re: #296 austin_blue

Wow, DF, I think you are missing the overall point, here.

If you have a propaganda machine (Fox, Limbaugh, Alex Jones) that continues to bore into the head of a fragile psyche that THE GOVERNMENT IS YOUR ENEMY, bad things just *might* happen.

Arizona is a target rich environment for the disturbed. If you want to hit a fringe target, why not Arpaio or Gov. Brewer? Why attack a moderate, Jewish, pro-gun Rep who is married to an NASA Astronaut?

I don’t know why he fixated on her. It’s not known yet. And given that he may well have fixated before the rhetoric started up in earnest (it started in 2009, while we know that Loughner was was paying attention to Giffords as early as 2007), its not sure if any campaign rhetoric played a role in setting him off.