Congresswoman shot in head

[3894]

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has a timeline with incidents and their context between June 2008 and now.

Do we get to call this a trend yet?

[JWBear]

Yes.

[Gn2Dlnd]

So, I listened to the memorial while I was in my truck earlier - WTF was with the whooping and hollering and cheering? Did no one tell these neanderthals that they were attending a MEMORIAL?

Arizona sucks.

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, that was kinda odd. But it was in a college auditorium, and not a cemetery - and the President is kinda a rock star. But still, I found it a tad inappropriate.

That all stopped once Obama started speaking. I thought his remarks were pitch-perfect and typically wonderful. I cried like a baby during the segment where he detailed the lives and loves of the dead. If there were any more stringent points I'd like him to have made addressing violent political rhetoric, I understand him skirting the issue deftly and with the high-mindedness appropriate to the occasion and his own particular temperament.

Yet without stooping to the meanness of meaning to, he sure made mincemeat of Sarah Palin in yesterday's unofficial Statesmanship 101 face-off.


If only more of a presidency's success depended on being a wonderful orator, Obama would be one of the best pressies evar. Still, for the many times the job requires such soothing and inspiring speaking skills, we certainly elected the right man for the job.


I truly hope our country does one day meet our children's expectations, as the president so eloquently exhorted at his speech's end ... but I fear we don't have enough time left as a nation to achieve anything like that goal.

Still ... Obama's urgings to do the best we can were welcome reminders, and I hope some good may yet come from this terrible tragedy.

[3894]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Yeah, that was kinda odd. But it was in a college auditorium, and not a cemetery - and the President is kinda a rock star. But still, I found it a tad inappropriate.

Well said, iSm. They were even clapping and cheering for Bible verses.

Was John McCain there? I didn't see him.

[Alex]

I'll admit that I find the entire idea of a mass gathering to allow for the public display of grieving by people who (mostly) didn't know any of the people being grieved to be an odd construct.

But since I seem to be alone in that I just assume that is my brokenness and odd relationship with death. So to me the standing ovations (I was watching at the gym with the sound off) didn't seem to stretch that much. it wasn't until I heard soundbites this morning that I realized just how much clapping there was. Did notice that from his pacing at least Obama's speech didn't seem to have been written with the expectation of there being applause lines.

[innerSpaceman]

I heard this morning that Loughner was stopped by police just before arriving at his shooting spree, for running a red light. Wow, that's some terrible irony there. You don't get hauled in for running a light, but woah ... he was technically in police quasi-custody for a moment there - - - before he killed 6 and wounded 20. Yikes.

[Alex]

Not sure what "right before" includes but it was not him on the way to shoot her, it was earlier in the morning. In between he went home and eventually took a cab to the Safeway.

But yeah, that Fish & Game officer but be wracking his brain on whether there was anything he missed that could have been an excuse to detain him.

[Strangler Lewis]

A white guy with a shaved head? Naah. Now, if he'd had a Spanish accent . . .

[innerSpaceman]

He does kinda look like Uncle Fester on crystal meth. Surely that's an detaining offense, even in Arizona!