The Tucson massacre: One year later
This is a day to remember the victims of the horrific shootings at a Safeway in Tucson, Arizona exactly one year ago today; honor the heroes who intervened that day; and wish Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords well on her continued recovery.
R.I.P.:
Judge John Roll, 63.
Dorothy Morris, 76.
Dorwin Stoddard, 76.
Christina Greene, 9.
Phyllis Scheck, 79.
Gabriel Zimmerman, 30.
Too many turned the massacre into a vulgar political spectacle from the minute nutball suspect Jared Loughner’s evil deeds were reported. I’ll save assessments of President Obama’s post-Tucson promises versus the “new tone, same as the old tone” reality for another day.
Here’s the story of one hero and the survivor she helped rescue:
She was scared to touch the stranger writhing outside the Safeway grocery store, blood streaming from a bullet wound in his upper left thigh. But he looked at her with pleading eyes and forced out a “help me.”
“If I don’t do something,” she thought, “he’s going to die.”
Anna Ballis inched away from the folding table she’d ducked under while a gunman was spraying bullets into a clutch of bystanders. The gunfire had halted and people were shouting, “Got him!”
Ballis recognized one of the wounded people splayed around her: Gabrielle Giffords, the local Democratic congresswoman, who’d been chatting with admirers on this blue-skied January morning.
Ballis kneeled next to the white-haired stranger, trying to ignore the blood welling around them. Her stomach churned at its coppery smell. Recalling a first-aid course she’d taken, she knew to put pressure on the wound. But how?
She glanced down.
Her hands.
More reminders of the heroes who acted that day. And here’s the story of one of the heroes who jumped Loughner and how he’s struggled since the shootings.
Two survivors reflect on the shooting here.
And here is the page of the Tucson Memorial Project.
See what others have said
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We, The People, do hereby resolve to fight the evil and insane by refusing to follow illegal legislation written by the well-intentioned insane who threatens us with the ability to shoot back.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord,
And let Perpetual Light shine upon them.
May their Souls
And the Souls of all the faithful departed
Through the Mercy of God
Rest in Peace.
Amen.
And may God the Father Almighty heal and comfort all those involved.
This is from an article in the Houston Chronicle.The EMS system evolved from doctors returning from Viet Nam using the radical treatments they learned.
Maybe those on the left have a clue but I kinda doubt it.
Kudos, Michelle, for striking the right tone on this day.
I pray for those families affected by this horrible act by a madman. It really is a shame that the tragedy led to such strange and political crap afterwards. Totally inappropriate. Remember the “memorial” service where they handed out T-shirts with “winning the future” on them? And then they insisted it wasn’t political. WTF?
Also, the “civility” junk was a riot too, with the unbelievable over-reactions, including the NBC pundit who apologized for one of his guests saying the word “target” or something like that. It was so crazy, it produced quite a few YouTube hits!
Using a tragedy such as this shooting to make political points was a bad idea and will continue to bite them in the arse, just as it did the Wellstone people after his “memorial” service. The one good thing Gov. Jess Ventura did during his time in office was get up and stomp out of that service in disgust.
We can remember the victims of this tragedy by praying for their familiies and at the same time remembering the left’s politicalization of the event. They need to be “outed” for their stupidity every chance we get.
Thank God Gabrielle Giffords is recovering.
I’m saddened by little Christina Greene. Just 9 years old. My son, Hunter, is just 8.
To those who died, Go Rest High On That Mountain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtmAVGPEPSI
My thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims of this senseless act of violence. I hope that all of the wounded have a speedy recovery.
That said, I also believe that Congresswoman Giffords should have resigned from office so that the people of Arizona’s 8th district can have the representation that they deserve. Her staff can’t vote on bills, nor were they elected to office. If a member of Congress is incapacitated for over 90 days there should be a special election held to fill the seat, the people deserve as much.
Lost in the praise for Giffords is the fact that Judge John Roll used his body was a human shield and save the life of a Giffords staffer.
There were many heroes that day and they definitely have gotten lost in the elaborate praise over Giffords. She is a brave woman and deserves the praise, but sometimes I feel it is over the top compared to the losses of others there. You don’t hear much about any of the other victims…only the congresswoman. Why is that? Are some people more important than others? Just asking…
@squeaker1 #7
+1
while my heart goes out to the victims and their families- especially for Christina Greene.
it’s an amazing sense of selfishness and arrogance that only THEY (the politicians) can be the one to do the job instead of stepping aside and focusing on recovery and their families. some may say that is selflessness but i disagree. Ted Kennedy is another example.
