As of now the news is saying 19 people shot with 5 dead. The suspect is in custody and no names are being released.

Apparently, just heard Shep say that a Fed Judge John Roll was also wounded at the event.
Sad, sad.

For all the good that cable news and the internet have done, in many ways they really have precipitated the downfall of the country because it is now so easy for people to insulate themselves with only media and information sources that reinforce what they already believe.

If you're a conservative you watch Fox News and read Red State so that they can report all day every day how evil socialists are overthrowing the government and ruining the country. If you are a liberal you watch MSNBC and read the Daily Kos so they can tell you that it is the evil rich people and Conservatives want to cripple the government and return us to the days of the wild west where everyone has a gun and people die in the streets without the govt safety net.

In turn the media outlets make their headlines more and more sensationalized and jump to quicker conclusions because they know they are preaching to their choir, and it just gets them more and more fired up.

Each side tells their lemmings that the media is biased against them, so don't believe anything that doesn't come from your "trusted" outlet, because it is all a lie and conspiracy otherwise.

I would like to be more optimistic about the future of this country, but the way the world is now it makes it so much harder to ever bridge the divide with all the new media sources as well as a bought and paid for Congress that has been rendered inept and unable to govern.

We are spiraling towards a cliff and there is really no way to stop it.

Suspect is a 22 year old white male, but everything else is rumor.

IggyPride00;630052 wrote: If you're a conservative you watch Fox News and read Red State so that they can report all day every day how evil socialists are overthrowing the government and ruining the country. If you are a liberal you watch MSNBC and read the Daily Kos so they can tell you that it is the evil rich people and Conservatives want to cripple the government and return us to the days of the wild west where everyone has a gun and people die in the streets without the govt safety net.

Off topic, but I've never understood this bold part. I know it's a central part of the liberal manifest, but how did extreme rich Democrats manage to convince their constituents that rich people are evil? The Democrats in congress are as rich, if not richer than the Republicans. All of the 24/hr news anchors that rail on rich people are rich themselves. The American public is just plain stupid.

Congresswomen is in critical condition according to the hospital. Doc said he is optimistic, and responded to commands. Shot in the head through and through.
Sadly, he said he has 10 patients, 5 recovering, 5 in surgery and sadly, 1 killed, a child.

Some of you people need to calm down. Even if this were a political assassination, it does not mean this nation is in the death throws and people are going to start offing each other. Calm down and go read a history book on American history and you will find many acts of political violence throughout are history. Assassinations and attempted assassinations are a part of our history. There will all ways be nutbags that kill because of politics. Its just the depravity of men.

To make the matter even worse is those in politics that will use it to shut down their opponents speech or stir their base. This always has happened throughout our history. Likely this times like most others cooler heads prevailed and we moved on.

There have always been radicals on both sides of the political spectrum since this nations birth. Fox News, the daily kos, MSNBC, etc did not exist in the 1860's yet we found a way to so divide the nation politically, that we used violence that resulted in the deaths of over 600,000 Americans.

Praying for her complete recovery.

My take is that if it was politically motivated, it is isolated and the work of a nut job. We've had these types around for years, as in the cases of the Kennedys, King, Wallace, the attempts on Ford and Reagan. The difference here is that we now live in an age of instant news and more information than we can digest rationally. I do not believe that any rational person can make the incredulous assumption to link this act of senselessness to any political party or ideology. While we disagree on many issues, I believe in the goodness of us all to not resort to violence.

Apparently, Federal Judge John Roll has died.

IggyPride00;630052 wrote:We are spiraling towards a cliff and there is really no way to stop it.

Iggy --- with all due respect, I think you are reeeallllyyy stretching things. We may have significant economic issues, but we are not at the point you suggest.

Prayers to all those affected today.

For what it's worth, a 22 year old fits the right age range for someone who might just be developing full blown schizophrenia, and if he happens to be prone to violence, something like this could be the end result.

I hope it's not political one way or another. This Congresswoman was a Blue Dog on many issues, including wanting tougher border security and immigration control.

Finally, given where this shooting happened, is it also possible for it to be related to one of the drug cartels? They have white folks involved in them, too.

There are lots of possible "reasons" for why this guy went on a shooting spree like this.

My money is on mental illness of some sort.

Hey Iggy: If our country could survive 1968 with the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, race riots in several major cities and racial tensions at an all-time high, and anti-war fervor starting to hit college campuses, I think we can survive this just fine.

Thread title needs to be changed because it is completely inaccurate; she has not died.

Done, thanks Quaker.

ptown_trojans_1;630085 wrote:Done, thanks Quaker.

Thank you

I'm surprised that the gunman is still alive. Shep Smith (yes, on FOX) is now reporting that somebody else from the crowd did some shooting back at the lunatic.

Writerbuckeye;630076 wrote:Hey Iggy: If our country could survive 1968 with the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, race riots in several major cities and racial tensions at an all-time high, and anti-war fervor starting to hit college campuses, I think we can survive this just fine.

I get the spirit of what you're saying, but a political system mired in gridlock, 14 trillion dollars of debt (with no end in site) and an unemployment rate near 10% represent a vast departure from mere social unrest.

I am not saying we are headed to armegeddan or anything, but we truly are at an unprecedented time in history all things considered because we have never been in such economic peril as a country at the same time we had a government that literally can't function anymore. Something has got to give, and as I look out on the horizon I don't see exactly what it is given how increasingly dug the split in this nation has become.

Also, I too have to believe that it has to be some sort of derangement going on, because there just has to be something very bad and broken inside of a person to shoot a little one.
Another reason I'm very surprised that gunman is still alive.

Prez speaking now.
He will be followed by a slew of press conferences.

Writerbuckeye;630074 wrote:For what it's worth, a 22 year old fits the right age range for someone who might just be developing full blown schizophrenia, and if he happens to be prone to violence, something like this could be the end result.

I hope it's not political one way or another. This Congresswoman was a Blue Dog on many issues, including wanting tougher border security and immigration control.

Finally, given where this shooting happened, is it also possible for it to be related to one of the drug cartels? They have white folks involved in them, too.

There are lots of possible "reasons" for why this guy went on a shooting spree like this.

My money is on mental illness of some sort.

Kinda what i was thinking.

Just seems like a really sick and disturbed young man. So sad.

Not really possible to draw any other, more meaningful conclusion, from what i've seen.

The shooter is being idenitified as Jared Loughner. I found some links to some screenshots of his myspace and his youtube account on another forum.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10

http://yfrog.com/h642op

http://yfrog.com/h2vlzp

If you go through his profile on youtube and then read all the shit he writes in his videos, there is no doubt the kid is some kind of crazy. It sounds as if he read 1984 one too many times.

Two of his favorite books (from the stuff above) are: Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto. That shows he's all over the place politically.

He's a Communist Nazi that is afraid of a totalitarian government? Has to be crazy as that makes literally no sense.

Thanks for the links, osuturfman!

There is definitely something wrong and demented about this guy.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/Classitup10[/video]

This video alone showcases that he's rambling about nothing, and is obviously convinced that what he's posting is profound.

:: sigh :::