There is more from the LA Times:
Lawmakers quickly enveloped Giffords as she arrived in the House chamber Wednesday morning, one at a time shaking her hand or kissing her cheek. She was escorted by her closest friend in the chamber, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Giffords' mother, Gloria, watched from the House gallery along with retired astronaut Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband.
The chamber was mostly full, and staff members ringed the back rows.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi began a series of bipartisan tributes to Giffords, calling her "the brightest star that Congress has ever seen."
"She has brought the word dignity to new heights by her courage," Pelosi said. "Congresswoman Giffords' message of bipartisanship and civility is one that all in Washington and in the nation should honor and emulate."
"While Gabby may be leaving Washington today, I know this won't be the last we see of her tomorrow," said Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the majority leader.
At one point, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Giffords, "We have missed you." Giffords, turned backward to see her colleague, replied: "And I miss you."
The legislation on which Giffords cast her final vote would give the Homeland Security Department greater ability to go after ultralight planes believed to be smuggling narcotics from Mexico into the United States.
It passed unanimously.
I watched this earlier this morning with watery eyes and a godawful lump in my throat. It was absolutely amazing to witness the incredible outpouring of love and support that Gabby inspires in her fellow members of Congress, and for one brief moment politics were put aside as these Congressmen and women dropped their defenses and allowed their humanity to shine. Truly an inspiring sight.
And to demonstrate respect for that ideal I will not engage in any partisan sniping or mention the person behind the one moment of rage that I always feel when I see this brave woman struggling to stand, or walk, or move her now useless arm.
But that does not mean I have forgotten, nor does it mean I have forgiven.
I won't ever forget Gifford speaking to the crosshairs targeting her. I won't forget the violent rhetoric, blood libel speech nor spinning crosshairs are surveyors marks after a massacare.
ReplyDeletei needed a kleenex after watching the video
ReplyDelete"While Gabby may be leaving Washington today, I know this won't be the last we see of her tomorrow," said Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the majority leader.
ReplyDeleteWTF does that even mean? Is he following her home?
I watched this, cried, took a walk. All I could think of was "Sarah Palin, may everything you send and have sent out into the universe come back to you - times ten" That means all of the good (??) and all of the bad.
ReplyDeleteGood for Gabby Giffords because she is recovering. But this doesn't make her a hero or anything that she wasn't already. This is only playing it up for the politics and that never smells quite right. Neither would it make her a hero if she was killed in teh incident. It would only make her a dead politician.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget who put the crosshairs on Rep. Giffords.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, I just read the only 20% pf Palin's Twitter followers are real. That explains a LOT.
Sarah Palin did not win with her cross hairs pointed at Gabby.
ReplyDeleteGabby did not quit on her constituents or her country, she resigned for health reasons and not for reality shows, riches or to scam Americans!
That was absolutely amazing. Gabby's only misson that day was to put in a full day of work, to make a positive difference in her community, and to share what it means to serve her government and constiuents, basically her job desctiption. She's grace, love and beauty defined.
ReplyDeleteThe victim that wasn't mentioned, poor blood libel loon, did nothing, is nothing, and will always pale in comparison. We'll never forget nor forgive.
That clip was a hard one to watch, I hope she recovers and returns, because we need more like her in government.
11:15..a person of distinguished courage and ability is a hero, yes Gabby is a hero to me.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGood for Gabby Giffords because she is recovering. But this doesn't make her a hero or anything that she wasn't already. This is only playing it up for the politics and that never smells quite right. Neither would it make her a hero if she was killed in teh incident. It would only make her a dead politician.
11:15 AM
Awwww....I see you couldn't take it anymore...huh Baldy? I'm sure you "never smell quite right" either!
It's too bad that the envy, bitterness, and lack of a soul compels you to post this comment.
Baldy you are the most disliked person on this planet and every time Gabby Giffords name or face is mentioned it has to scald your soul even more.
But then I suspect you have no soul. That's why you are alone. No family. No respect. You are NOTHING!
And every time you appear on FAKE News you become more insignificant...and that's why Chris Christie said this about you...
"I don't have any comment about Sarah Palin". "At all".
You are NOTHING and you are WORTHLESS! Even to your family...they laugh and make fun of you behind your back and they can't stand to be around you...except to get money from you. But soon that will be gone and you will truly be ALONE!
There is no help for you Baldy! You aren't even human anymore and you don't even realize that...even though Jared Loughner is sitting in a psychiatric hospital under guard...you are also under guard.
You will NEVER be allowed to run loose over this country and incite the hatred that is part of your soul.
When your time on this earth ends Baldy...you better hope God has mercy on your soul.
Gabby Giffords is a giver.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin is a grifter.
Gabby Giffords is Right as Rain.
