Gunman's Grammar Conspiracy Connection

ADL's Jared Loughner Report: Mental Illness, Not Ideology Likely Led To Tragedy
Mental Illness, rather than Tea Baggery's likely to blame for Loughner's rampage, says the ADL Since Saturday's massacre in Tucson, both the left and the right have parsed alleged killer Jared Lee Loughner's YouTube videos, the statements of his supposed school chums, his favorite books (everything from To Kill a Mockingbird to Mein Kampf), and any other scraps of info out there on the guy. The left has surmised he's your classic anti-government, Wingnut Teabagger. The right's labeled him an a...

Shot US lawmaker 'breathing on her own': doctor
The Arizona lawmaker shot in the head in an attack that killed six in Tucson remains in critical condition but is now capable of breathing on her own, doctors said Tuesday. "She's holding her own," said Michael Lemole, the head neurosurgeon who operated on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, adding that she was still responding to simple commands, a key sign for her recovery prospects. "She's breathing on her own," added the doctor at University Medical Center, saying they had reduced the sedati...

10 Things You Didn't Know About Gabrielle Giffords
1. Gabrielle Giffords was born in Tucson, Ariz. On June 8, 1970 to Gloria, an art conservator, and Spencer Giffords who served on the School Board district and ran the family's auto and tire business, El Campo Tire, Inc. 2. After graduating with a degree in Latin American history and sociology from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. in 1993, Giffords studied in Mexico on a Fulbright Scholarship. 3. Giffords graduated from Cornell University in 1996 with a master's degree in regional planning...

Lone nuts and convenient definitions of "terrorism"
"Columbine" author Dave Cullen wrote yesterday that most media figures compulsively -- and incorrectly -- assign all killers to one of two binaries: Crazy or political. Right-wing commentators do the same thing, for the most part, though they tend to say killers are either crazy or Terrorists. And while they'll usually freely admit that Tim McVeigh counted as a terrorist, for the most part they reserve that term for Muslims who kill. There is, for example, Charles Krauthammer's classic column on...

McCain to return from overseas trip to attend memorial service
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) will return from a congressional delegation trip to attend a memorial service for the Victims of a Shooting Spree in his home state that resulted in the wounding of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).  Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for McCain, told The Hill he is cutting his trip short to go to the memorial in Tucson, Ariz., where the shooting took place. McCain is traveling in South America with his Senate GOP colleague Tom Barrasso (Wyo.) The two were scheduled to vi...

Huff Po Caught Scrubbing Site of Post Describing a Drone Airstrike on Palins House
Suppose that Sarah Palin lived in Pakistan. Suppose that Jared Loughner, the alleged killer of Federal Judge John Roll and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ Staffer Gabe Zimmerman, had once traveled to Pakistan. Suppose that a “credible source” told a U.S. intelligence official that Loughner, while he was in Pakistan, had met with Sarah Palin. And suppose that Sarah Palin had published a map showing Gabrielle Giffords’ Congressional District under the cross hairs of a gun sight (o...

Poll: Most Americans see no connection between Ariz. shooting and political rhetoric (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller We're probably alone in the universe, or else they're out to get us Mark Halperin: Conservatives should turn the other cheek when scapegoated for Murder Could Jon Huntsman really be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012? Auburn wins it all: Sights from the BCS National Championship [SLIDESHOW] Pucker up: Celebrities recall their first kiss [SLIDESHOW] A majority of Americans don’t see a connection between vitriolic Rhetoric and Jared Loughner...

Loughner's ties to conspiracy theory
Jared Lee Loughner’s rants about grammar and mind control track closely to the writings of a Conspiracy theorist who believes that is how the government controls the populace, one leading group says – and the man tells Politico he agrees with some of Loughner’s statements. The far-right Activist, David Wynn Miller, said in a telephone interview that he didn’t know Loughner, but agreed with his statement in a YouTube video that “the government is implying mind cont...

Giffords breathing on her own: doctor
TUCSON | Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:32pm EST TUCSON (Reuters) - A doctor treating Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, gravely wounded in a shooting rampage, said on Tuesday she is now breathing on her own. Giffords was shot through the head by a gunman who sprayed a meeting with pistol fire in Tucson on Saturday, killing six people including a Federal Judge, a nine-year-old girl and one of Giffords' aides. "She's able to generate her own breaths. She's breathing on her own," Dr. Michael Lemole told a ...

Politician Safety and Protection
TACTICAL EXTRACTIONS Counterterrorism PAPER 01-2011 SPECIAL By R. J. Godlewski The January 8, 2011 shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Federal Judge John Roll and several others in Tucson has sparked a national outcry of support for the Victims and strong condemnation for the alleged gunman, Jared Loughner, 22. These actions are necessarily part of the human condition. So, too, are reactions taken on the part of the U.S. Congress, the Presidency, and the public regarding...

Arizonans Rally to Prevent Westboro Church Disruption of Shooting Victims' Funerals
Disgusted Arizona residents are locking arms to stop the Westboro Baptist Church from disrupting the Funerals for Victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson, with bikers and others organizing a massive counter-protest and state lawmakers fast-tracking a bill to hamstring the so-called church. The Kansas-based Westboro church is notorious for showing up at the Funerals of dead Soldiers and other high-profile gatherings wielding inflammatory anti-gay signs. But when the church announced it would pic...

