Motley Moose – Archive

‘There are district attorneys and United States attorneys out there every day squeezing ordinary citizens on sometimes very thin grounds and taking them to trial in order to make an example, as they put it. I’m really concerned that ‘too big to fail’ has become ‘too big for trial,’

‘We do not know, for example, if he received compensation for giving paid speeches at extreme or radical groups. It is at a minimum relevant to know if that $200,000 that he deposited in his bank account came directly from Saudi Arabia, came directly from North Korea.’

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Not a lot of details yet, but we know that Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic Representative for Arizona’s 8th congressional district has been shot:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was among as many as 12 people wounded in a shooting at a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store where she was holding a campaign event.

ABC affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson reported that as many as 12 people had been shot, including Giffords. A law enforcement source told KGUN that the shooter was in custody.

Giffords, a Democrat, was scheduled to hold a “Congress on Your Corner” event today at a supermarket in northwest Tucson.

Her condition is not currently known. Other sources reporting on this tragic turn of events:

MSNBC:

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, U.S. National Public Radio reported Saturday.

At least three of her staff members were also shot by an unidentified gunman who ran up and began shooting indiscriminately, according to media reports.

Politico:

Giffords was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson, according to the report. Her condition was not immediately known.

Twelve people were injured in the shooting shortly after 10 o’clock local time, according to Jason Ogan, a spokesman for the Pima Country Sherrif’s department. The police are sweeping the area for any other possible suspects and currently have one person in custody.

Why on earth would somebody do something like this?

UPDATE:  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has died.

Screenshot from the (now removed) Mspace page of Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in custody.

UPDATE:

2:37 PM ET Giffords Alive And In Surgery

A hospital spokeswoman tells MSNBC that Giffords is alive, still in surgery.

So tonight (technically “last night” now?) was the long-awaited health care vote, and as I’m sure you all know, it must be a monumental event indeed to bring Kysen not only into the open, but into writing a diary… however disjointed and meandering it may be.  😉  The past few days have been the stuff anxiety attacks are made of for those of us who have invested our time, money, hopes, and passions in health care reform. The uncertainties seemed endless… would we have the votes, would something go wrong at the last minute? But much to the relief of all those holding their breath…

It passed.

This will be an open thread (surprised?). Follow me below the fold for more.  

This song pretty much sums it all up for me. The message in this song and the feelings it invokes are at the heart of my political beliefs.

Last night, in the wee, dark hours, I was doing what all good liberals do – examining my beliefs. I came to what I thought was an interesting insight about my political beliefs.

Almost every political discussion in this country eventually refers to the Founders. They left us a lot of wisdom. It would be foolish to ignore that wisdom or the history they left us. That’s where I started my search.

One political belief I’ve run across for years is that the reason the Democrats have trouble holding onto power is that they are continually fighting amongst themselves. I usually dismissed this claim as one more exaggeration promulgated by the MSM and Republicans. The events of the last year have caused me to rethink the whole issue.

There is no doubt that the primary wars were bitter and divisive. It wasn’t surprising, given how competitive the battle was right up until the end. Surprisingly enough, the party managed to pull together by election day, except for a few splinter groups. This was a big disappointment to the news media and an even bigger disappointment to the Republicans.

As an outsider, I’m an independent voter, the quick recovery of the Democratic coalition after the primaries convinced me that infighting among the Dems was an over-hyped myth. Boy, was I ever wrong.

The New York Times is reflecting what I see here on the ground:

Jim Piccillo lost his job as a bank vice president in August, applied for food stamps to support his two young daughters and swore off a life of loyalty to the Republican Party. He now volunteers here in Pasco County for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

Mudflats, a blog by Alaskan AKMuckraker has an article today about a rally – organized by eight women over coffee – held to counter the event welcoming Gov. Palin home from her ordeal answering questions for the first time since being nominated by the GOP for President (er: *Vice* President).  The turnout dwarfed the Pro-Palin rally yesterday.

Alaskan Women Reject Palin was, by this account, the *”biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state”*.  At least 1,400 people showed up, and to put that in perspective that would be akin to 100,000 New Yorker women showing up to a political rally in New York City (we can be fairly certain no-one took the train from New Jersey to Anchorage or drove up from Philadelphia for the event).  This compares to perhaps 1,000 Palin fans who showed up for her event that same day.

Alaska Daily News also has an article with 50 more first-hand pics.