Dem. Loretta Sanchez Wants Giffords Removed From Committee

Full disclosure: in case you don't remember, folks around here were looking for Loretta's replacement last November. A woman who loves cats but hates people can't be all bad!*

Behind closed doors, California Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez has proposed removing Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) until she recovers from injuries sustained after being shot in the head on Jan. 8 in Tucson, The Daily Caller has learned.

The proposal sparked an outrage, according to those in the room — including from those in Sanchez’s own party.

“It’s not appropriate,” Texas Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes told The Daily Caller, adding that there was outrage among some members in the room when Sanchez made the suggestion. “It’s bad for morale during her recovery period.”

Reyes and Rep. Adam Smith of California put up most of the fight against Sanchez, and helped squash the idea.

“From a woman who memorialized her cat, you’d think she’d show a little more compassion for a woman shot in the face,” said one GOP aide, referring to Sanchez’s 2010 Christmas card that paid tribute to her late cat, Gretzky.

*Closed Captioning for the Humor Impaired: sarcasm

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR.

From the President's Remarks...

Published at White House dot gov.

...some of her colleagues in Congress were in the room,
Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. (Applause.)
Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. (Applause.)
Gabby opened her eyes.
Gabby opened her eyes, (aide elbows teleprompter guy*)
so I can tell you she knows we are here...

* Okay. I added that one.

H/T Memorandum

"Cross Hairs" - Tempest in a Tea Party

Tim Pawlenty jabs Sarah Palin over 'cross hairs'

The term "Cross hairs" is a bit of an anachronism, a throwback to the days when actual hairs were used as reticles in optics.

Reticle
   /ˈrɛtɪkəl/[ret-i-kuhl]
–noun Optics .
a network of fine lines, wires, or the like placed in the focus of the eyepiece of an optical instrument.

And, though they are found in rifle and pistol scopes, they are not exclusive to them. If you've ever seen a surveyor's transit, a similar reticle is used to take precise measurements. It is not synonymous in and of itself with assassination or death. And the difference between superimposing a reticle on a map as opposed to a target or a "bullseye" (as Democrats and liberals have done in the not too recent past) is negligible. A tempest in a tea pot. Hypocrisy of the first order.

Why are we not surprised?

Update: It seems that Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos fame, who asked why Palin scrubbed the "surveyor's mark map from her website if she was not ashamed of it, has been scrubbing his own comments. Specifically, one about a t-shirt showing Palin's face in crosshairs that are "not a surveyor's mark".

They should be ashamed of themselves, if only the Left were capable of shame.

Update II: A larger version of this can be seen at Free Republic


H/T Memeorandum\

Cross posted at LCR.

Liberals are Irony Impaired

"When people, allegedly credible people who get up in front of cameras and microphones and say things that are not true and try to inflame the public..."

Oh. You mean like a County Sheriff at a press conference, speculating about things he doesn't know are true, but presenting opinions as though they were fact, casting aspersions anyway? That kind of people?

More at Red State

Cross posted at LCR.

Did Daily KOS Incite Shooting?

Of course not. But, you may have heard some breathless liberal spreading the talking point about how Sarah Palin incited violence with her imagery of "crosshairs" on Gabrielle Giffords. Of course, Ms. Palin's crosshairs were on a map, but to hear the libs explain it, it was photos of politicians with the crosshairs superimposed. For the sake of clarity, here is the image in question:



Part of her "incendiary" rhetoric:

We’re going to fire them and send them back to the private sector...we’re going to print pink slips for members of Congress...

"Targeting" politicians for defeat is obviously code speak for "Please assassinate these people."

So, for your consideration, Markos Moulitsas and his "Bullseye" on Gabrielle Giffords:



(Larger image here.)

Anyone care to point oout the hypocrisy in calling out Sarah Palin for inciting violence when the Left is doing virtually the same thing? Oh yeah. There's a world of difference between the image of a crosshair and a bullseye! /sarcasm

Trying to blame the horrific actions of Jared Lee Loughner on political rhetoric from either side of the aisle, is opportunistic pandering. The people whose knee jerk reaction was to blame Sarah Palin and the Tea Party and conservatives in general should be ashamed of themselves. Sadly, they have no shame.
More at Yid with Lid

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Pima County Sheriff Tells More Than he Knows About the Shooting

The sheriff can be excused in part, because of his emotional state. He knew some of the gunshot victims personally. Unfortunately, he went beyond the bounds of reason and common sense to take some oblique political potshots at his press conference. If there was any doubt as to who these "vitriolic radio and TV" personalities were that he cited, the left wing crazies didn't. They are coming out of the woodwork to excoriate "right wing" radio and TV personalities for their "hatred". And because liberals are irony impaired, what will this guy say if his own vitriolic accusations foment violence against anyone on the right?

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government," he said. "The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Does this guy pretend to have a degree in abnormal psychology? This is how "Unbalanced people" react to "vitriol"? Maybe he could cite some studies? Which radio and TV personalities were Major Nidal Hasan listening to before he started shooting at Fort Hood? Which on air personalities was Faisal Shahzad listening to when he made his Times Square car bomb?

The vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business .

People like Keith D'Ohlberman who call his political opponents the "Worst people in the world"? What about the insensitive individual who says that Arizona is the "Mecca for prejudice and bigotry". "Mecca"?? He takes a locale he says is rife with "prejudice and bigotry" and compares it to the Muslims' holiest city?

Sounds like "hate speech" to me!

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at Say Anything

Gabrielle Giffords Gun Incident in 2009

Ms. Giffords in happier times

In all the rush to judgment over the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, there was an eerily strange bit in the NYT account.

in August 2009, when there were demonstrations against the health care measure across the nation, a protester who showed up to meet Ms. Giffords at a supermarket event similar to Saturday’s was removed by the police when the pistol he had holstered under his armpit fell and bounced on the floor.

Arizona is an "open carry" state. Is this anecdote from 2009 an indication that she aroused strong feelings in the past, and an incident was prevented? Or does this simply mean that someone, possibly even an ardent supporter of hers, was lawfully carrying a firearm that somehow got dislodged from its holster, prompting the police response? I don't know. This is not the time for over generalizations about politics or gun control. What I've seen so far about the shooter tends to portray him as a nut job, perhaps even psychotic.

All I'm saying is keep your powder dry* until all the facts are out.

*Closed Captioning for the Language Impaired: Figuratively speaking

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot and Killed in Arizona

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and killed during an open meeting with her constituents today. Already, recriminations are echoing through the blogosphere, although motive has not yet been established for the shooting.

The shooting is to be deplored, regardless of the motivation. If the shooting was political in nature, it needs to be shouted from the rooftops, that in our country, political differences are settled by the ballot box and not the barrel of a gun.

Dr. Steven Rayle, a former emergency room doctor who now works in a hospice, said that he had witnessed the shootings. He said the congresswoman was standing behind a table outside the Safeway greeting passersby when the gunman approached her from behind, held a gun about a foot from her head and began firing.

I fully expect the knee jerk, gun ban crowd to be out shortly. As horrific as this crime is, there is no harm in waiting until all the facts come out before anyone starts assessing blame, other than that which would naturally fall to anyone who would commit such a vile and evil act as this assassin did.

Ms. Giffords was a motorcycle enthusiast, married to a former NASA astronaut and Navy pilot, Cmdr. Mark E. Kelly. Rest in peace, Ms. Giffords. Our prayers go out to her family and friends.

Update: According to a hospital spokesperson, she is alive but in critical condition.

H/T Memeorandum