Horrific Tucson Shooting Involving Congresswoman Giffords

Sad:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing at least six people and injuring several others in a rampage that rattled the nation.

Giffords was among at least 18 people shot, and the hospital said her outlook was "optimistic" and that she was responding.

"She's in critical condition," Dr. Peter Rhee said. "The neurosurgeons have finished operating on her and I can tell you that in the current time period I am very optimistic about recovery ... she was following commands."

Rhee described Giffords' wound as "through-and-through ... It went through her brain."

The hospital said a 9-year-old child was among the killed, and a federal judge was also fatally shot.

Rawstory story here. Seems Giffords was on a Sarah Palin hit list.

The apparent shooter made several videos showing a very disturbed psychology, with references to government mind control and brainwashing, but also referring to creating language and currency. apparently he was a military recruit, too.

As much as I have called for an insurrection against our government, this is simply not the way. Taking out a charismatic, seemingly harmless Blue Dog Dem and some innocents including a child, is totally reprehensible and counter-productive. A conspiracy theorist HAS to wonder if this was some weird psy-op, with Loughner as a brainwashed patsy.

At the same, there is a very strong culture in Arizona that supports this sort of behavior, so I'm not sure there is a need for intel control here.

Also, not at all clear that the shooter acted alone. Though I'm sure we will not hear anything about another shooter after this.

But overall, just a sad story and another reminder of this fucked up world.

UPDATE: The left had her targeted too, and some evidence for Loughner being a lefty. Though mostly I suspect normal left-right partisan political ideology was not the overriding factor here.

This is NOT NORMAL and very fishy:

Investigators said they carried out a search warrant at the suspect's home and seized an envelope from a safe with messages such as "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and the name "Giffords" next to what appears to be the man's signature.

Piece in the NYTimes detailing Loughner's weirdness at college and apparent slide into mental illness, leading to him being kicked out of the school.