Oh, so sad. Very nice tribute, MM.
people seem to only mention giffords as the victim of this terrible shooting, and forget about these six who were not so lucky as she was. also, selected other sheriffs in arizona are doing their jobs, while the sheriff from this county does not. does anybody remember the ann coulter pie incident? this was on the same sheriff’s turf, and they let the guy go, because it was only a republican “hack” he was aiming for. also the nutcase was known by this sheriff, and others for being the nutcase history would terribly show he was. and did any of them go out of their way to get this nut the help he needed, nope.
And of course, the speed in which they inferred it was done by a right-winger was astounding. They continued with that lie for weeks, even after the nut was caught. The media in this country is corrupt to the core.
I totally agree.
My deep condolences to all the families. Gaby is a victim, as were the others. I am glad she is improving, but she is not giving her constituents their due.
The media IS corrupt. Politicizing a tragic event as usual.
***
May God bless the souls of those murdered by the depraved crazy killer. May He bless and help complete the recoveries to normal life and health of those victims who survived the shootings. May He comfort the families and friends of those who lost loved ones in the attack.
***
I was amazed to see Gabby Giffords walking and talking after the shooting. I pray that she will really make a full recovery in the future. A decent congresswoman doing her job when evil and / or mental illness struck her down.
***
And those who try to put some political agenda spin and try to blame their enemies for this disaster are just as sick and depraved as the shooter. Life in prison or execution seems like the only just sentence for the killer.
***
John Bibb
***
A reminder of the evil that lives among us. RIP to the victims.
A reminder that there is NO LIMIT to how low amoral democrats will go to try to win political points. The scum of the earth incarnate.
happyscrapper:
You took the words right of my keyboard. A left-wing nutbag kills 6 people, and all the left can think of is “right-wing whacko” followed by “we need more gun control”. Disgusting. This crazy SOB should have been in a loony bin, but he was allowed to roam the streets. Why?
Sad, sad, sad. What a tragic loss, made only worse by the WH response to use the situation to further progressive goals. Gabby is being used by the left in so many disgusting ways. This woman may never be normal again.
Well, labeling him left-wing is wrong as well. Loughner was not left, right or even middle – from his history he is a textbook Paranoid Schizophrenic. We’re talking about hallucinations, voices, delusions, anxiety, anger and often associated violence. He could not grasp reality, leave alone political ideology.
The reasons he was on the street are rather complex. In most states it is virtually impossible to commit someone for treatment without consent unless they pose an imminent threat to themselves or others – and for good reason. Doing so violates our individual freedom, so the standards must necessarily be set very high. Loughner had displayed disruptive and threatening behavior, but had never hurt anyone. Secondly, the people who know someone like this are afraid of them. If you turn him in and he is released, do you want him angry at you?
In Florida we had the Baker Act, where someone may be detained for a brief period for evaluation – but often even severely warped people can mask their symptoms and fake their way through a psycho evaluation. He should not have had access to guns or ammo, but now your second ammendment rights come into play, right? Who decides when your constitutional rights can be taken away?
All that, and little Christina Greene still haunts me. Slaughter of the innocent. I can’t imagine what her parents will have to endure for life. This is a sad tragedy, but has nothing whatsoever to do with politics.
You are right, but it will forevermore be tied with politics due to the disgusting way the left forced politics into it.
The tragedy is made worse because the victims will never be thought of as victims of a nutball, without everyone also thinking of the disgusting political circus foisted on the event.
Who can ever think of the victims that day without thinking of the disgusting political circus?
Hey, how’s that big centralized government working out?
Local PD should have tagged Loughren as a time bomb but he passed an incomplete electronic background perverted by political correctness and a reliance on the feds and a reticence (LE culture) to follow up by PD created the crack a nut fell through.
Citizens having been removed from the task of policing by its nature creates gaps in protection from sick people.
The media only recognizes th heroism of liberal Democrats or heroism that provides a politcal advantage.
You should be here in the metro Phoenix area for the past week… The local RAG has been on top of this all week… They have all the answers, and are content to re-write history as they seem to remember it… They even have local high school kids weighing in with cause and cure… If I may quote that famous peace maker, RODNEY KING, “can’t we all just get along”…TALK RADIO is part of the problem… If I disagree with your point of view, I am part of the problem… POLITICAL DISCOURSE is the problem!!! What they all seem to forget is that a person with a long history of MENTAL ILLNESS was allowed to wander the streets at will… Purchase weapons at will… Shoot innocent people at will… It wasn’t POLITICAL DISCOURSE that caused the tragedy in Tuscon, it was POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!!! Heaven forbid we should get a person suffering from mental illness the help they need… Not one person stepped forward to [point out this ticking time bomb… Not family… Not the college he attended, and was asked to leave… Not one of his “friends”… After all, what about his “PRIVACY”!!! He has all the PRIVACY he could want now, in a private cell in a mental facility… No need to worry about IRAN or NORTH KOREA, PC will kill us in the long run!!!
