in memory. stay strong.

wednesday

President Barack Obama will head to Arizona on Wednesday for a memorial in honor of the victims of the Tucson shootings

a picture paints a thousand words …..

sorry for posting this guy’s face here, but….

….I saw this screenshot from Beck’s site posted on Twitter tonight. Note the gun. There are no words.

‘we are better than this’

Scott and Mark Kelly

BBC: The crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) have paused in silence for six people killed in a shooting in Arizona which left US congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, seriously wounded.

The ISS Commander, Scott Kelly, who is Ms Giffords’ brother-in-law led a tribute to the victims. Ms Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, is also an astronaut.

Commander Kelly:

“As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful. Unfortunately, it is not. These days, we are constantly reminded of the unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can inflict upon one another, not just with our actions but also with our irresponsible words. We are better than this. We must do better.”

‘Stand up for Sheriff Clarence Dupnik’

People For The American Way: Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik, the most visible law enforcement official handling the incident thus far, has come under attack from the Right for speaking the truth. He has acknowledged that the Tucson gunman, Jared Loughner, appears to be a deeply disturbed individual. But the sheriff has rightly noted that the increased inflammatory and violent rhetoric over the last several years in our national political debate has created a dangerous climate that could contribute to senseless acts of violence like this one, which claimed the lives of six innocent people and injured 12 more.

Voices on the Right are now accusing him of politicizing the tragedy. How long until Sheriff Dupnik is featured on Glenn Beck’s chalkboard?

It’s important that when someone gets smeared and attacked for telling the truth, we stand up to defend them. If you would like to show your support for Sheriff Dupnik, please take a moment to sign a letter solidarity with him against the increasing smears he is facing from the Right.

Dear Sheriff Dupnik,

Thank you for your forthrightness in your public discussion of the recent tragedy in Tucson. It’s painfully clear that angry, hateful and, yes, violent rhetoric has made toxic our national political discourse. The overheated debate which crosses the boundaries of civility is an important reality to acknowledge in assessing the nature of Saturday’s massacre and potential for future acts of violence.

For telling the hard truths, you risk attack from some powerful people and interests. Please know that I stand in solidarity with you, and reject the wholly undeserved smears and attempts at character assassination which are already starting to bubble up in certain spheres of our political debate.

Signed….

Send the letter from here

Thank you Sarah for passing on the link

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: “The kind of rhetoric that flows from people like Rush Limbaugh, in my judgment he is irresponsible, uses partial information, sometimes wrong information. He attacks people, angers them against government, angers them against elected officials and that kind of behavior in my opinion is not without consequences.”

“I don’t have a problem with heated arguments. As a matter of fact you are kind of getting a little heat out of me now, and it is because I am very angry at what has transpired. Not because it’s Tucson, Arizona, but because of two beautiful people – one almost dead and one assassinated – that were personal friends of mine (Gabrielle Giffords and U.S. District Judge John Roll) and outstanding individuals and public servants.”

grief, courage, hope

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Obviously all of us are still grieving and in shock from the tragedy that took place.  Gabby Giffords and others are still fighting to recover.  Families are still absorbing the enormity of their losses.  We have a criminal investigation that is ongoing and charges that no doubt will be brought against the perpetrator of this heinous crime.

I think it’s important for us to also focus, though, on the extraordinary courage that was shown during the course of these events:  a 20-year-old college student who ran into the line of fire to rescue his boss; a wounded woman who helped secure the ammunition that might have caused even more damage; the citizens who wrestled down the gunman.  Part of what I think that speaks to is the best of America, even in the face of such mindless violence.

And so, in the coming days we’re going to have a lot of time to reflect.  Right now, the main thing we’re doing is to offer our thoughts and prayers to those who’ve been impacted, making sure that we’re joining together and pulling together as a country.  And as President of the United States, but also as a father, obviously I’m spending a lot of time just thinking about the families and reaching out to them.

a minute’s silence

‘fox cuts feed from giffords vigil after palin is criticized’

A Think Progress video

‘an act of political violence in a polarised country’

Gary Younge (UK Guardian): Jared Loughner … was not working alone. True, the rampage apparently emerged from his confused, unstable and troubled mind. But it was also the byproduct of a polarised political culture underpinned by increasingly vitriolic, violent and vituperative rhetoric and symbolism.

….To dismiss these as the voices and actions of the marginal was to miss the point and misunderstand the trend. America is more polarised under Obama than it has been in four decades: the week he was elected gun sales leapt 50% year on year.

…. many of these extreme views and much of this antagonistic tone is explicitly sustained and implicitly condoned by the Republican hierarchy. When a congressman shouts “liar” at Obama during his state of the union speech he receives a huge spike in donations…..

…In few places was the national atmosphere played out more dramatically than in the border state of Arizona. In April Raul Grijalva, in Gabrielle Giffords’s adjacent constituency, faced bomb threats for opposing a new anti-immigration law. In October, his office was daubed with swastikas and white paint….

The connection between this rhetoric and Saturday’s events are not causal but contextual. The shooter was not likely to be acting under direct instructions but in an atmosphere that made such an attack more likely rather than less. Whatever his motives, this was a targetted act of domestic political violence…

…As Giffords struggles for her life and the country mourns its dead some insist it is too soon to draw broader political conclusions from this tragedy. But if those conclusions had been understood sooner, it is possible that such a tragedy might have been prevented.

Full article here