Tucson Shootings -- January 13

President Obama speaks at a memorial service at the University of Arizona:

... Here's the prepared text of the President's speech. He added during his speech that Rep. Giffords opened her eyes for the first time just after he had visited her this afternoon. New York Times story here. ...

... Michael Crowley of Time has a thoughtful, slightly mixed, review of the speech. The speech -- and the review -- end on a high note. Says Crowley: "These calls to our better angels -- directed less at the secondary issue of public discourse and more at the first principles of what we value as a society and the nobility of public service -- perfectly matched the heartbreaking occasion. All the better that Obama delivered these words with both lyrical eloquence and moral authority. It was certainly the finest rhetorical moment of his presidency--and perhaps of his life." ...

... Amy Sullivan of Time highlights Crowley's misgiving: "I suspect I was not the only one who squirmed uncomfortably at the implicit message: These victims did not die in vain; they died in part so that we might have a reason to call on Republicans and Democrats to cut it out and start acting like adults." ...

... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: "Obama’s speech was one of his best in a long time; it wasn’t so much a rallying cry as a call to sustain an embrace." ...

... Politico's headline: "Obama Takes Opportunity Palin Missed." Jonathan Martin: "At sunrise..., Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest — or capacity — in moving beyond her brand of grievance-based politics. And at sundown in the west, Barack Obama reminded even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around a message of reconciliation."

New York Times: the funeral of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green took place in Tucson today. ...

... ABC News: "Arizona lawmakers successfully curbed members of the Westboro Baptist church from picketing the funeral of the Tucson massacre's youngest victim, Christina-Taylor Green. On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a new law that requires protesters to remain 300 feet from a funeral site. The law, which took effect immediately after it was signed, took only 90 minutes to pass in Arizona's legislature. Triggered by Westboro's plans to picket the funeral of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Thursday, the law passed by a unanimous vote."

Washington Post: "NASA has named a backup commander for the Space Shuttle Endeavour's forthcoming mission to the International Space Station, a trip scheduled to be led by Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, (D-Ariz.) wounded in the Tucson shooting.... Astronaut Rick Sturckow will serve as Kelly's backup commander; ... Kelly remains commander of the mission." ...

... Arizona Republic reporters: "Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is continuing to exhibit progress, from opening her eyes spontaneously and tracking people and objects to moving all her limbs, her doctors said Thursday morning.The physicians at University Medical Center described the steps as 'a major leap, a major milestone for her.'" ...

... Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Nancy Pelosi ... was in Gabrielle Giffords‘ hospital room when she [Giffords] opened her eyes for the first time since being shot in the head last Saturday.... Mrs. Pelosi, along with two other Democrats, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, were in the room, shortly after President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama finished their visit to the hospital...." ...

... Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post: "Giffords opened her eyes a total of five times and reached for her husband's hand, according to the people in the room." ...

     ... Update: here's a bit more from Robert Gibbs' press gaggle aboard AF1 on the return trip to Washington. ...

     ... Update 2. The Women: this is terrific. A White House stenographer recorded a press gaggle by Sen. Gillibrand & Rep. Wasserman Schultz aboard AF1. ...

... Rep. Wasserman Schultz & Sen. Gillibrand tell of their hospital visit to Rep. Giffords:

Jennifer Medina of the New York Times profiles Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of trauma at Tucson's University Medical Center.

Joe Klein of Time has a smart, brief column in which he asks -- and implicitly answers -- two questions: "Given the flood tide of massacres perpetrated by crazy people, have we made a grievous error in our policies regarding the confinement of the mentally ill? ... Are there any limits at all to our gun fetishism?" Klein notes that "Even such a conservative stalwart as Judge Robert Bork said, in 1989, that the Constitution's Second Amendment guaranteed 'the right of states to form militias, not for individuals to bear arms.'" ...

... Gail Collins: "Congress should have an actual debate about Representative Carolyn McCarthy’s bill to reduce gun violence." ...

... Nicholas Kristof suggests reframing the gun debate (what gun debate?) as a public health issue. We don't regulate guns as seriously as we do toys. ...

... Then there's this:  There is a rash of legislation further infringing on Second Amendment rights that has been unwisely proffered in the wake of events in Tucson. If members of Congress wishes to carry a weapon in the federal District of Columbia, it should be permissible. Accordingly, we are in the process of drafting a bill that will allow members of Congress to do that. -- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)

Dana Milbank: "... a day that was originally supposed to see a fiery clash over repealing the health-care law turned out to be the most uplifting day in Congress at least since the Sept. 11 attacks. Breaking only for a prayer service, the members spent eight hours exchanging vows to do better by each other." ...

