January 8, 2011: Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat representing the 8th District of Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 18 other people are shot as she meets with constituents in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket in Casas Adobes, Arizona, outside Tucson.
Of the 19, 6 died, including Federal Judge John Roll, and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green, granddaughter of baseball figure Dallas Green.
Giffords was shot through the head, and she nearly died. She was initially paralyzed, and had to learn to speak and walk all over again.
The shooter was tackled by people on the scene, and quickly arrested. His name was Jared Lougner, a 22-year-old Tucson native who was fixated on Giffords. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to 19 counts, and was sentenced to life in prison. Now 32, he is incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota. He is in a federal prison because he shot a Member of Congress and a Federal Judge, either of which would have qualified him.
The day after the shooting was a Sunday, when the major networks broadcast their weekly news shows: Meet the Press on NBC, Face the Nation on CBS, This Week on ABC, and Fox News Sunday. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the most recent Republican nominee for President, made an appropriate statement about the shooting. So did Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the House.
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Majority Leader, made no statement. Nor did former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, then considered to be the front-runner for the next Republican nomination for President (and he was nominated).
Nor did the 2008 Republican nominee for Vice President, former Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, who had included Giffords on a "hit list" of gun-control activists on her website. She did not go on any of the Sunday-morning news shows to express her sorrow, or to say she didn't mean to have her "hit list" misconstrued, or even to say she was praying for the victims and their families. Her silence was deafening.
Finally, on the Monday, Palin made a statement: "My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona. On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice." But there was no condemnation of the act, and no plea for others to not do the same. Without it, her condolences and prayers are nothing but empty words.
Gabby Giffords was a registered Republican until 2000, and switched to the Democratic Party that year, and was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2002, she was elected to the State Senate. In 2006, she was elected Congress for the 1st time. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2010. She was only 40 years old when she was shot. Accepting that she was still not well enough to carry out her duties, she resigned her seat in Congress on January 25, 2012.
At 50, she still has difficulty speaking and using her right arm. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is from West Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. He served in the Navy, retiring with the rank of Captain. He became an astronaut, flying on 4 Space Shuttle missions, commanding 2 of them. In 2020, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, to the seat that Gabby might have gone on to win had she not been shot.
In the years since the mass shooting, there have been many others. America is no closer to keeping guns out of the hands of lunatics like Loughner than it was then. "Thoughts and prayers" have done not a goddamned thing.
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January 8, 2011 was a Saturday. There were 2 NFL Playoff games played that day, both in the Wild Card round:
* The New York Jets beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Jets scored 10 points in the 4th quarter to come from behind.
* And the Seattle Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints, 41-36 at Qwest Fild (now named Lumen Field). The 'Hawks thus clinched the NFC Western Division titled, and, a 7-9, because the 1st (and remain the only) NFL team to have a losing record and still qualify for the Playoffs.
Despite the lateness of the season, there was a college football bowl game played on the day, the BBVA Compass Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The University of Pittsburgh beat the University of Kentucky 27-10.
There were 8 NBA games played that day. The New York Knicks were not scheduled:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 115-92 at the Prudential Center in Newark.
* The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Washington Wizards, 104-89 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. (The Charlotte team is now called the Hornets, and the arena is the Spectrum Center.)
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Indiana Pacers, 108-93 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. (It's now named the State Farm Arena.)
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-109 in overtime, at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 90-79 at the United Center. Derrick Rose scored 36 points.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Dallas Mavericks, 117-107 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 103-99 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* And the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 109-100 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. (It's now the Paycom Center.) Kevin Durant led all players on the day with 40 points.
There were 11 NHL games on the day, including all 3 teams in the New York Tri-State Area:
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Wells Fargo Arena (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. (It's now the Enterprise Center.)
* The New York Islanders beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now the Ball Arena.) John Tavares scored the winner in overtime.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2 at the Verizon Center in Washington. (It's now the Capital One Arena.)
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Max Pacioretty scored the winner in overtime.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-1 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre.)
* The Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-0 at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. (It's now the PPG Paints Arena.)
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-1 at the Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix. It's now the Desert Diamond Arena.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
* The Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks, 2-1 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose. (It's now the SA Center.)
* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Also, Arsenal drew 1-1 with Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium in North London. It was the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, and a replay was needed. On January 19, Arsenal won, 3-1 at Elland Road in Leeds, Yorkshire.
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