The fact that Congresswoman Giffords has not been on the job since the shooting, nor has anyone been “representing” her district tells you all you need to know about the do-nothing Congress. People are missing and no one seems to mind. If I was in her district, I would be complaining.
Her district is indeed experiencing “Taxation Without Representation”.
The rest of us are just experiencing “Taxation with Misrepresentation”.
Either way, we are NOT being served by our representatives.
As we reflect on Tucson today, my thoughts will turn to Christina Taylor Green, who was the youngest victim of Jared Lee Loughner’s rampage. The ambitious nine-year-old wanted to see democracy in action when a neighbor escorted her to the ill-fated public event. She had dreams of becoming a senator one day. I’ll remember her and the other victims, while also grieving for human cruelty in general, and praying for a world that can clearly differentiate between political speech and actual crime.
http://conservatives4palin.com/2012/01/one-year-after-tucson-reflections-on-an-american-tragedy.html
My heartfelt prayers and sympathy for the families of the victims, the survivors and their families, as they experience this difficult day of remembrance and pain.
Flyoverman:
You’re so right. 6 dead people, including a 9 year old are looked over. And what about all the other injured people? Where are they? How are THEY healing? And what about the people who helped the injured? They only one I see is the guy that helped Giffords. Please, how about some balance?
because the story of a leftwing nut gunning down a republican judge cannot be told to the public at large.
This completely pisses me off. Giffords should resign. Period. There is no representation for her district and there has not been for a year! She’d have been replaced immediately if she’d been a Republican..
All the posts about PC are spot on. How does a paranoid schizo get weapons? Well, if it wasn’t pc it could have been fast and furious. Either way it is all about being politically spun for the left.
I pray for those involved and pray that somehow people see past the political smoke and mirrors. It will be the end of us as a free people.
There are enough safeguards in place that the nutcase should NEVER have owned a gun! What happened? Of course, there are ways to get guns illegally. But who would sell a gun to a mentally ill nutjob? Maybe I am naive, but I would think most gunowners would not want guns in the hands of these kinds of people. It makes EVERYONE less safe!
There are also safeguards in place to protect our 2nd ammendment rights, right? As I mentioned, Loughner had some complaints and erratic behavior but had never hurt anyone. What standards should be met before your Constitutional rights are withdrawn? Do you want this administration to decide them? The point, Happy, is that it’s just not that simple.
BTW, do you have a permit for that skillet? Guess it’d be pretty hard to conceal.
Ha! Fortunately, there are no laws pertaining to skillets…yet! I’m sure the regressives could think of a reason to outlaw them if they thought about it enough. So far, they just consider them cooking vessels, the fools!
As for concealing it…I don’t have to. I can walk around with a skillet in my hands and no one would say a word.
Off Topic–Drudge reporting Tony Blankley died at age 63. RIP all.
Christina Green died on the altar of that belief. I’m being sincere. You can have safety or you can have freedom; you can’t have both at once. This is a very dangerous, risky world we live in, and there are no guarantees. The price we pay for the right to run our own lives is the risk that we can lose our lives, or suffer other tragedies in them.
because somebody tossed drain cleaner on somebody in chicago, the whole state is on drain cleaner lockdown. if you want to purchase draino, they must take down your name and address, and how much you purchased. i am guessing if somebody drowns from bottled water, we will need to get a permit for that too. illinois no longer the land of lincoln, but the land of the dumb. why do i live here?
Sadly, the founding fathers did not specify skillets in the 2nd ammendment – though rumor has it Martha Washington wielded a mean 16 incher. We may need to form the National Skillet Association to protect our cookware rights.
Charleton Heston: “You can have my skillet when you pull it from my cold, dead hands.” [Applause]
Actually, dihydrogen oxide has killed thousands if not millions of people. One of the deadliest substances in existence.
Yes, they did, when they said “… to keep and bear arms…” Anything that can be used as a weapon is “an arm”.
