# Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot in the head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904 "2011-01-08T18:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/281 "2011-01-09T19:45:10Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > For what it’s worth, the 50yo “person of interest” may be something the media’s playing up for entertainment’s sake, as per their nature. You would not believe the amount of media masturbation going on here at the moment. The local news is cutting in on every single commercial break with “breaking news!!” about the same “breaking news!!” they aired the last commercial break. No prepared statements, they’re going off the cuff, obviously trying to soak up whatever spotlight they can. They’re absolutely thrilled something like this happened in Tucson and they’re taking full advantage. It’s disgusting. They’ve run so low on angles to twist the story that they’re repeatedly playing the same clip from a press conference at the hospital in which the head of the trauma department explains why the surgery went so well… without ever mentioning why the surgery actually went well. :rolleyes: It’s an embarrassment. I’m disgusted by these people. This was a truly terrible tragedy. Everyone is upset and affected by this. But, please, stop updating us on old news just to make your careers. Cut in when you have an actual update with new information. Can’t believe I miss the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/282 "2011-01-09T20:06:50Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > If you look at the main page of CNN right now, there is a picture of a woman and her daughter at a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting. That is my daughter’s best friend and her mother. > > This has affected the whole Tucson community. I lived in Denver during the Columbine shootings. I can tell you the mood here is very similar to the mood in Colorado was then. I was a regular shopper at the very Safeway store where yesterday’s tragedy happened. I don’t think I can go back, knowing I’d have to go through the very entrance where so many people died and were hurt. It’s good that Tucson is such a closely knit community and that people can come together to give each other support. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/283 "2011-01-09T20:25:36Z")
[http://www.kvoa.com/news/person-of-interest-drove-loughner-s-cab-unaware/](http://www.kvoa.com/news/person-of-interest-drove-loughner-s-cab-unaware/) The ‘person of interest’ turns out to just be a cab driver who drove the shooter to the Safeway. ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/284 "2011-01-09T20:25:41Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [The 9 year old who died was born on September 11, 2001](http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Nine+year+shooting+victim+symbol+hope/4082537/story.html).:eek: She was [grand-daughter](http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aqq4muckjFId.9mXCWTIGEo5nYcB?slug=ap-congresswomanshot-phillies) of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/285 "2011-01-09T20:25:56Z")
The second suspect was a taxi driver, so that investigation is done with. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/286 "2011-01-09T20:39:09Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > But it seems from the various reports that he was never actually \*convicted of a felony \*(or other offense that would put a disqualifying mark on his record), nor actually _placed under treatment_. It would be interesting to see if this is confirmed one way or the other. Plus there’s crazy and then there’s killing-people crazy. I have a friend who thought that there were observation devices to track her planted in drive-thru intercoms and that her husband was part of the ‘plot’ against her. The worst thing that happened was that she drove halfway across the state and then broke down enough to call her husband and tell him that she knew it couldn’t be true that he was part of The Plot and she knew something was wrong with her, and to please come get her. You can’t force anyone to undergo a psych eval unless they seem to be an immediate threat to themselves or others. From what little I’ve read about this guy, he was only disruptive in class, talking about his insane ideas and so on. If he wasn’t talking (in a way that others could comprehend) about assassinations or something, then he almost certainly wasn’t forced into treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/287 "2011-01-09T20:44:09Z")
This is “nice”: [Get on Target for Victory in November - Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office - Shoot a fully automatic M16 with [Giffords’ Tea Party challenger] Jesse Kelly.](http://www.blogforarizona.com/.a/6a00d8341bf80c53ef0133f0e5916a970b-pi) ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/288 "2011-01-09T21:21:28Z")
I can’t recall the details, but a woman whom the community later regarded as heroic shot and killed a whacko nutjob shooter in a megachurch in, I think, Colorado Springs. This guy doesn’t seem like he is connected to the community very much at all, let alone on a political level. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/289 "2011-01-09T22:41:39Z")
So I thought about the rant about grammar, [and came up with this link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychology_of_Totalism). ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/290 "2011-01-09T23:00:06Z")
[Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/westboro-baptist-church-arizona_n_806319.html) article - Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funerals of the victims. I have no words for my contempt. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/291 "2011-01-09T23:18:55Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/westboro-baptist-church-arizona_n_806319.html) article - Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funerals of the victims. > > I have no words for my contempt. Poor lil’ secretly gay Fred feels left out of the spotlight, doesn’t he? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/292 "2011-01-09T23:21:50Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/westboro-baptist-church-arizona_n_806319.html) article - Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funerals of the victims. > > I have no words for my contempt. Jesus fucking Christ. I hate people. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/293 "2011-01-09T23:52:51Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > (Kinda like “Man #2” from the OK City bombing – remember him?) Terry Nichols was quite real, and is now doing life without parole. Michael and Lori Fortier plea-bargained. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/294 "2011-01-10T00:06:05Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Jesus fucking Christ. I hate people. Well, who can blame ya. I mean if a church with 71 members (mostly family according to Wiki) within a country of 300 million people in a world with 6,000,000,000 inhabitants can’t make you hate humanity, what can? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/295 "2011-01-10T00:22:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Terry Nichols was quite real, and is now doing life without parole. Michael and Lori Fortier plea-bargained. No, I was talking about [John Doe #2](http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/final-report/3415/Photos#tab-Photos/2), who completely fell off the radar after McVeigh was arrested (presumably because he was innocent.) He’s fodder for multitudinous conspiracy theories, though. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/296 "2011-01-10T00:39:28Z")
According to a report I read, there wasn’t a crowd of people. It was a single file line of people waiting to meet her. The line wrapped around the building. The shooter started with the Congresswoman and worked his way through the line, starting in the front. The little girl and her grandmother were first in line. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/297 "2011-01-10T01:24:40Z")
> [@aclockworkmelon](#): > > jesus fucking christ. I hate people. exactly!!! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/298 "2011-01-10T01:33:34Z")
“I love humanity. It’s _people_ I can’t stand.” - Linus ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/299 "2011-01-10T01:36:11Z")
Just for the record: [The Federal Criminal Complaint against Jared Lee Loughner](http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/Loughner.pdf?hpid=topnews) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904/300 "2011-01-10T02:23:37Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/09/westboro-baptist-church-arizona_n_806319.html) article - Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funerals of the victims. > > I have no words for my contempt. Of course he is. Where’s a deranged lone gunman when they could do some good? (And I must say that if it came to pass, I would not the least regret those words.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congresswoman-gabrielle-giffords-shot-in-the-head/566904.md?page=16)