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01.08.11 - 2:59 PM
image from SarahPAC.com (before it was removed earlier this afternoon)
Last September the Arizona Wildcat reported:
Palin Reloads; Aims For Giffords
Earlier this year, Palin drew sharp criticism for featuring a map on her web page riddled with crosshairs targeting Democrats in vulnerable congressional districts. Tucson's Gabrielle Giffords is among the 20 Democratic incumbents whom Palin intends to use for target practice.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at close range earlier today at a public event outside a Safeway in Tuscon. The three-term Democratic Congresswoman was participating in “Congress on Your Corner,” an open event meant for her constituents, when a gunman raced up and began shooting a semi-automatic weapon. Possibly up to 12 others, including members of her staff, were injured, and KOLD reports five people have died. The shooter, described in reports as a white male in his early 20s, was tackled by a bystander, and is now reportedly in custody, though the motive is unclear. Giffords was airlifted to University Medical Center. Her condition is currently unknown, but according to a CNN bystander, her injuries are “pretty serious.”
Stream live local coverage of the shooting here.
3:20 PM. Nancy Pelosi calls Giffords “courageous” and the shooting “a national tragedy.”
3:18 PM. President Obama has released a statement.
This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tuscon, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded.
We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.
3:17 PM. MSNBC reports that when Giffords was being rolled into surgery, she was talking.
2:51 PM. According to a hospital spokesperson, Giffords is alive and in surgery.
2:49 PM. There are many conflicting reports as to whether Giffords has died. CNN, NPR and Reuters initially said she had died, but retracted their reports. MSNBC says she is currently undergoing surgery for her wounds.
2:36 PM. Rep. Giffords was one of 20 members of Congress published on Sarah Palin's “hit list,” demarcated by an actual gun target. Moments ago the image was on her site, but it's since been taken down. The graphic is republished here, however. Palin was opposed to the Congress members because of their support of the health care bill. Further, during the November election, her opponent also ran with the 'target' rhetoric, advertising a rally with the phrase, “Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office/Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.”
By
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd | Sourced from
358 Posted at January 8, 2011, 10:44 am
Arizona Daily Wildcat > Perspectives
By Nyles Kendall With an endorsement record that now rivals those of many established Washington politicians, Sarah Palin has re-launched her "Take Back the 20" campaign. Its aim — pun intended — is to unseat Democratic incumbents who supported last year's health care reform package H.R. 3200, often referred to by Republicans as "Obamacare."
Earlier this year, Palin drew sharp criticism for featuring a map on her web page riddled with crosshairs targeting Democrats in vulnerable congressional districts.
Tucson's Gabrielle Giffords is among the 20 Democratic incumbents whom Palin intends to use for target practice.
Giffords and her Republican challenger Jesse Kelly are now neck and neck, according to the latest polls. Palin's endorsement of Kelly came as a surprise to many.
Kelly made headlines last month for a highly critical, off-the-record statement about the former governor-turned-celebrity: "Endorsing people because they're going to win, because you want to be on the right side of a Senator, is not the kind of political courage that's going to take this country back."
Despite Kelly's obvious aversion to Palin and her brand of politics, he has accepted her endorsement with open arms. "We are honored to have the support of Governor Sarah Palin," Kelly's campaign said in a written statement.
Kelly's photo is now prominently displayed on Palin's "Take Back the 20" website, just below the crosshair-covered map titled "We've diagnosed the problem. Help us prescribe the solution," a chilling innuendo.
Like the rest of the Republican Party, Kelly knows better than to be on the wrong side of a Palin endorsement. Her numbers don't lie. Palin is 7-2 for Senate endorsements, 7-6 for House endorsements and 6-3 for endorsements of gubernatorial candidates. Her record of success has shocked even her harshest opponents.
But Palin still remains a blank page on a range of issues regarding the economy, defense and energy. Rather than touring the country giving paid speeches, she should channel her energy into articulating substantive policy positions.
While she tears down established and politically relevant politicians around the country, Palin has yet to prove that she is even worthy of holding higher office.
And her disdain for H.R. 3200 and Democrats, like Gabrielle Giffords who had the integrity to vote for the legislation, is purely manufactured.
If Palin truly cared about rectifying the problems inherent to this country's for-profit health care system, one that she and the Republican Party seem intent on preserving, she would dedicate her time and money to lending a helping hand to the estimated 50.7 million uninsured Americans rather than using her celebrity status to ensure the nomination of a handful of Republican nobodies.
Too busy profiting from the speaking engagements that have earned her upwards of $12 million since she quit her job as Alaska's governor, Palin fails or simply refuses to realize that her youngest son Trig, who suffers from Down syndrome, stands to benefit from H.R. 3200. The legislation bars health insurance providers from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions.
After her reality show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" premieres on TLC this November, Palin should take a trip on over to the nearest free clinic and get a taste of what reality is really like for those that are uninsured.
Palin's "Take Back the 20" campaign, like her endorsement of Jesse "soft as jelly" Kelly, is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to inject herself into the political discourse and line her pockets.
Sarah Palin needs to catch a sleigh ride back to Wasilla, Alaska where she can complete her unfinished term as the state's governor and keep her nose out of Arizona's politics.
— Nyles Kendall is a political science junior. He can be reached at letters@email.arizona.edu.
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