In the latest milestone in Gabrielle Giffords' recovery from a bullet wound to the brain, the congresswoman stood up and looked out a window even as preparations got under way for a move to Houston, where she'll undergo extensive mental and physical rehabilitation.
Her swift transition from an intensive care unit to a rehab center is based on the latest research, which shows the sooner rehab starts, the better patients recover.
Giffords' family hopes to move the Arizona congresswoman on Friday to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital in Houston, where her husband lives and works as an astronaut.
"I am extremely hopeful at the signs of recovery that my wife has made since the shooting," Mark Kelly said in a statement released by Giffords' congressional office. The staff at University Medical Center in Tucson "has stabilized her to the point of being ready to move to the rehabilitation phase."
This is great news, and from what I hear Rep. Giffords recovery is almost unprecedented.
I wonder how much longer it will be before Gabby is able to speak and perhaps answer questions?
BTW you just know that, even with everything else going badly in her life, that Sarah Palin is truly concerned about just what Giffords might say.
Let's face it if, while lying in her hospital bed with her head swathed in bandages, Giffords were to condemn Palin's use of the crosshair map and even hint that such things might have lead to an atmosphere where people could be shot, Palin is beyond finished.
She must also be kind of worried about what THIS guy might say as well.
The suspect in the attack, Jared Loughner, 22, of Tucson, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Phoenix Wednesday, accused of attempting to assassinate Giffords and trying to kill two of her aides.
It does not include two murder charges listed in an earlier criminal complaint for the deaths of Giffords' aide Gabe Zimmerman, 30, and U.S. District Judge John Roll, 63. Those are potential death penalty charges and prosecutors said they require a more painstaking process. Additional charges are likely.
Well I for one hope for a very speedy recovery for Rep. Giffords and that someday she can walk back out onto the House floor to the raucous cheers of her fellow Representatives.
That is one tough lady.
Go, Gabby, go!!!
ReplyDeleteI bet when she speaks, she will be extremely gracious and give $arah a pass. She'll be more concerned about the other survivors and the victims' families. She's a classy lady - unlike that tacky quitter.
ReplyDeleteI wish Gabby as speedy a recovery as possible and thank God that amidst the atrocities that took place in Tuscon, we have this miracle - I don't know how else to describe it.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin is Guilty
ReplyDeletePalin is currently abusing the facts of the Tucson massacre as a catch-all for denying her complicity in and cheerleading for political violence over the past two years. Instead of acknowledging that aspects of her behavior have inspired her followers to violence, and committing to cease and desist from such incitements, all we have heard from her is that her incitements to violence are part of her first amendment rights. We must remain vigilant as regards her dangerous incitements, and loudly protest them whenever she issues them. Ahmed Sharif, the Muslim cab driver attacked at the height of Palin’s anti-Muslim hate-mongering, has the knife wound scars to prove how dangerous Palin’s influence can be.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/sarah-palin-guilty
Sarah Palin Unfavorability Rating Reaches Record High!!!
ReplyDeleteFormer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin reached a new milestone Wednesday, and it wasn't a good one. Her unfavorability ratings have reached record highs, according to a recently-released CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll.
According to the survey, Palin's unfavorability rating stands at 56 percent, its highest ever, and up seven percentage points from a similar poll taken before the midterm election. Her favorability rating, on the other hand, currently stands at 36 percent, the survey finds, down two points since October.
Another recent poll brings similar bad news for Palin. Here's CNN's report on the USA Today/Gallup survey released earlier this week, which also broke new ground for the former vice presidential candidate in terms of poor numbers:
According to the new USA TODAY/Gallup survey, Palin's favorability rating has dipped to 38 percent while her unfavorable now stands at 53 percent. Gallup reports the 38 percent is a new low when it comes to the percentage of Americans who give the former Alaska governor a thumbs up. The 53 percent who dislike Palin is also a new high in Gallup polling.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/19/sarah-palin-unfavorability-rating-poll_n_810842.html
ugh! I sincerely hope that no journalist is crass enough to mention Grizzled Mama's name to Gabby.
ReplyDeleteIf she chooses to bring it up on her own, that is her choice.
I think she'll probably have her message released via surrogates. Her friends and family might share what she asks them to share.
- kellygrrrl
GOP wants Palin to “sit down and shut up”
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2011/01/20/gop-wants-palin-to-sit-down-and-shut-up/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker
O'REILLY FACTOR: It's Sarah Palin's Own Fault That Her Poll Numbers Are Dropping
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/dick-morris-its-palins-own-fault-that-her-poll-numbers-are-dropping-2011-1
Oh Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter what you MEANT about the crosshairs and "take 'em out." Whether by bullets or the voting booth, it looks like Someone just doesn't want Rep. Giffords taken out.
