my congresswoman was shot today

[emily_in_nc]

Unless she was extremely lucky, having a bullet go through her brain is pretty much the end of life as she knew it.

This incident serves to remind me how quickly everything in life can change in the blink of an eye. Gabrielle was such a beautiful, intelligent woman with so much to give and share, and it pisses me off to no end that ability was so callously stolen away from her without any warning. It reminds me that we all need to appreciate life's preciousness and to remember to tell those we love that we love them and to not waste time and life energy on trivial crap. The last time I felt this so strongly was when my dad died in an auto accident in 2005.

Just reading the last couple pages on this thread has me with tears in my eyes. It is very difficult to get my mind around the fact that there are people who kill others for no good reason, and simply impossible to grok that there are people, like the Westborough Baptist lunatics, who revel in such heinous acts.

[Owlie]

This incident serves to remind me how quickly everything in life can change in the blink of an eye. Gabrielle was such a beautiful, intelligent woman with so much to give and share, and it pisses me off to no end that ability was so callously stolen away from her without any warning. It reminds me that we all need to appreciate life's preciousness and to remember to tell those we love that we love them and to not waste time and life energy on trivial crap.

This.

[badgercat]

Mere millimeters one way or another can make a huge difference in head trauma, and every brain is different. I also haven't actually heard where the bullet entered or exited for sure, as I've heard some reports say forehead, some say side-to-side, etc.

We really just won't know until when/if they ease off the sedation and take her off the ventilator. Considering she's already made it this far, I just feel like it's too early to predict what her abilities will or won't be as a result of this event. She could even be physically fine but wake up with a completely different personality. Who knows? I'd rather wait and see than speculate at this point.

[KnottedYet]

Nope, we won't know until later.

Everything I've heard suggests Daniel Hernandez Jr. held her brains in at the front with his hand, and (inadvertently) held her brains in at the exit wound against his belly as he kept her upright in his lap so she wouldn't asphyxiate on her own blood.

Maybe the bullet went right down the division between the two halves of the brain, barely nicking either. But I'm not betting she'll be riding her bike again. I'd love to be proved wrong.

I'm very glad my taxes (and yours) go to provide lifetime healthcare for members of Congress. She will need it.

[Mr. Bloom]

This just in, he:

• Is a registered independent
• Didn't vote in '10
• Was obsessed with Mayan 2012 prophesy
• Had a satanic style alter in his backyard
• Has a mug shot that looks as looney as he was
• likely developed a profound hatred for the victim when she didn't answer his arcane question at a town hall meeting...so thinks the FBI

So much for the Palin/Limbaugh hate speech theory...

I don't like Limbaugh, Palin, that church from wherever, or any blow hard that only exists because they espouse extreme views - but by golly, I'm not going to scapegoat them for everything wrong in the world either

[PamNY]

This just in, he:

• Is a registered independent
• Didn't vote in '10
• Was obsessed with Mayan 2012 prophesy
• Had a satanic style alter in his backyard
• Has a mug shot that looks as looney as he was
• likely developed a profound hatred for the victim when she didn't answer his arcane question at a town hall meeting...so thinks the FBI

So much for the Palin/Limbaugh hate speech theory...

A much stronger argument against the Palin/Limbaugh hate speech theory is the fact that assassinations (or attempts) are, unfortunately, hardly new in US history.

There's a rather good article in Salon which says, in part:

"In reckoning with the extremity of the political rhetoric of our own time, a longer view of American political hyperbole and violence suggests that as bad as the dialogue between Democrats and Republicans is right now, it pretty much pales in comparison with the virulence that has characterized American political language since the nation’s founding."

None of this makes the tragedy in Arizona any less tragic (and I agree, the bike photo put a lump in my throat). But it is something we should keep in mind in discussing causes.

[NbyNW]

No doubt Congresswoman Giffords has a tough road ahead, but I was encouraged by seeing this video of Bob Woodruff talking about his own experience with a similar injury.

[Deborajen]

A much stronger argument against the Palin/Limbaugh hate speech theory is the fact that assassinations (or attempts) are, unfortunately, hardly new in US history.

There's a rather good article in Salon which says, in part:

"In reckoning with the extremity of the political rhetoric of our own time, a longer view of American political hyperbole and violence suggests that as bad as the dialogue between Democrats and Republicans is right now, it pretty much pales in comparison with the virulence that has characterized American political language since the nation’s founding."

None of this makes the tragedy in Arizona any less tragic (and I agree, the bike photo put a lump in my throat). But it is something we should keep in mind in discussing causes.

This is true, unfortunately. Reagan was shot, apparently by a wierdo who thought he was going to impress the actress Jodie Foster. Kennedy was shot. Lincoln was shot. The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. (I haven't been able to access the link yet - sorry if any of this is redundant.) It's really sick, and so sad.

I wish this lady the best, and my thoughts and prayers go out to her and to all the other victims of this awful tragedy.

[Bike Writer]

To the posters who live in Arizona and are represented by this Congresswoman you have my sympathy over this tragedy to her and others who were killed or injured.

It's a very sad story reading about innocent people and children wounded and killed by a madman. There are bad people in this world and nothing can be done to stop random acts of violence by kooks unless we are willing to lock them all up to protect ourselves from them.

I just read a story today that says this alleged gunman was dropped from his community college and could not return until he proved that he was no longer a threat to others or himslef. I guess he proved just how much of a threat he was to human life. Too bad he was only expelled instead of locked up for his threat to "others." Before I get attacked for such a stern approach to this, one undisputable fact is that it's not possible for someone to kill innocent strangers from behind bars.

[Biciclista]

Bike WRiter, I agree with you. Once upon a time, when someone was crazy, it was fairly easy to lock them up. THen came the Reagan administration, who let all the crazies out. Now it's very difficult to lock people up who are nuts before they commit a crime.

[Trek420]

I'm not betting she'll be riding her bike again. I'd love to be proved wrong.

I'm very glad my taxes (and yours) go to provide lifetime healthcare for members of Congress. She will need it.

Yes, you're right. My tendency towards optimism got the better of me I should know better. I talk to people with brain traumas daily. I have no medical background but odds are even with the best of circumstances, luck and care she will never be quite the same.

Thanks, Veronica for the pictures of the bike. Somehow that was as moving or more so (yeah, we're bike nerds here ) than seeing her on the bike.