... BUT John Bresnahan of Politico: "Senior Democrats - who to date had been impressed with [Speaker John] Boehner’s response to the Arizona tragedy - expressed surprise at what they saw as an unmistakable misstep by the new speaker: appearing at a partisan political event on the same night as the the president, first lady Michelle Obama, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Arizona congressional delegation come together at the memorial service....

The left had this all planned out even before the incident occurred.
-- Sen. Rand Paul, on the Tucson shootings (no link, but an unimpeachable source)

Washington Post: "The black bag that alleged Tucson gunman Jared Loughner is said to have had with him in the hours before last weekend's shootings turned up Thursday in a dry stream bed near his neighborhood. It was a diaper bag ... and it contained ammunition that matched the type used in the attack." ...

... Here are copies of reports Pima Community College wrote & collected on Jared Loughren's problems at the school. ...

... A. G. Sulzberger & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "After the release of detailed reports on Mr. Loughner’s bizarre outbursts and violent Internet fantasies that [Pima Community College] had kept, the focus has turned to whether it did all it could to prevent his apparent descent into explosive violence last weekend." CW: my answer: hell, no. And I still fault the parents, too. ...

... Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A picture of [Jaren] Loughner gleaned from interviews with more than two dozen friends, classmates, teachers and neighbors, as well as from his own writing in online forums, shows no evidence that politics or government were among his defining or enduring obsessions. Rather, his deepest, most disturbing questions were about the very nature of reality: He appeared to have lost any clear sense of the line between real life and dreams or fantasy." ...

... Marc Lacey & Serge Kovaleski of the New York Times: "Officials at Pima Community College, where Jared L. Loughner was a student, believed that he might be mentally ill or under the influence of drugs after a series of bizarre classroom disruptions.... In 51 pages of confidential police documents released by the college on Wednesday, various instructors, students and others described Mr.Loughner as 'creepy,' 'very hostile,' 'suspicious' and someone who had a 'dark personality.' He sang to himself in the library. He spoke out of turn. And in an act the college finally decided merited his suspension, he made a bizarre posting on YouTube linking the college to genocide and the torture of students."

Was this juxtaposition of two stories on the front page of yesterday's New York Times Web edition a editorial goof? Or -- maybe it's really all the same story. Via Jim Fallows of The Atlantic.Jeff Zeleny & Michael Shear of the New York Times: Sarah Palin's video speech "... stirred an emotional response from some Democratic lawmakers, Jewish groups and even some fellow Republicans, who said it was in poor taste for Ms. Palin to deliver her statement on a day that was devoted to remembering victims of last weekend’s shooting.... The video ... seemed to be aimed at appealing to her committed supporters rather than winning over her critics...." ...

... Karen Tumulty & Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post: Sarah Palin's attempt to diffuse controversy about her blunt language & crosshairs chart backfired -- because of the blunt language she used in her presidenty speech. ...

... You have to look at it and see, what are they like when they’re tested, what are they like when they’re not scripted, what are they like when they’re pushed. And I would contend to you that if Governor Palin never does any of those things, she’ll never be president, because people in America won’t countenance that. They just won’t. -- Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)

The Commentariat -- January 13

If democratic legitimacy is the measure of a sound constitutional interpretive practice, then Justice Scalia needs to give an account of why and how rote obedience to the commitments of voters two centuries distant and wildly different in racial, ethnic, sexual, and cultural composition can be justified on democratic grounds.
-- Prof. Jamal Greene ...

... ** Jill Lepore of the New Yorker writes a very fine, easy-to-understand article on the history of the U.S. Constitution, both the document itself & its interpretations. ...

... Linda Greenhouse in the New York Times: "A Supreme Court ruling on Miranda warnings demonstrates how the original understanding of our Constitution is mediated by modern needs."

Paul Krugman has a long essay in the upcoming New York Times Magazine: on the state of Europe's economy/economies. "Europe’s woes have all the aspects of a classical Greek tragedy, in which a man of noble character is undone by the fatal flaw of hubris." CW: haven't read it yet, but I shall.

