of the past week. -- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), via a spokesperson

When Governor Palin learns that many Jews are pained by and take offense at the use of the term, we are sure that she will choose to retract her comment, apologize and make a less inflammatory choice of words. -- Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street

     ... Zachary Roth of Yahoo News: "Several Jewish groups are criticizing Sarah Palin's use of the term 'blood libel' in her video statement on the Arizona shootings. The phrase traditionally refers to false anti-Semitic myths about Jews using the blood of Christians, often children, in their rituals." ...

     ... Karen Tumulty: "Sarah Palin's statement Wednesday in response to the Tucson shootings, in which she has found herself at the center of a debate over civility in political discourse, was crafted as both a defense of her own actions and a strike against her critics -- but reaction to the statement was dominated by a fresh controversy over her use of the phrase 'blood libel.'" ,,,

     ... Ezra Klein says, "Palin is right to feel aggrieved." And so what if she doesn't know what "blood libel" means? Then he concludes, "So that's Palin's substantive response: Politics has never been reliably civil, and at least she's not shot anybody.... But you won't find 'stop bothering me, this tragedy isn't my fault' in the chapter headings of any books on leadership. Palin could've taken this opportunity to look very big, and instead she now looks very small."

... Speaking of right-wing rabble-rousers, Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle finally released a statement which, in part, condemned the many journalists, pundits & politicians who criticized her call for "Second Amendment remedies":

Expanding the context of the attack to blame and to infringe upon the people's Constitutional liberties is both dangerous and ignorant. The irresponsible assignment of blame to me, Sarah Palin or the TEA Party movement by commentators and elected officials puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger. -- Sharron Angle

       ... CW: right. We're the dangerous ones.

Gene Robinson of the Washington Post: "We must recognize the obvious distinction between rifles, shotguns and target pistols used for sport on the one hand, and semiautomatic handguns designed for killing people on the other. We must decide that allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon, no questions asked, is just crazy. And for heaven's sake, we must demand that laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of lunatics be enforced."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner expected to spend his first celebratory weeks as the new leader of the House showcasing his party’s differences with the Democrats. But the shooting rampage in Arizona upended those plans. Now Mr.Boehner is being called on to play a far less partisan role, leading Republicans and Democrats alike through a difficult period."

Protect Congress, to Hell with Everybody Else

     (1) Brian Montopoli of CBS News: "An aide to Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) tells CBS News that the Indiana Republican plans to introduce legislation next week that would encase the House Gallery in 'a transparent and substantial material' such as Plexiglas that would keep members of the public from being able to throw explosives or make other attacks on members on the House floor." ...

     (2) Shira Toeplitz of Politico: "Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), one of the few pro-gun control Republicans in the House, wants to make it illegal for someone to knowingly carry a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including members of Congress. ...

     (3) New York Times: "House members reconvened at the Capitol on Wednesday to honor the dead and the wounded in the Arizona shooting rampage and to begin reviewing security concerns with law enforcement officials. At the same time, many Republican lawmakers quickly rejected any suggestion that gun control laws need to be tightened, even to limit access to expanded ammunition clips like the one that the police say Jared L. Loughner used outside a Tucson supermarket on Saturday...." ...

... New York Times Editors: "Members of Congress are understandably worried about their own safety in the wake of the shooting rampage that was centered around Representative Gabrielle Giffords.... But some of the ideas being proposed would have the effect of further distancing lawmakers from the people they represent — and elevate their safety above the 100,000 Americans who are shot or killed with a gun every year."

Charlie Savage & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "Threats to lawmakers rarely lead to charges.... While attackers almost never telegraph their intentions ahead of time, they do often show signs of fixation on public figures against whom they harbor grievances — real or imagined — and often tell a friend or a relative that they might attack them, forensic psychologists say." ...

... Oops, missed this one. New York Daily News: Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.)"said Sunday they'll pack heat back home after the deadly attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords." ...

... Prof. Joanne Freeman in the New York Times: "In the rough-and-tumble Congress of the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s, politicians regularly wore weapons on the House and Senate floors, and sometimes used them.... During a debate in 1850, Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi pulled a pistol on Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.... Until the 1840s, reporters played down [Congressional weapons-brandishing], in part to avoid becoming embroiled in fights themselves.... That changed with the arrival of the telegraph. Congressmen suddenly had to confront the threat — or temptation — of 'instant' nationwide publicity."

He doesn't say much, he just sits in his cell with a smirk on his face, nothing else. -- U.S. Marshal David Gonzales

David Fahrenthold & Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "The Pima County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday released reports from 12 cases in which its officers interacted with the family of Jared Loughner, files that provided evidence of the accused gunman's troubled childhood but contained no obvious foreshadowing of the rampage that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) critically wounded.... The most serious case involved a small-time drug arrest in 2007, when a sheriff's deputy reported finding a marijuana pipe in Loughner's pocket." ...

... ** AP: "A wildlife officer pulled over [Jared Loughner] ... less than three hours before the deadly attack, authorities said Wednesday.... Loughner ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.... The officer took Loughner's driver's license and vehicle registration information but found no outstanding warrants on Loughner or his vehicle. Wildlife officers don't usually make traffic stops unless public safety is at risk, such as running a red light."

... Tom Steller of the Arizona Daily Star: "Jared Lee Loughner sought help getting a job several times last year at a Pima County employment center, but the last visit turned into a familiar fiasco: Loughner was ejected as he protested his constitutional rights.... On Sept. 29, Loughner made the last of at least four visits to the Pima County OneStop center.... He came in carrying a video camera and recorded the staff in the office...." When told not to tape the staff, he pulled a copy of the Constitution from his pocket & said it was his right. He was asked to leave then & another time the same day....

... Jo Becker, et al., of the New York Times: "The police were sent to the home where Jared L. Loughner lived with his family on more than one occasion before the attack here on Saturday.... A [police] spokesman ... said the details of the calls ... would be released.... He said he did not know what the calls were about ... or whether they involved Jared Loughner or another member of the household." The article details an interview with Zane Gutierrez, a friend of Loughner's, who said Loughner was "a nihilist and loves causing chaos" & was expert at handling guns.

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The rules regarding [an insanity defense] ... were tightened over the years in the wake of the verdict for John W. Hinckley Jr., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. The insanity argument is now seldom successful, legal experts said. What is more likely ... is that Mr. Loughner’s lawyers will use any mental health problems they find to stave off the death penalty, if he should go to trial and be convicted."

Glock Sales Surge. Michael Riley of Bloomberg: "A national debate over weaknesses in state and federal gun laws stirred by the shooting has stoked fears among gun buyers that stiffer restrictions may be coming from Congress, gun dealers say. The result is that a deadly demonstration of the weapon’s effectiveness has also fired up sales of handguns in Arizona and other states, according to federal law enforcement data."

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post writes about how various newspapers have printed the mugshot of Jared Loughner. CW: my choice, unlike everyone else's, has been not to post it at all. It's isn't just that the photo is too creepy -- it is -- but that Loughner seems to want to be recognized for the glory of his crimes. I don't want to help him out. ...

... Jack Shafer of Slate says it a lot better than I did: Loughner won't be content until people understand that he's a sadistic bastard capable of greater transgressions than shooting innocent people at point-blank range and that killing a 9-year-old only hints at the monster inside him.