Calls for unity overwhelmed by blame-throwing in wake of deadly Arizona shooting

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama led the nation in a moment of silence Monday to honour Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the 19 other victims of Saturday’s shooting rampage outside a Tucson supermarket.

It provided the briefest of interludes, however, in what is quickly becoming an angry debate over who is to blame for America’s overheated political culture.

Even as some Democratic and Republicans appealed for unity – or least civil conversation – in the wake of the tragedy, partisans on both sides of the nation’s political divide turned to finger pointing over who is responsible for poisoning the national discourse.

Two of America’s most prominent conservatives – former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Fox News host Glenn Beck – on Monday lashed out at liberals who suggested in the wake of the shooting that they and others on the right have contributed to an atmosphere that might incite people to violence.

"I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence," Palin wrote to Beck in an email the commentator read Monday on his radio program.

Beck, for his part, said Democrats and liberals will do "anything to shut (Palin) down" by trying to tie her to the tragedy "without any facts about the shooter."

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, made his first court appearance Monday before a judge in Phoenix on charges of murder and attempted murder in the shooting spree, which left six people dead and 14 wounded.

Investigators have not provided any information about Loughner’s alleged motives but have reported discovering handwritten notes indicating he planned the assassination attempt ahead of time.

There has been no evidence Loughner was influenced by the highly-charged political atmosphere that defined last year’s health care reform debate in the U.S., or the Nov. 2 mid-term elections. He had contact with Giffords as early as 2007, pre-dating the health care debate, and had posted anti-government ramblings on the Internet.

Palin became a focus of criticism from some liberals immediately after Saturday’s shooting because her political action committee had posted an online graphic targeting Giffords and 19 other Democrats for defeat.

The graphic used a rifle crosshairs to highlight Giffords’ Arizona congressional district. Republicans have noted that similar imagery has been used in the past by Democrats.

At times Monday, as members of Congress returned to work on Capitol Hill, the debate revolved less around the known facts of the shooting than the political atmosphere in which it occurred.

Rep. Robert Brady, a Pennsylvania Democrat, announced plans to introduce legislation that would ban anyone from using military imagery – including a target or crosshairs – against a member of Congress.

"I want to protect our Congress people in a way that they can’t put a crosshair on us, they can’t put a bull’s-eye on us, no matter who does it," Brady told Fox News.

Giffords "is in a coma because there was a bull’s-eye, a crosshair put on her," he added.

That kind of language, in the absence of evidence, has infuriated Republicans.

"I think it’s absurd to try to link Sarah Palin to something like this," Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican, said in a televised interview. "This is a heinous act of brutality . . . This person is either psychopath or a sociopath, has deep-rooted mental issues, and there are stressors in that person’s life that makes them go over the edge."

Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican, was harshly critical of Tucson-area Sheriff Clarence Dupnik – who said in weekend press briefings that "bigotry," "hatred" and "paranoia" fomented on cable television and talk radio could have contributed to the attacks.

"I didn’t really think that had any part in a law enforcement briefing," Kyl said.

Beck issued a "challenge" to political leaders to "denounce violent threats and calls for the destruction of our system – regardless of their underlying ideology."

The only pause in the post-tragedy debate came at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, when Obama and his wife, Michelle, gathered with staff on the South Lawn of the White House Rose Garden to observe a moment of silence. Members of Congress also congregated on the steps of Capitol Hill.

One of Giffords’ closest friends on Capitol Hill, Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, called for lawmakers in both parties to hold a joint retreat in the next week to "come together and find some common ground" in finding ways to show more respect to each other.

Obama said he was reaching out to victims of the tragedy and highlighted the courage of three private citizens credited with disarming and subduing the shooter.

"We’re going to have a lot of time to reflect," Obama said. "Right now, the main thing we’re doing is to offer our thoughts and prayers to those who’ve been impacted, making sure that we’re joining together and pulling together as a country."

A separate drama continues to unfold at the Tucson hospital where Giffords continues to recover from a close-range gunshot wound to the head.

"At this phase in the game, no change is good, and we have no change. That is to say, she’s still following those basic commands," said Dr. Michael Lemole, the chief of neurosurgery at University Medical Center.

"When I say someone follows simple commands, it could be showing us their thumb, perhaps two fingers, gripping a hand, wiggling toes . . . It implies that not only are those centers of the brain working, but they’re communicating with one another."

Doctors removed almost half of Giffords’ skull during surgery on Saturday. The congresswoman is almost past the three-day time period in which she is most susceptible to dangerous brain swelling, Lemole said.

"We can breathe a collective sigh of relief after the third or fourth day . . . We are getting close."

Loughner’s first appearance in court was moved to Phoenix from Tucson. He appeared in the courtroom with his head shaved and a cut above his right eye.

His public defender is Judy Clarke, a lawyer who has defended the likes of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.