This Could Be a Breakthrough. Dan Froomkin: Grover Norquist "a prominent conservative thinker, is calling on Republicans to begin a serious debate about the war in Afghanistan, its costs and what Ronald Reagan would do in the same circumstances":

His reaction to the Lebanon bombing was not to stay, it was to leave Ronald Reagan didn't decide to fix Lebanon. I think that's helpful in getting the conversation going on the right. -- Grover Norquist

Marisa Taylor & Dion Nissenbaum of McClatchy News: "In the rush to rebuild Afghanistan, the U.S. government has charged ahead with ever-expanding development programs despite questions about their impact, cost and value to America's multi-billion-dollar campaign to shore up the pro-Western Afghan president and prevent Taliban insurgents from seizing control.... An approach that experts denounce as ad hoc and politicized has led to programs with mixed, if not poor, results and has soured many Afghans on the U.S. military's presence in their country...."

The Hammer Faces the Slammer. Nora O'Donnell reports & Matt Lauer of NBC News interviews Tom DeLay:

Tucson Shootings -- January 12

New York Times: "President Obama landed in Tucson on Wednesday afternoon, and immediately headed to the hospital to see Representative Gabrielle Giffords and other people injured in the shooting on Saturday." AP update here. ...

... Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Obama will focus his speech at a memorial service in Tucson on Wednesday evening on the victims of the attack and on the idea of service to the country, avoiding any overt commentary on the debate over violence and the nation’s political culture. Instead, Mr. Obama ... will call for unity among Americans, while trying to honor the victims, including their service to government, as an example to all Americans. He will share the anecdotes about the victims that he has learned during private phone calls to the families, aides said." President Obama will speak at 8:00 pm ET. ...

... Politico: "Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Justice Anthony Kennedy will accompany the Obamas. Also flying on Air Force One will be House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and five Arizona Republicans: Reps. Paul Gosar, Trent Franks, Ben Quayle, Dave Schweikert and Jeff Flake." CW: you remember Ben Quayle, a/k/a porn star "Brock Landers," who ran an ad in which he said, "Barack Obama is the worst President in history." (Scroll down on this page to see part of the ad; Andy Cobb's remake, below the Quayle ad, is even funnier.) Should be a fun trip.

UPI: "Doctors said Wednesday they're encouraged by the progress made by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.... Dr. Peter Rhee of the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., said Giffords still is in critical condition but is making more and more spontaneous movements -- even fixing her hospital gown on her own." ...

... Mike Orcutt in Scientific American on how Gabrielle Giffords survived: the "nature of her injury" & "prompt emergency care kept her alive."

Juan Cole: "Sarah Never Does Anything Wrong.... Palin has a long history of using violent rhetoric and then denying it." Thanks to Jeanne B. ...

AND the Politico headline is, "Palin charges critics with 'blood libel.' Sarah Palin released a video statement Wednesday calling the rush to pin blame on conservatives for the Tucson shooting 'reprehensible' and a 'blood libel.'" I'm not going to post the nearly 8-minute video because I don't want to do anything to encourage Palin, but the Politico article includes the video. ...

... Sarah Palin just can't seem to get it, on any front. I think she's an attractive person, she is articulate.  But I think intellectually, she seems not to be able to understand what's going on here. -- James Clyburn, House Assistant Leader (D-SC)

Since the next two bloggers comment on Palin's appearance, I've posted this screenshot, but no video!

CW: Hair combed, check. Lipstick neutral, check. Funereal gray suit, check. Flag pin, check. Fireplace, check. Silver-framed B&W photo, check. American flag on the right of the screen, check.

     ... Greg Sargent: "... the obvious care that went into making this video ... demonstrate ... that Palin and her advisers knew this was a potential make-or-break moment.... Palin, of course, has long taken her case directly to supporters via Twitter and Facebook, while not permitting herself to be exposed to any journalistic cross-examination. Utilizing a pre-taped video message is a new twist on that strategy.... Her core accusation on the video ... actually accuses [her critics] of expressing concern and outrage about the shooting ... in an effort to do nothing more than damage her politically": The key sentence: "But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn." ...

     ... Balloon Juice: "Palin’s toned-down appearance and scripted delivery show that she wants to adopt the appearance of reasonableness... The setting is presidential, but the message is classic Palin, lashing back at her critics. She was clearly hoping to show 'gravitas', but that’s more than set dressing." ...