Sarah Palin something smelly you step on in a pig pasture.
Gabby Giffords did not quit. It took a bullet to slow her down.
Sarah Palin ran her scam as a governor and quit to run a bigger scam on America.
Gabby Giffords will be missed in Congress.
Sarah Palin, we wish we could miss her! Someday maybe Sarah will take a long walk off of a short pier to join her wedding rings.
Gabby Giffords is an angel walking amongst us.
Sarah Palin is all the worlds evil stuffed into a aging old wrinkly cranky unhappy woman.
@11:15 You are a SICK human being, and like I said before, may everything you put out into the universe come back to you TIMES TEN.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet again a state of the union speech has passed with no mention of this country's insane gun non-control. President Obama hugs Giffords but does not dare to risk the ire of NRA lobby. So we continue to cheerfully permit assault weapons in the hands of people with obvious mental instability.
ReplyDeleteDo the politician think we don't notice their pathetic fear of the gun lobby?
¨...for one brief moment politics were put aside...¨
ReplyDeleteThat one brief moment will forever be burned into our history books.
So, Democrats, what can I, a Republican, say?
Gabby, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and President Obama represent the very best American has to offer the world.
Has a truth been any clearer, any plainer?
I believe in my government again.
Thank you.
Every congressman and woman's heart went cold the day they heard of Gabby's shooting. She is a colleague and to many in the House, a friend. And plus - it could have been any one of them. I don't care how partisan someone is - if you have a pulse, that realisation will stop you in your tracks.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why everyone was overjoyed to see Gabby survive such a horrific event in her life. And we all cheer her on.
This is what inspiration looks like. Which is what everyone remembers....and not the ramblings of a mad man who pulled the trigger & fired into a crowd or the vitriol of a woman who can't see past her hate.
SIGH....I got so distracted by Baldy slithering out of her crate and posting at 11:15AM...which I'm sure that was the reason why she "sharted" out that comment in the first place...that I failed to comment on how heartbreaking this was to watch!
ReplyDeleteI love Debbie Wasserman-Schultz...she is one classy, knowledgeable woman...something that slime from Wasilla will NEVER be! And to see her crying...
Gabby Gifford is a HERO...don't anybody forget that! She was shot in the HEAD. And 6 others were killed...including that beautiful little girl! Gabby will recover and I believe she will come back to Congress whole again. Thank you for posting this video Gryphen.
Good for Gabby Giffords because she is recovering. But this doesn't make her a hero or anything that she wasn't already. This is only playing it up for the politics and that never smells quite right. Neither would it make her a hero if she was killed in teh incident. It would only make her a dead politician.
ReplyDeleteFUCK OFF you fucking TWIT!!!!
Primogen1
To Anonymous at 11:15. She IS a hero for staying so positive after being attacked so cruelly. She is a hero for not becoming bitter and for working so hard at recovering. Is it making you uncomfortable because you support the violent rhetoric that set the stage for this tragedy and you don't want to take any responsibility for that?
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this after that beautiful video, but if this had been a republican who was shot in an assassination attempt the vitriol spewed at the left would be unending. They would have labeled the gunman as a leftist and used that as an example of everything wrong with Democrats.
ReplyDeleteRemember Paul Wellstone's memorial service? The GOP cynically used that service as a talking point against Democrats b/c they said it was an "unseemly" display.
I'll never forget how the right takes even tragedy and uses it to slam the left in any way possible.
The fact that they behaved themselves for this six minutes or so while the letter was read doesn't mean they get any credit whatsoever for not acting like dicks.
They just haven't been able to take the Giffords tragedy and turn it against her and other Dems. Yet.
If only they would continue with the bi-partisanship...
ReplyDeleteGryph -- this is OT but putrid PAC is hitting the pee pond denizens for more $$.
ReplyDeleteApparently the letter was delivered this week.
O/T: Nice opinion piece in NJ Star-Ledger on Palin saying Christie's got his "panties in a wad" and her status as persona non grata.
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/01/sarah_palin_no_more_victim_of.html
if I didn't know better
ReplyDeleteI would think sarah palin was the woman shot in the head
Sarah... you fucking freak... you will never get a standing ovation in Congress
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 11:55am--
ReplyDeleteNo...thank you.
"Gabby Giffords is an angel walking amongst us."
ReplyDeleteI agree. Or, as my spiritual tradition would say, Gabby Giffords is a Bodhisattva--an enlightened being who forgoes the permanent peace of nirvana to work tirelessly for the happiness of all beings.
She may look like an ordinary human but I like to think she's here to teach us and to help us.
Tragic on so many levels that this strong, proud, thoughtful woman, who was gunned down while she was WORKING,has had her face altered forever by the hand of the gunman.
