Gabby Giffords: A Moderate Voice in Extreme Times

In the last few days the perpetrator of the Arizona shooting has been called a "nut case", " deranged maniac", "vicious murderer" and other labels. He may very well prove to be schizophrenic which is a serious mental illness. Can we cool the rhetoric until the professional psychiatrists have examined him for a correct diagnosis? We can support the victims of this crime without jumping to a conclusion about the nature of the killer. It goes without saying that he should never have had a gun permit, let alone be armed with an automatic weapon and multiple magazines of ammunition. Watch for further debate on gun controls.

I have been all over the internet looking at every angle I could find about this terrable act of violence and so far this is the ONLY place I have found to be civil and respectful where people are looking at the facts and using common sense bravo and to the people who were killed and wounded may god bless you and keep you safe for now and forever

I hope people learn something from this awful tragedy. People...including the Tea Party...need to calm down and move toward the middle. This wonderful young woman worked to bring both sides together..much as John McCain and Sen Lieberman have done. Life is precious, and now because of one maniac, people are wounded or dead, and their families are suffering unspeakable grief. Stop the hate...stop the violence and work together or this Country will be torn apart because of its own people.

I wish Ms. Torregrosa were less biased in her reporting, as I wish were so in all the mainstream media. In this piece, which should have concentrated on the mental condition of an obviously disturbed individual, she instead uses similar rhetoric toward those on the right that she says is "the danger of these volatile times."

Ms. Torregrosa somehow does not use a peaceful, reasonable tone when she calls Representative Gifford's Republican opponent "vicious." She goes on to say that those conservatives who did not believe Ms. Gifford was strong enough on immigration were "extremists" who "attacked" her. Nowhere in her article did Ms. Torregrosa have any criticism of Democrats or those on the left.

This tragedy was caused by a mentally deranged nut job. He appears, from all reports, to be more aligned with the left than the right, but that is beside the point. Using a horrible attack by an extremely disturbed individual as a political tool to vilify those with whom you don't agree is all too often what we get from supposedly unbiased reporters.

Ms. Torregrosa is a case in point. In my opinion, she should be ashamed of her blatant bias.

John Hinkley is a nut job. So is this guy. Politics have nothing to do with it. The American people will be heard. DO NOT try to use this as a club to beat down people engaged in the political process.

Our hateful rhetoric, in very frustrating times, only adds the fueling of negative passions & behaviors.
A return to civility & mutual respect on all sides is long overdue.

This was obviously an act of a disturbed individual, one who probably suffers from schizophrenia. To spin it as a political event does nothing for the victims or the country, and confuses the line between the mentally ill and the politically motivated.

The shooter was simply a nut case--anyone who wants to blame her politics or others is just trying to take advantage to tragetic event. Please show some respect

Anyone who is blaming a political party; republican, democrat, independent, tea party, any party, is ridiculous. This was not political, it was crazy! Sarah Palin is no more responsible for his actions than she is for mine or any of the other writers in this section. We are each responsible for our own actions and we need to start taking that responsibility. No democrat, republican, or anyone I know would have done anything like this. Stop blaming politics and look at mental illness and get rid of your anger at a political party and pray for these families because they need it, even the shooters family needs our prayer, because I doubt they condone his actions either. They kind of hate being shown against anyone with a different opinion is the first step to becoming who this young man is!

Regardless of your political affiliation, this is a tragedy for a young woman and for her family and supporters. I feel for the families of the victims and for the family of the shooter. Their lives are forever changed. May this, one day, be a rarity in our country.