Has God closed enough doors in your face yet for you to get the picture?
I am sure that Sarah Palin is the farthest thing from Gabby Giffords' mind. As well it should be.
ReplyDeleteGabby Giffords is a courageous,
ReplyDeletestrong and brave women. She is fighting for her life and her country. She is precious.
I am sure Gabby is well protected from the world news and the deaths of the other people. She needs to be in a positve and healing place.
The people taking care of her know that every minute and procedure they perform matters 100% to her life and well being.
But she could also be thinking in that deep state of what Sarah Palins actions have done to her life and that made her strong.
Strong enough to fight for her life and come back with FIRE in her eyes towards Sarah and her violent and disturbed elk.
Go Gabby go girl!!! May you recover fully and be the Fire
under Sarah Palin brings her down to the lowest level of life. Jail!
Great news about Gabby. I would be worried about the issue of her speaking (not in relation to Palin) as the bullet went through her speech centre.
ReplyDeleteShailey Tripp in 2006 made NON-MONETARY contribution to Palin/Parnell!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://webapp.state.ak.us/apoc/contributions.jsp?name=TRIPP%2C+SHAILEY&pagesize=20
Does it go back this far? Is this how you hide services and list it as NON-MONETARY!!
I am glad Ms. Gifford is coming here to Houston. TX is a crazy place but excellent in medical care fields. I am sure the Houston Chronicle will keep everyone posted.
ReplyDeleteI am especially interested in the shooter. What comes out of this man's mouth matters immensely....
Palin has to be worried about what he will say and how this shooting will touch the NRA and gun rights.
This is such a "twist of fate" for Sarah who leaned so heavily on abstinence and abortion. Really, what is she known for now?
It's an amazing development, and we all pray for her continued recovery. As the poster above says, it is unclear what her communication abilities will ultimately look like. She has the will, though, clearly. What a human being!
ReplyDeleteHer husband has already been willing to point to the heated rhetoric as one factor, just out there in the air, so to speak. He also has recognized that this young man is not well. I doubt anyone will be able to pin this on one thing alone. I agree, Gryphen, it's a possibility that the young man will reveal something that indicates he was aware of political "efforts" against Ms. Giffords.
I would bet the investigators have intentionally held back anything that would inflame this debate at this point in time. Plus it would compromise the case, right?
PS, if, God forbid, she does not recover her speech, there are many ways for her to communicate and if she has brain function - which it really would appear she does have - she can use all the available technologies to enable her to express herself.
ReplyDeleteI believe she'll give Sarah Palin a pass, as well. But maybe, just maybe, she'll craft a statement that while not outright condemning Palin for her stupidity, she might IMPLY as much. I wish her well and hope for the best of all things ...
ReplyDeleteOn second thought, giving Palin a complete pass will embarrass the hell out of Palin, in a way ...
WHO KNOWS???????
I'm worried that the bullet did irreversible damage to the parts of her brain that can speak.
ReplyDeleteGabby Giffords is not someone to give anyone a free pass. She may recognize the complexity of the issue, but she isn't going to hold back if she is able to communicate.
ReplyDeleteRep. Giffords and her husband have exhibited grace and compassion above and beyond what is expected from someone in their situation. If more Americans were like them, this wouldn't have happened.
ReplyDeleteGod bless Gabby. She has already said her piece about that woman 9 months before she was shot. I hope that clip is played again during the gunman's trial.
ReplyDeleteI applaud the speed of her recovery and wish her all the best.But you must know that the odds of Gabby being able to resume her position are very low.Damage was done,brain tissue was destroyed.The brain is remarkable in its ability to shift functions to other areas,but the depth of the loss is as yet unknown.The physical recovery is going so well,I am hoping that the loss of memory and function is also repaired swiftly.I fear that the frustration of dealing with that recovery will be very difficult for her.I wish her all the best.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the survey, Palin's unfavorability rating stands at 56 percent, its highest ever, and up seven percentage points from a similar poll taken before the midterm election. Her favorability rating, on the other hand, currently stands at 36 percent, the survey finds, down two points since October.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is 36% too much. 36 is still higher than her IQ.
http://sarahpalinhasaserpentsheart.blogspot.com/
@7:04
ReplyDeleteRemembering Jim Brady.
