Gabrielle Giffords Shot

[Gawd]

She's a member of Congress, I show no sympathy.

What if she was trying to get the US to stop funding Israel, or to make any aid conditional upon fair treatment of the Palestinians?

HA!

[Robert_S]

She's a member of Congress, I show no sympathy.

What if she was trying to get the US to stop funding Israel, or to make any aid conditional upon fair treatment of the Palestinians?

HA!

I've just caught you making the kind of broad generalisation that takes a dubious moral high ground and leads to a sad dead end.

Some people are going to hate the United States and everyone in it no matter what they're trying to do. So where's the motivation for me to try to get my government to do a damn thing for them? But go ahead, keep up with the hatred, it feeds the fundamentalists who would rather have absolute rule over a shitty husk of a civilisation than partial rule over a thriving one.

[Gawd]

She's a member of Congress, I show no sympathy.

What if she was trying to get the US to stop funding Israel, or to make any aid conditional upon fair treatment of the Palestinians?

HA!

I've just caught you making the kind of broad generalisation that takes a dubious moral high ground and leads to a sad dead end.

Some people are going to hate the United States and everyone in it no matter what they're trying to do. So where's the motivation for me to try to get my government to do a damn thing for them? But go ahead, keep up with the hatred, it feeds the fundamentalists who would rather have absolute rule over a shitty husk of a civilisation than partial rule over a thriving one.

Maybe you should get your government to stop supporting invasions of other countries, and then we will talk. People dislike the US for good reason.

[maiforpeace]

The elephant in the room...

Easily bought, legally carried and concealed handguns...

Gabrielle was a strong proponent of gun rights...so I'm not sure that's really the big elephant in the room for this particular story. I think mama grizzly is turning into the elephant...along with Glenn Beck, et al, and the Teabaggers.

Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, Target of Previous Threats, Known for Magnetic Personality

Gabrielle Giffords, 40, has represented Arizona's 8th District since 2007 after serving in the Arizona legislature from 2001 to 2005. She took the seat of moderate Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe, who retired from the U.S.-Mexico border-area district in 2006.

While generally considered to be a swing district, John McCain easily carried Arizona's 8th in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote, and Republicans held the seat until Giffords was elected in 2006.

Giffords, a third-generation Arizonan, ran a Tucson tire business she inherited from her father before entering politics. She's the only former tire dealer in Congress.

An up-and-coming Blue Dog Democrat, Giffords was barely elected to a third term in her Republican-leaning district, aided by a magnetic personality and fractures within the state's Republican party. In 2010 Real Clear Politics listed her as one of the "Top Ten Rising Power Players in the U.S. Congress."

Giffords is known for a cheerful and energetic disposition. "I just read the First Amendment!" she said -- "gleefully," according to The New York Times -- after stepping off the House floor during the first-ever reading of the Constitution on Wednesday. "Reflecting on the Constitution in a bipartisan way is a good way to start the year."

Her husband, Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly, 46, is a NASA astronaut. Giffords married Kelly in 2007; they have two children. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told HuffPost she liked to talk to Kelly about the cosmos.

Giffords serves on committees for armed services, foreign affairs, and science and technology. She's the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

"Gabby is a friend," Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) told HuffPost. "We serve on the Science and Technology Committee together, and both chaired subcommittees. She is a conscientious member of the committee and of Congress, and her company is a pleasure."

First elected in 2006 in a mid-term that gave Democrats control of the House of Representatives, Giffords has voted with Democrats on health care reform, Wall Street reform, and the 2009 stimulus bill. But she has also showed an independent streak, opposing, for instance, the auto bailout and cash-for-clunkers legislation.

Giffords is a strong supporter of gun-ownership rights under the Second Amendment. In 2008, when Arizona Democrats were divided over the landmark DC gun ban case District of Columbia v. Heller, Giffords, who reportedly owned a Glock handgun at the time, called gun ownership a constitutional right and an "Arizona tradition," according to spokesman C.J. Karamargin.