Poll: Rhetoric, Arizona Shooting Unrelated
Almost 60 percent of the public believes that heated political Rhetoric has nothing to do with an Arizona Shooting Spree that gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and killed a Federal Judge. Fifty-seven percent of respondents in a new CBS News poll said Rhetoric is unrelated to the shooting, while 32 percent said they believe the two are connected. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to mono...

Slain AZ Judge Remembered as 'Fervent Christian'
The Federal Judge killed in Saturday's Tucson, Ariz. shooting rampage is being remembered by friends and family as a "fervent Christian" who treated everyone with kindness and respect. Judge John M. Roll had stopped by to greet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., at a constituent meeting being held in her district Saturday when he lost his life to suspected gunman Jared Loughner. On Monday, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Roman Catholic Church's Tucson Diosese said the 63-year-old "lived his fait...

Pete King bill would ban guns within 1,000 feet of lawmakers
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 carry a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including members of Congress. “It is imperative that we do all that we can to give Law Enforcement the tools they need to ensure the safety of New Yorkers and prevent an attack before it happens,” said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, during a press conferen...

There Is Yet No Loughner / Far-Right Connection
It is worth stating again that there is at present no — zero — evidence that purported Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was affiliated with any Tea Party group or other mainstream conservative cause. But nor is there any reason to think that Loughner was aligned with even far-right or radical political causes.  Some people who study right-wing Militia groups and those who align themselves with the so-called Patriot movement said Mr. Loughner’s comments on subjects like the Am...

Sen. McCain cutting trip short to attend Memorial service in Tucson
According to ABC News’, Matthew Jaffe, Sen. John McCain is cutting short a Congressional trip to Latin America to return to his home state of Arizona for Wednesday’s memorial service for the Victims of last weekend’s Tucson shooting. McCain and his wife Cindy will both attend the memorial service, according to the senator’s spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan. McCain left last Friday with Sen. John Barrasso on a week-long trip to Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Panama and Mexico, but no...

What do you do when you think government is fucking you over?
By Michael J.W. Stickings For some interesting background on Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year old charged in the Arizona shooting, see this piece at Mother Jones, based on an interview with a close friend. Key passage (emphasis added): [Bryce] Tierney, who's also 22, recalls Loughner complaining about a Giffords event he attended during that period [2007]. He's unsure whether it was the same one mentioned in the charges ...

SPLC blames Ayn Rand, David Icke and Others for Arizona Shooting
Who is to blame for Jared Loughner’s bizarre shooting yesterday? According to Mark Potok, anyone with even the vaguest links to his bizarre and disjointed online ramblings. As a shocked world looks to the background of accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner for clues as to why he would shoot a Congresswoman, a Federal Judge and others, Mark Potok, spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, predictably stepped forward on Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC program to paint a broad brush against th...

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting: Gunman Linked to Grammar 'Judge'
Source: Guardian UK Gabrielle Giffords shooting: Gunman linked to grammar 'judge' Activist apparently shared Jared Lee Loughner's obsession with grammar and mind-control theories Peter Walker guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 January 2011 11.42 GMT - snip - Former friends have recounted that Loughner had a fixation for grammar and words, saying that he challenged Giffords at a previous public meeting with the impenetrable question: "What is government if words have no meaning?" In one of his video diatr...

CBS Poll: American Public Not Buying Democrat, Media Spin on Arizona Shooting
From CBS News: Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political Rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to a CBS News poll. In the wake of the shooting, much focus has been put on the harsh tone of politics in Washington and around the country, particularly after a contentious Midterm Election. Rhetoric and imagery from both Republicans and Democrats have included gun-related ...

Poll: Most Say Rhetoric, Killings Unrelated
From a deeply saddened CBS News: Poll: Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated Posted by Daniel Carty January 11, 2011 Nearly six in 10 Americans say the country’s heated political rhetoric is not to blame for the Tucson shooting rampage that left six dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, according to a CBS News poll. So either our media master has better ratchet up their efforts or move on to their fall back position - Gun Control. In the wake ...

Lawyers: Insanity Defense Wont Work
CNN reports: The alleged shooter in Saturday’s deadly Tucson massacre may have difficulty making the case for a successful insanity plea, experts said Tuesday. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, who authorities say shot up a gathering held by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, outside a Supermarket, has been anecdotally regarded as very troubled and perhaps mentally unbalanced because of his ramblings spotted on the Internet and the ways he has been described by acquaintances. But Paul Callan...

Rhode Island Governor Bans State Workers from Appearing on Talk Radio
Chafee doesn't plan to spend his own time on Talk Radio, and he intends to ban State Employees from spending their state work time talking on Talk Radio, which was Carcieri's favorite medium and an integral part of his communications operation. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Americans who ...

Loughner shoots Palin and Angles political careers to death
It may be weeks, months or perhaps never that we find out what really motivated 22 year-old  Jared Lee Loughner to purchase a 9 mm gun with an extended clip and Murder real people in what he calls “conscience dreaming” [sic]. While he is being assessed, should we wonder why Sarah Palin removed her “crosshairs map” hours after six people were slaughtered and fourteen wounded in a spate of violence?      While a person as deranged as Loughner c...

David Wynn Miller
The single weirdest, most straight-up nutso thing about John Lee Loughner’s worldview as expressed on YouTube seemed to me to be the stuff about how the government is exercising control over people’s minds via its control of grammar. That, I thought, is a political theory nobody would embrace. And yet the ace reporters at The New York Times found someone who does: This is similar to the position of David Wynn Miller, 62, a former tool-and-die welder from Milwaukee who describes him...