I have followed with great interest Gabby's recovery. She is going to teach those medical specialists in Houston a thing or two, and that will be wonderful for all those who come after her. There is still a lot we don't know about the brain and its ability to heal. I pray that she recovers to the fullest extent possible and medical technology can cover the rest. Gabby's return to Congress will be a glorious day for all of us.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sarah: For the last two and one-half years, she has very carefully built up a persona based on violence. Think of: her words, her pictures, SPA where she killed everything in sight. She gloried in riling up the crowd. It isn't just the target map, it is every thing Sarah has said and done for two and one-half years. She can't take all of that back, even if she wanted to.
Daily Beast article by Howard Kurtz on Man Sour
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-19/sarah-palins-attack-dog-meet-rebecca-mansour/?cid=hp:mainpromo4
Sorry Howie, she's not interested in you!!!!
I watched the interview with Gabby's husband & Diane Sawyer. She hasn't been told anything about the people killed & injured yet. It's one of the things he's dreading the most. Knowing when to tell her is heavy on his mind.
ReplyDeleteHe said that if she's able, he feels she'll want to continue in Public Service. He wants her to quit (no surprise) but it's strictly up to her.
She's told him how frightened she's been and that she had a strong feeling that some day, a shooter will come up to her at one of her meet & greets & shoot her. And yet she courageously kept a brave front & soldiered on. What an incredible woman she is. Mrs. Palin doesn't belong on the same planet with her.
He won't make a decision about going up on the final Challenger trip until he knows she's strong enough for him to go. He said without a seconds hesitation that she comes first - no matter what.
They are both incredible. You can just see the love he has for her coming out of every pore. I just can't say enough good about them both.
When you think about it, Gabby Giffords is the anti-Palin.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful without being in your face. Brave without bluster. Engaged without expecting a return. Smart. Genuine. In short, everything that Palin is not.
Sarah better be afraid of what Gabby Giffords will say if she's ever able. She should feel even more threatened should Gabby's recovery be incomplete.
"That is one tough lady"
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Gryph. And Sarah Palin isn't a fraction of the woman Gabby Giffords is. It has been in the back of my mind that Paylin is probably cared shitless what Gabby would say if she could speak. It must really suck to be you, Scarah.
Wonderful news for Gabby! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, more on the polling results:
"Huckabee and Palin, in particular, seem to share a common base -- both running more strongly among those with family incomes of $50,000 or less (Huckabee 26 percent, Palin 25 percent) and whites without college degrees (Palin 26 percent, Huckabee 25 percent). Huckabee is the favored candidate of white evangelical Protestants and those who describe themselves as "very conservative"."
Gabby won't condemn Sarah. She is much too classy for that. She won't even discuss her.
ReplyDeleteI ditto Anon 5:59. Her silence will speak volumes, anyway, she already is on record making the connection--Nothing more need to be said. It sure would be nice to be the fly on the wall though. After all, at least Giffords is human.
ReplyDeleteGreat news for Gabby!!
ReplyDeleteSadly, this is a clip everyone should see, from one of the enablers of the weak minded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQcvbw6ExTQ
Sarah Palin Unfavorables Reach Critical Mass
ReplyDeletehttp://www.outsidethebeltway.com/sarah-palin-unfavorables-reach-critical-mass/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41161439/ns/politics-more_politics/
Glad to hear she continues to improve, and double glad she's coming here to Houston. It's a great city and if you're sick, you couldn't be in a better spot.
ReplyDeleteSure hope some news outlet picks up that video of guilty glenn and gives it some airtime.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, 100% correct. I think that's what she does know, deep down, as much as she has tried to make it only about that map, and as much as she disavows the emotional impact of her rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteShe is guilty. She feels guilty. She can't take any of it back, so she will try to minimize it as much as possible and push the false equivalence story.
This is an amazing time for those of us who have waited for her to be brought down to size. Truth is stranger than fiction, and it will be something to see how all these threads, as they become known, come together and seal her political fate.
GG will not be in a blame mode -- she will be in a healing mode. For others, as well as herself.
ReplyDeleteGG's husband has already given us an example of his and her intrinsic goodness by showing compassion for the shooter's parents.
ReplyDeleteThe contrasts between the two women is staggering.
ReplyDeleteSP: Goons at book-signings, roughing up journalists
GG: No protection. Just faith.
SP: Quitter.
GG: Survivor.
SP: No apologies, no responsiblity.
GG: Not being told of the other deaths and injuries - probably because she would have a heart-breaking reaction to the news.
Staggering.
CNN editorial: "Why America is growing tired of Palin"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/20/borger.palin.fatigue/index.html?hpt=T2
"Voters actually like positive leaders who inspire them."
A contrast that I have found striking and prophetic:
ReplyDeletethe images of Ms Palin's book signing tour, hidden in the bowels of a big box store with tightened and hostile security vs Rep Giffords' little table set up in the sunshine in front of the local super-market.