ReplyDeleteYet Sarah Palin, who once was a lively and strong woman,voluntarily had her face reconfigured by a surgeon.
Gabby Giffords is beautiful, because she glows from within.
S. Palin has never been, and will never be beautiful, because anger and resentment show in her every expression. Neither Botox or plastic surgery can give her character, compassion, or charm.
i wonder how FOX News is going to twist this for their misinformed viewers, or are they even going to report it?
ReplyDeleteStop it you nasty people, my mom isnot bald.
ReplyDeleteIn my comment at 2:15 I stated that I wonder how FOX is handling todays resignation of Gabby Gifford. the question got my curiosity so I went over to FOX to see what they did report. They reported NOTHING about Gifford resigning today. Yesterday in what I would describe as somewhat hidden, they did write that Giffords will be resigning today, but that's all I could find.
ReplyDeleteThis is just another example of FOX's infamous low journalistic standard. If our country was ruled by a dictator, FOX would be their voice from which they would addresss the public..
The Republicans bitch about border security and a bullet riddled Democrat does something about it.
ReplyDeleteOn how huge a scale can we measure that dichotomy?
The Republicans don't want to do anything constructive they just want to bitch and moan.
In seeing some of the recent video, I am heartened to see that her physical coordination is nearly normal, and her reactions to what is going on, like turning her head, bending forward to shake a hand etc., are also nearly normal.
I begrudge her nothing but most Americans could not afford months of intense physical therapy and the level of medical care she has had and will have access.
Yeah Liz I, gabby is an angel sent from gawd to teach you. And I'm the lone ranger.
ReplyDeleteRest assured, there will ALWAYS be a Palin surrogate commenting on anything about Gabby Giffords, with Palin's usual dismissive if not outright pity-ME point of view.
ReplyDeleteExample: Anonymous @ 11:15 AM
"Good for Gabby Giffords because she is recovering. But this doesn't make her a hero or anything that she wasn't already. This is only playing it up for the politics and that never smells quite right. Neither would it make her a hero if she was killed in teh incident. It would only make her a dead politician."
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that doesn't 'smell quite right' is your post. Are you sure the thing thumping in your chest isn't a blackened piece of coal?
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteStop it you nasty people, my mom isnot bald.
3:19 PM
From what I saw atop her head last summer, there wasn't much.
And what there was, was dry and badly bleached an ugly brassy color -- the hallmark of the home-dye job with drugstore highlighting kits.
What we've been seeing lately is a lot more hair, and all one color. Just like you see in a wig over sparse head hair.
Aren't you being a little overprotective of your mother, Bris? Willow? Piper? Why can't she tell us herself? Is she in a semi-coma in the bat cave?
If she's not bald, dear little Palin child, why does she wear so many and such hideous, obvious wigs? There must be a reason. If she's got a full head of hair under there, then what's going on?
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember: she doesn't have time to go to the beauty parlor. But now she has beauticians right at home!
On-call 24/7. So, why the wigs, again?
Kristin Wiig will portray Jan Brewer on SNL. In the picture, she looks like that crazy lady from 2008 who told McCain that Obama was "an Arab." Kristin did an excellent job of making fun of that old crone. To his credit, at least McCain corrected the crone, unlike Santorum who let another idiot get away with the statement without correcting her. Ferret Face.
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference between the harpy, finger-pointing harridan repub. Brewer, and the sweet, gentle, LADY democratic politician Giffords.
ReplyDeleteThanksABunchJohn said...
ReplyDeleteI watched this, cried, took a walk. All I could think of was "Sarah Palin, may everything you send and have sent out into the universe come back to you - times ten" That means all of the good (??) and all of the bad.
11:14 AM
No worries TABJ the universal laws are you will get get 3x what you put out...Sarah spews hate& strife where ever she goes...she will get that back in spades...Karma!
Gabby is a American Heroine! She almost died while serving her country.
ReplyDeleteWe need to write "Congress" (at least the good ones in Congress with hearts & brains) to give her a congressional medal of honor.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGood for Gabby Giffords because she is recovering. But this doesn't make her a hero or anything that she wasn't already. This is only playing it up for the politics and that never smells quite right. Neither would it make her a hero if she was killed in teh incident. It would only make her a dead politician.
11:15 AM
*********
Why you pom-pus ass!
There have been congressmen who have given their lives in service of their constituents!
Leo Ryan was one.
Not all of them are lazy grifters like the current GOP crop is.
Gabby risked her life after Sarah fucking Palin put Crosshairs on her district.
I really don't give a flying fuck what you care about Brooklyn, but Gabby deserves a congressional medal of honor.
Sarah palin deserves a flaming bag of shit on her porch.
stick this up your ass Brooklyn!
Daughter of Leo Ryan recalls his 1978 murder after Tuscan Massacre.