Your thoughts on the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords?

Pitiful, sad, demeaning.

What did that child ever do to deserve that? I don't think they use the death penalty enough.

idrinorbarsaku said:

What did that child ever do to deserve that? I don't think they use the death penalty enough.

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I'm personally opposed to the death penalty, I think its much more beneficial to put a person committing a murder through a 50-60 year sentence, trust me that would be much more difficult than dying in a split second. This is absolutely horrible though, depressing.

HornedTokage said:

I'm personally opposed to the death penalty, I think its much more beneficial to put a person committing a murder through a 50-60 year sentence, trust me that would be much more difficult than dying in a split second. This is absolutely horrible though, depressing.

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I don't want my hard earned tax dollars going to support the life of a murderer. If you think about it, if it weren't for the legal system, and he was still a fugitive, if that same amount of money from your taxes were used to help him out in any way, you would be as guilty as him by that same legal system.

But that's for another thread

idrinorbarsaku said:

I don't want my hard earned tax dollars going to support the life of a murderer.

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Exactly. As much as a life sentence would hurt this person more over time, think of the damage he is still doing to society, with peoples tax $ supporting his life in the clink...... Shot through the heart, lethal injection is the way for these people.

And to think the family of the deceased, will have to live with the thought of this monster still breathing when there baby girl isnt .....

Its just not right

I just saw this report a few minutes ago. A nearby TV station sent a bulletin to my iPhone about something else. When I went to the site for details I saw this story.

The first thing that went through my head is how traumatic this is for the families. Even those fortunate enough to survive will never be the same.

The thing that annoys me is that commentators are already suggesting that this is an indication our political discourse is too strident. Of course there are also those already advancing political agendas based on this incident as well.

It's very sad and unfortunate. There are a lot of things I disagree with but never would I take action in any way that would cause harm to another living creature. Obviously this kid has mental issues. Hard to say if it was avoidable until more details come out. So many people make anti-government comments online and it's hard to know who to take seriously.

Very sad and tragic, and what also makes it depressing is the thoughtless finger pointing comments some people leave under the news articles.
When things like this happen the last thing we should be thinking about is who to push the blame on.

I didn't want to mention the video he posted on YouTube, but I think he's screwed up in the head.

Personally, as much as I know it is very un-PC to say this, it wouldn't bother me one bit if someone spared the tax payers the expense of putting him on trial.

In cases like this, I support public hanging.

As shocking and sad as this is for the victims and their families, it's equally as sad for its implications to the accessibility of our public officials. You can bet there won't be any Congresspersons doing small venues like this, talking directly to their constituency anytime soon. I'm not looking forward to the days when you'll have to be behind a bullet proof shield any time you want to see your federal or state representative.

I think this is a sad commentary on the state of the political mindset in this country. Seems fewer and fewer of us are in the middle, with so many taking extreme stances on either side. Personally, I put the blame squarely on the Glen Becks, Sarah Palins, Keith Oberlins and Rachel Maddows of the media today, who only make us more divided and polarized.

Regardless of the reasoning, be it political or otherwise, this never should have happened.

I think it's a shame that 6 people (so far) are dead, while this waste of oxygen is still alive. I don't think there's any question this guy was mentally ill. I'm sure he was probably pushed over the edge by all the extremism in the media. Just because you can put whatever you want on cable new television, doesn't mean you should.

Oddly enough, as the main stream media jumps as quickly as possible to put blame on the Tea Party and Palin for this, when we look at this individual's positions on politics we see he is described as "extremely liberal" by his schoolmates. His profile lists some of his favorite reads as the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. I think he also posted something about not "trusting in god". I had always associated socialist/communist leanings and opposition to god as being more of a left wing/liberal bent. Not too many athiest-communist conservatives (that I'm aware of) in America. I'm not saying he was serving any agenda other than his own twisted and obviously delusional thoughts. Still, it will be interesting to see how the coverage of the whole thing goes. I noticed that whole "automatic weapon" misnomers and "extended capacity magazines" have popped up already in the coverage. When tragedies like this happens, it's never good for anyone.

Thanks XJ I was trying to think of exactly how to say that. I think we are far to quick to assign blame to the Glen Beck's of the world when these kinds of events happen.

I am always a little leery when blame is placed there because it's usually one-sided. One group (conservative or liberal) will get the blame with little or no mention of equally strident comments made by the opposition. Need I remind anyone about the comments made/still being made by possible liberal commentators about Tea Party members?

XJ-linux said:

I noticed that whole "automatic weapon" misnomers and "extended capacity magazines" have popped up already in the coverage. When tragedies like this happens, it's never good for anyone.

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That is sad. It happens EVERY single time there is a shooting here in Australia. Doesnt have to be a mass killing either. You get the gun haters (minority) coming out and lobbying the government to change the gun laws and netx thing you know we are having a gun buy back scheme. It never seems to get them off the street, and the poor farmer in our case is the one that suffers and he doesnt have a leg to stand on to protect his stock.

We arnt allowed to carry a personal weapon on us, so it it the farmers and the hobbist loosing out. Its the only time i know of that i have seen a minority win a argument in parliament . . . . . .Then we go on with our lives until next time

Slydude said:

Thanks XJ I was trying to think of exactly how to say that. I think we are far to quick to assign blame to the Glen Beck's of the world when these kinds of events happen.

I am always a little leery when blame is placed there because it's usually one-sided. One group (conservative or liberal) will get the blame with little or no mention of equally strident comments made by the opposition. Need I remind anyone about the comments made/still being made by possible liberal commentators about Tea Party members?

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Note that I didn't place blame on any one political commentator, but named two on both sides. My main point is that we as a country are incredibly polarized. There are always nut jobs out there like this guy, but I think these kinds of attacks are somewhat driven by the extreme voices in the media that push the easily influenced to one side or another.

Slydude said:

Thanks XJ I was trying to think of exactly how to say that. I think we are far to quick to assign blame to the Glen Beck's of the world when these kinds of events happen.

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The same thing happens on both sides - people are quick to place blame on the side that represents interests that are antithetical to their own. Those in the middle, in my experience, frequently don't place blame or if they do, place it on the side that is commonly associated with that particular issue. An example of this might be placing blame with those on the right when the issue concerns gun use.

Both sides are just as guilty for placing blame and perhaps it would be best if everyone took a step back here and depoliticized an act of violence that, despite victimizing a politician, is still a human casualty. It would be best to recognize this but I don't see this ever happening given what appears to be an increasing hostility between groups of people grounded in political allegiances.