Giffords has been the target of political threats before. In the wake of the health care vote, health care overhaul foes threw a brick through the front door of her Tucson district office, shattering the glass. A protester at a summer 2009 event -- similar to the meet-and-greet where she was shot Saturday -- accidentally dropped a gun on the floor. "We have never felt the need before to notify law enforcement when we hold these events," her spokesman said.

When asked if she had any enemies, Giffords' father reportedly wept. "'Yeah,'" he told The New York Post. "'The whole Tea Party.'"

Giffords has also been active on immigration issues, backing increased border security measures as well as creating a path to legalization for undocumented workers. (Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, who represents an adjacent district and has also been outspoken on immigration issues, closed his district office this summer when someone shot a bullet through his office window.)

She's a member of Congress, I show no sympathy.

What if she was trying to get the US to stop funding Israel, or to make any aid conditional upon fair treatment of the Palestinians?

HA!

I've just caught you making the kind of broad generalisation that takes a dubious moral high ground and leads to a sad dead end.

Some people are going to hate the United States and everyone in it no matter what they're trying to do. So where's the motivation for me to try to get my government to do a damn thing for them? But go ahead, keep up with the hatred, it feeds the fundamentalists who would rather have absolute rule over a shitty husk of a civilisation than partial rule over a thriving one.

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

[Twoflower]

the other time I was with my legally-blind brother .

How does one be legally blind? Is it possible to be illegally blind?

"Hey, in reality I'm as blind as a bat, but legally I can drive a car and perform heart bypass surgery!"

My cousin is legally blind and drives.

[Tero]

Dangerous stuff this healthcare. Could we maybe get some sort of Whacko Card for those that refuse healthcare? Most of them do not have the cash to show they can take care of all bills. So with this card, no ambulance would be required to transport them, let them die.

[Gawd]

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

Call me when George Bush goes on trial instead of being given complete immunity, then we will talk.

[Lozzer]

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

Call me when George Bush goes on trial instead of being given complete immunity, then we will talk.

Why should he 'go on' trial?

[Gawd]

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

Call me when George Bush goes on trial instead of being given complete immunity, then we will talk.

Why should he 'go on' trial?

To hang.

[Lozzer]

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

Call me when George Bush goes on trial instead of being given complete immunity, then we will talk.

Why should he 'go on' trial?

To hang.

Why, what has he done?

[Robert_S]

She's a member of Congress, I show no sympathy.

What if she was trying to get the US to stop funding Israel, or to make any aid conditional upon fair treatment of the Palestinians?

HA!

I've just caught you making the kind of broad generalisation that takes a dubious moral high ground and leads to a sad dead end.

Some people are going to hate the United States and everyone in it no matter what they're trying to do. So where's the motivation for me to try to get my government to do a damn thing for them? But go ahead, keep up with the hatred, it feeds the fundamentalists who would rather have absolute rule over a shitty husk of a civilisation than partial rule over a thriving one.

Maybe you should get your government to stop supporting invasions of other countries, and then we will talk. People dislike the US for good reason.

People hate the US because our evil empire happens to be enjoying some success at the moment? What's stopping the Muslim world from becoming dominant? Is the US so powerful and insidious that we are single handedly keeping all the Islamic nations down?

Believe me, I'd love to see W go to jail. I'd love to see him in prison with no Secret Service protection.

But I seriously doubt that will happen no matter what.

[Gawd]

I wouldn't call a $12+ trillion dollar debt "success". Neither would I call Americans supplying weapons to enable wars "success". Neither would I call the support of Saudi Arabia "success". Neither would I call Iraq a "success".

[Gawd]

But Robert - it's so much easier to say "She's in Congress, I show no sympathy", "typical US" or "ours is better than yours", which is an expected and standard response you get from many around here when the subject of American politics comes up.

Call me when George Bush goes on trial instead of being given complete immunity, then we will talk.

Why should he 'go on' trial?

To hang.

Why, what has he done?

Now you are just egging me on.

[Lozzer]

Now you are just egging me on.

If you don't want to explain your comment, just say so.

[Tero]

Why, what has he done?

He did Presidential stuff.

But instead I want to send him to Afghanistan for the 6 months of national guard duty he skipped out on.