Today has been set aside to honor the victims of the Tucson massacre. And Sarah Palin has apparently decided she's one of them. -- Josh Marshall of TPM

     ... Andrew Sullivan: Palin "can see absolutely nothing awry in the inflammatory and violent rhetoric she and others have deployed so aggressively in the past two years. Nothing. The attempted assassination of a congresswoman after relentless demonization of her, after her opponent brandished an M-16 at a campaign rally, after a brick was thrown through her campaign window, after she personally complained about Palin's own metaphorical cross-hairs on her." ...

     ... Garance Franke-Ruta of The Atlantic: "Anyone still wondering whether political debate in American would change in the wake of the shooting of 20 in Tucson ... got their answer this morning as Sarah Palin delivered a resounding no. The blood libel is an anti-Semitic myth dating to the middle ages that Jews murder Christian children to use their blood in religious ceremonies; it served as the basis for centuries of genocidal persecution." ...

     ... Howie Kurtz of the Daily Beast, who a few days ago defended Palin, now writes, "Had Palin scoured a thesaurus, she could not have come up with a more inflammatory phrase."

     ... CW: John Nichols of The Nation notes that Giffords is Jewish. Nichols doesn't say so, but I'm guessing Palin is using the "blood libel" accusation against her detractors to equate herself with Giffords -- "See, we're both victims. Maybe I didn't get a bullet through my head, but 'the evil-doers' are mean to me, too." This false equivalency, if that's the intention, is disgusting on so many level. Update: okay, I'm in good company:

Palin’s comments either show a complete ignorance of history, or blatant anti-Semitism. Either way, it shows an appalling lack of sensitivity given Representative Giffords’s faith and the events of the past week. -- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), via a spokesperson

When Governor Palin learns that many Jews are pained by and take offense at the use of the term, we are sure that she will choose to retract her comment, apologize and make a less inflammatory choice of words. -- Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street

     ... Zachary Roth of Yahoo News: "Several Jewish groups are criticizing Sarah Palin's use of the term 'blood libel' in her video statement on the Arizona shootings. The phrase traditionally refers to false anti-Semitic myths about Jews using the blood of Christians, often children, in their rituals." ...

     ... Karen Tumulty: "Sarah Palin's statement Wednesday in response to the Tucson shootings, in which she has found herself at the center of a debate over civility in political discourse, was crafted as both a defense of her own actions and a strike against her critics -- but reaction to the statement was dominated by a fresh controversy over her use of the phrase 'blood libel.'" ,,,

     ... Ezra Klein says, "Palin is right to feel aggrieved." And so what if she doesn't know what "blood libel" means? Then he concludes, "So that's Palin's substantive response: Politics has never been reliably civil, and at least she's not shot anybody.... But you won't find 'stop bothering me, this tragedy isn't my fault' in the chapter headings of any books on leadership. Palin could've taken this opportunity to look very big, and instead she now looks very small."

... Speaking of right-wing rabble-rousers, Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle finally released a statement which, in part, condemned the many journalists, pundits & politicians who criticized her call for "Second Amendment remedies":

Expanding the context of the attack to blame and to infringe upon the people's Constitutional liberties is both dangerous and ignorant. The irresponsible assignment of blame to me, Sarah Palin or the TEA Party movement by commentators and elected officials puts all who gather to redress grievances in danger. -- Sharron Angle

       ... CW: right. We're the dangerous ones.

Gene Robinson of the Washington Post: "We must recognize the obvious distinction between rifles, shotguns and target pistols used for sport on the one hand, and semiautomatic handguns designed for killing people on the other. We must decide that allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon, no questions asked, is just crazy. And for heaven's sake, we must demand that laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of lunatics be enforced."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner expected to spend his first celebratory weeks as the new leader of the House showcasing his party’s differences with the Democrats. But the shooting rampage in Arizona upended those plans. Now Mr.Boehner is being called on to play a far less partisan role, leading Republicans and Democrats alike through a difficult period."

Protect Congress, to Hell with Everybody Else

     (1) Brian Montopoli of CBS News: "An aide to Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) tells CBS News that the Indiana Republican plans to introduce legislation next week that would encase the House Gallery in 'a transparent and substantial material' such as Plexiglas that would keep members of the public from being able to throw explosives or make other attacks on members on the House floor." ...

     (2) Shira Toeplitz of Politico: "Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), one of the few pro-gun control Republicans in the House, wants to make it illegal for someone to knowingly carry a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including members of Congress. ...