Back in medieval times, back when the Magna Carta was signed, and earlier, serfs were told to come to the battle bringing anything they had. Often they fought with billhooks and pitchforks and other farm instruments and craft tools. As a boy I used to play with trowels and spirit levels as potential weapons. I could throw a hand trowel 20 ft and split a 2-by-4, once upon a time. When my father was once threatened by two
wetbacksspanish speaking delivery workers, I reached for my 4 ft level to defend him.This nonsense about only certain types of firearms being “arms” is just that… nonsense.
Every time someone mention’s Happy’s frying pan, I think of that scene.
I LOVE it! And really, a lot of things can be used as weapons. Guns are the best, of course. But they can’t take EVERYTHING away! Knives, broken glass, pots and pans, baseball bats, garden tools, there is no way to take all the weapons! That doesn’t mean you should give up your gun, however! DO.NO.DO.THAT! EVER.
That’s what Christina’s parents said, God bless them.
Yes, it has been a year. Others who were injured less seriously than Gabby have since healed physically. Mental healing may take much longer.
Gabby’s injury was so horrendous, and she has survived and recovered in some ways, so she is who we hear about.
As others here have said, there were other victims who did not survive, and their friends and loved ones still have not recovered, I’m sure.
Gabby was the representative in my district, and no, we don’t have any representation (mis- or otherwise).
Happy, let’s take your skillet to Congress and persuade them to act!
I’m sure I could find a skillet, too.
Prayers and love to all the folks affected last year–and may we never have another such political “circus” over a great tragedy.
Sadly, I fear we may….
God bless them indeed. May they rest in the assurance of Christ, from whence came Christina’s very name, that they will one day be joyfully reunited with her, forever. This world is often a hard place, but take heart…
Amen. Bring it, Lord.
Wasn’t there a Democrat Senator who, for several years, was wheeled onto the floor of the Senate every so often for a critical vote after suffering a stroke? He was even reported as considering running for re-election! And, of course, Mendel Rivers, Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, etc., who seldom attended, but were brought in in wheelchairs or gurneys for the close votes.
Now that’s kind of an infuriating one.
Because he carried a weapon, Zamudio says, he was demonized by gun-control advocates and lionized by defenders of the right to bear arms.
Some Internet commentators called him a nut for carrying a concealed weapon, and one referred to him as a “stupid redneck.”
Amazing that some people truly are that disgusting and have no shame.
(of course, we’re talking here in particular about a certain description of “people”, but I’ll try not to make this thread political)
Or as a certain favorite commenter here might say, the hero Mr. Zamudio is one of “you people”.
Some may consider Loughner a psycho, but I’d say that falls in the category of all the libturds I’d ever encountered or seen. He was just one who happened to screw up his guts enough to act on his freak emotions, and I will opine this: HE WOULD NOT GONE NEAR ONE OF THEM IF HE HAD KNOWN THEY WERE ARMED!!! Because left-wingers are cowards at heart. If he had perceived any sort of threat from them, he would have chickened out.
I hope Sheriff Dupnik is remembered for his ugly politics after the horrific events of that day.
Swede @#40 - Amen, and amen.
Why are the Democrats celebrating the shooting of a Congresswoman?
Turning this event into another roadside memorial to death and horror like we see littering our highways.
I don’t get it It’s like living a dream that America has become Tijuana
The “The Prince” series of books (“Falkenberg’s Legion“, “Prince of Mercenaries“, “Go Tell the Spartans“, and “Prince of Sparta“) is among my favorite series of science fiction or military fiction stories.
It’s well worth reading. I’d try finding the individual volumes from before they were compacted into “The Prince”, because I’m sure it leaves much out.
Basically it tells the story of about a century in the future. Sparta is one of Earth’s oldest colony worlds. Earth is now ruled by the “Co-Dominium”, formed by the U.S. and Soviet Union after the U.N. collapsed.
Earth is on the verge of self-annihilation, and the series of stories tells about the last-ditch attempt to preserve civilization when it happens. The series is *well worth* a read, especially these days.
I keep looking for “Christian Johnny” to come save us, but I don’t see him nowhere.
Woo hoo! I found what appears to be the full text of “The Prince” online.
Beware, it involves military stuff, so some of the language can get pretty raw.
The Prince, Online
But, here’s a scene I was looking for. A certain politician (who may or may not have been half-Irish) has risen to power and is working within the system to bring down the system. Prince Lysander discusses the matter with one of his chief advisors, Dr. Caldwell Whitlock:
(I’d like to correct one point: it’s not ‘good men’, but ‘men of good will’. Not quite the same thing.)
I’ll say it.
More proof of the hatred on the Left’s part.
That’s going in my quotes file if you don’t mind. You prefer to be attributed in any particular way?