Aurora
A few new tid bits, and the usual unenlightened commentary:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-19/sarah-palins-attack-dog-meet-rebecca-mansour/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
The human body is amazing. Gabby has come so far in such a short time. I think back on all the pictures i have seen of metal bars going through people. Wood splinters and knives. And the body heals! I hold solemn thoughts for this fine lady.
ReplyDeleteIt's only been 12 days!!! ASTOUNDING and very proud that we, as a people, have the capability to make something this astonishing happen.
ReplyDeleteFollowing the Daily Beast post about RAM today, Malia had a blog post on Jan 15th that I had not noticed until now. It was with regard to RAM and her connection to Palin.
ReplyDeleteIn Malia's post, she made reference to a link which has more info than the DB post
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/13/sarah-palins-secret-asset-cyber-messenger-rebecca-mansour/?icid=maing|
It is nothing sort of miraculous to me that someone can survive being shot point-blank in the head, much less be standing up within just weeks afterward. Something powerful is at work here.
ReplyDeleteThe rehab Gabby Giffords is going to, TIRR Memorial Hermann, is the same facility that Kevin Everett of the NFL Buffalo Bills was treated. In 2007, he suffered a life-threatening spinal cord injury and was paralyzed. Mr. Everett now walks.
ReplyDeleteI wish her the speediest recovery ever. Go girl. Get back to congress.
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, this is absolutely miraculous and wonderful news.
ReplyDeleteAnd to put it all in perspective now, don't even imagine that she will ever be the same. She will have enormous problems and her life has been destroyed by this senseless gun violence.
You bet Palin is worried, and she should be because she is largely responsible for inciting the shooter to this violent act. The rightwing bullshit over this has to stop and the best way to make it stop is to make it clear that excusing Palin for the blame is going to allow it to continue. It as much as justifies it!
As for executing the perpetrator? No, that's uncivilized and only reinforces the ugly sick mentality of killing that is at the root of what's really wrong with your country.
Luv from Canada.
Gabby's husband and his twin brother have already mentioned the horrible rehetoric that is going on in the U.S. and that it needs to stop. No one has specifically mentioned Palin as yet, but I so hope they do. She WAS and IS the main reason for the anger that is felt in this nation and it/she started it when she ran as VP in regard to then candidate Obama.
ReplyDeleteThe media is beginning to go there too....tone down your words, etc.
Palin is finally being seen for the person she ISN'T!
This is such encouraging news! I do hope Gabby can return to Congress if she wants to. It would be a horrible victory for the right if she's afraid to continue her elected position.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just the crosshairs map that ties Palin to the Tucson shooting but her fear-mongering. She, Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, and the rest have created a horde of misinformed, angry, and armed people who are convinced our government is heading toward tyranny and needs to be stopped.
Police removed the guns of a man in Arlington MA who called for more assassinations in the wake of Tucson. Some of the commenters on this article, astoundingly, think the police violated this idiot's rights.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/01/18/arlington-man-loses-gun-license-due-to-blog-about-tucson-shooting/
@IrishGirl 6:30 am & others
ReplyDeleteI too watched Diane Sawyer's interview with Gabby Giffords' husband, which ended with Mark Kelly saying (not exact quote)"I won't run for office because I'm not willing to work as hard as Gabby." Of course we all know that Navy fighter pilot & astronaut are among the most demanding physical jobs around.
The doctors interviewed on this program made it sound doubtful that Gabby will be able to speak. We all hope her rapid therapy will enable her to be as expressive with sign language as she was with speech.
It's infuriating that such dedicated, selfless & accomplished people (Gabby & her staff, the federal judge, the child) were the victims of this senseless act of cowardice/insanity.
However, here's how Mark Shields, PBS newshour aptly descibed how America is blessed by the diversity of its people:
This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year-old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon, all eulogized by our African American President.”
arapaho415 - Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLike I said here before NO ONE is immune from medical problems.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am so glad to hear of her great progress. She will have a long way to go but she's strong. She is new on my radar but I am a fan.
I hope she has a complete recovery. I am repulsed by Republican Dick head John Wilson. He is immoral and repugnant to suggest that Mrs. Giffords should resign. WTF these guys are just plain evil.
ReplyDelete"Glad to hear she continues to improve, and double glad she's coming here to Houston. It's a great city and if you're sick, you couldn't be in a better spot."
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin didn't think so. Even with her water breaking, Sarah Palin chose a long flight to deliver in a hospital without a neonatal unit. But, most intelligent people already know that whole story was a lie. They had to get home, according to an e-mail, because "the puppy was ready." Where is that dog anyway?