     (3) New York Times: "House members reconvened at the Capitol on Wednesday to honor the dead and the wounded in the Arizona shooting rampage and to begin reviewing security concerns with law enforcement officials. At the same time, many Republican lawmakers quickly rejected any suggestion that gun control laws need to be tightened, even to limit access to expanded ammunition clips like the one that the police say Jared L. Loughner used outside a Tucson supermarket on Saturday...." ...

... New York Times Editors: "Members of Congress are understandably worried about their own safety in the wake of the shooting rampage that was centered around Representative Gabrielle Giffords.... But some of the ideas being proposed would have the effect of further distancing lawmakers from the people they represent — and elevate their safety above the 100,000 Americans who are shot or killed with a gun every year."

Charlie Savage & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "Threats to lawmakers rarely lead to charges.... While attackers almost never telegraph their intentions ahead of time, they do often show signs of fixation on public figures against whom they harbor grievances — real or imagined — and often tell a friend or a relative that they might attack them, forensic psychologists say." ...

... Oops, missed this one. New York Daily News: Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.)"said Sunday they'll pack heat back home after the deadly attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords." ...

... Prof. Joanne Freeman in the New York Times: "In the rough-and-tumble Congress of the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s, politicians regularly wore weapons on the House and Senate floors, and sometimes used them.... During a debate in 1850, Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi pulled a pistol on Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.... Until the 1840s, reporters played down [Congressional weapons-brandishing], in part to avoid becoming embroiled in fights themselves.... That changed with the arrival of the telegraph. Congressmen suddenly had to confront the threat — or temptation — of 'instant' nationwide publicity."

He doesn't say much, he just sits in his cell with a smirk on his face, nothing else. -- U.S. Marshal David Gonzales

David Fahrenthold & Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "The Pima County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday released reports from 12 cases in which its officers interacted with the family of Jared Loughner, files that provided evidence of the accused gunman's troubled childhood but contained no obvious foreshadowing of the rampage that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) critically wounded.... The most serious case involved a small-time drug arrest in 2007, when a sheriff's deputy reported finding a marijuana pipe in Loughner's pocket." ...

... ** AP: "A wildlife officer pulled over [Jared Loughner] ... less than three hours before the deadly attack, authorities said Wednesday.... Loughner ran a red light but was let off with a warning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.... The officer took Loughner's driver's license and vehicle registration information but found no outstanding warrants on Loughner or his vehicle. Wildlife officers don't usually make traffic stops unless public safety is at risk, such as running a red light."

... Tom Steller of the Arizona Daily Star: "Jared Lee Loughner sought help getting a job several times last year at a Pima County employment center, but the last visit turned into a familiar fiasco: Loughner was ejected as he protested his constitutional rights.... On Sept. 29, Loughner made the last of at least four visits to the Pima County OneStop center.... He came in carrying a video camera and recorded the staff in the office...." When told not to tape the staff, he pulled a copy of the Constitution from his pocket & said it was his right. He was asked to leave then & another time the same day....

... Jo Becker, et al., of the New York Times: "The police were sent to the home where Jared L. Loughner lived with his family on more than one occasion before the attack here on Saturday.... A [police] spokesman ... said the details of the calls ... would be released.... He said he did not know what the calls were about ... or whether they involved Jared Loughner or another member of the household." The article details an interview with Zane Gutierrez, a friend of Loughner's, who said Loughner was "a nihilist and loves causing chaos" & was expert at handling guns.

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The rules regarding [an insanity defense] ... were tightened over the years in the wake of the verdict for John W. Hinckley Jr., who was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. The insanity argument is now seldom successful, legal experts said. What is more likely ... is that Mr. Loughner’s lawyers will use any mental health problems they find to stave off the death penalty, if he should go to trial and be convicted."

Glock Sales Surge. Michael Riley of Bloomberg: "A national debate over weaknesses in state and federal gun laws stirred by the shooting has stoked fears among gun buyers that stiffer restrictions may be coming from Congress, gun dealers say. The result is that a deadly demonstration of the weapon’s effectiveness has also fired up sales of handguns in Arizona and other states, according to federal law enforcement data."

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post writes about how various newspapers have printed the mugshot of Jared Loughner. CW: my choice, unlike everyone else's, has been not to post it at all. It's isn't just that the photo is too creepy -- it is -- but that Loughner seems to want to be recognized for the glory of his crimes. I don't want to help him out. ...

... Jack Shafer of Slate says it a lot better than I did: Loughner won't be content until people understand that he's a sadistic bastard capable of greater transgressions than shooting innocent people at point-blank range and that killing a 9-year-old only hints at the monster inside him.